Low Carb Mom

As cooler weather becomes more the norm it brings with it the delightful aromas of roasted vegetables. Roasting vegetable brings out their hidden sweet, nutty flavors – making them appealing while allowing us to enjoy them for their low carb goodness.

Many creative chefs and fellow recipe enthusiasts have created delightful recipes for roasting vegetables. What follows is truly a “garden variety” of vegetables roasted to perfection with love and creativity. Bon Appetit!

Let’s begin with zucchini, romaine lettuce and cauliflower…

Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes shares with her readers recipes tested by her, her family, or her friends. I’ve never eaten much of anything with zucchini other than in soup, but I think Roasted Zucchini with Garlic sounds fabulous! The recipe calls for Herbes de Provence, a traditional herb mix commonly used in France. You can make Herbes de Provence from scratch if you desire if you can’t find it locally. You can also find it at Amazon. One large zucchini is approximately 8 net carbs.

If you’re ready to have your vegetable savvy challenged, then you need to perk up for the Grilled Romaine Lettuce recipe Elise shares on her website. Though this recipe says to grill the lettuce, it can be considered roasting as it is done in the oven in the same manner as most roasted vegetables. Romaine lettuce is a vegetable you’d normally save for the salad. However, grilling this vegetable with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and herbs in your oven takes it to a whole new level of appreciation. Romaine heart lettuce is nearly perfect as a low carb food with approximately 1 net carb per 3 oz serving.

One last recipe share at Simply Recipes is a new twist on Roasted Cauliflower. I really try to eat as many vegetables as I can to get in all the nutritious goodness they contain. I have to admit that cauliflower is not my favorite vegetable to eat, especially raw. What this recipe does is make it friendlier to my taste buds! All you need to jazz cauliflower up when roasting it is to add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, seasoning, and parmesan cheese. Simple and delicious! Cauliflower is another low carb lover delight coming in at approximately 3 net carbs per cup.

Next up is eggplant, artichokes and broccoli…

I visited a cool website called “I Breathe… I’m Hungry” run by Mellissa Seigny. The first recipe I encountered in my quest for roasted vegetables was Roasted Baby Eggplant. I’m an eggplant virgin! I have no idea why, but I’ve never been interested in learning more about eggplants until this recipe. These interesting little vegetables are roasted in an oven with olive oil and seasoning then sprinkled with ricotta cheese, olive oil and more seasoning before serving. One thing to note is that Mellissa used Wild Fennel Pollen on her eggplants when roasting them because she had it available. She does mention that this ingredient is optional though because not every kitchen will have that in stock (mine doesn’t). Mellissa states that the approximate carb value per half of an eggplant is 1 gram. Another low carb vegetable star!

Roasted Artichokes is another great recipe find at I Breathe… I’m Hungry. This is also another vegetable I’ve not had a lot of experience with. Artichokes just seem difficult to work with, and I lean towards simplicity most of the time. I’m learning though that to experience a vegetable in all its tasty glory, I need to expand my own cooking limitations. I believe that the secret to this roasted vegetable lies in the lemon tarragon butter that is drizzled over the artichoke prior to serving. According to Mellissa, the taste is hard to explain, but it’s delicious. A medium artichoke weighs in at approximately 6.3 net carbs.

What would any vegetable side dish be without the mention of broccoli? With that said, how about trying Spicy Sriracha Roasted Broccoli to take your tastebuds to a new place! This recipe is all about quick and easy and tasty. Mellissa spices it up by adding Sriracha hot sauce as well as a touch of soy sauce. Other ingredients include mayonnaise and lime juice. It’s so creative – a little spicy and a little sweet! The best part, other than the goodness of the dish itself, is that the net carb count is only 4.5 grams per serving. Broccoli alone is approximately 3.5 net carbs per 1 cup raw.

Beets anyone?

Elana’s Pantry is a blog run by Elana Amsterdam. She and her son were diagnosed with celiac disease which led to her creating recipes that in her words, “I needed to make gluten-free food that tasted like regular food.” So it is with her recipe Roasted Balsamic Beets. I’ve had beets on occasion at a restaurant or two and found them to be really tasty. I’ve not tackled them in my own kitchen though, yet. This recipe might just do the trick! It’s a simple recipe with only four ingredients – beets, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sea salt. One small beet is approximately 5.8 net carbs while balsamic vinegar is approximately 5 net carbs per tablespoon.

Roasting multiple vegetables will add in more net carbs per serving, but sometimes the blend of multiple vegetables are the only way to go for a unique, delicious dish. The nutritional value is crazy good too!

With that in mind, check these out…

The Tartelette Blog is run by Helene Dujardin, a former Pastry Chef of a French restaurant. I was drawn to her Roasted Vegetable Soup With Polenta Croutons simply because I adore vegetable soup! Her soup recipe calls for vegetables such as cauliflower, onion, potatoes and turnips. She first roasts the vegetables and some garlic cloves in the oven before adding them to a blender and pureeing them. She suggests garnishing with flavored sea salts, herbs, Polenta croutons, and an oil flavor of choice such as almond, avocado or pumpkin. This recipe is so creative! The saving grace with this higher net carb recipe is that it is a soup and can be eaten in smaller portion sizes. I might add that the Polenta croutons are not required if you want to keep your carb count as low as possible. (Picture Copyright Helene Dujardin)

Tessa at Tessa Domestic Diva brings great recipe ideas to the kitchen table. She shares a clever sauce called Easy Roasted Vegetable Blender Pasta Sauce. The vegetables in this recipe include cherry tomatoes, carrots, an onion, and a red pepper. The fear of pasta deprivation is a deal breaker for many attempting a low carb diet. Perhaps in small portions and cooked al dente, you can experience an occasional pasta meal with this nutritious roasted vegetable sauce. Another idea would be to add the sauce to other vegetables or as a starter to a great soup.

Another worthy mention comes by way of Julie at Tastefully Julie. She created a Roasted Vegetable Salad that looks divine! Some of the vegetables included in this creation include turnip, asparagus spears, baby carrots, red bell pepper, onion, and mixed greens or baby spinach. The roasted vegetables  are added to selected greens after they have cooled. It’s a colorful, nutritious way to get in delicious vegetables. I really love this recipe!

I hope you enjoyed all of these clever roasted vegetable ideas. I’d love to know if you have great recipes to share as well! 

I’m in pancake heaven over here.  One of the group members over at 90 Day Low Carb Challenge pointed out this recipe for Cream Cheese Pancakes.

I made them with her exact recipe and it was delicious! Delicate, crepe like pancakes.  A little thin, they fell apart really easy – but oh so good!

Wanting something a little thicker, I decided to try making them with just a little almond flour added in.  I put in a bit less than 1/4 cup and used a squirt of Torani SF flavoring instead of Stevia and they turned out great!!  A bit thicker, they held their shape really well and tasted so good.

My Cream Cheese Pancake Recipe:

• 2 ounces of cream cheese – 1.5
• 1/4 cup almond flour – 3
• 2 eggs – .5
• 1 squirt SF Torani syrup – 1
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon – 0

Mix and pour small amounts on a preheated pan and flip when you see the drying at the edges.  They cook pretty fast.

Serve with butter.  (I used a tiny bit of sugar free syrup too.)

Total net carbs: 6

The Magic Bullet Made Them Easy

The original recipe also turned me on to the Magic Bullet personal blender.  I decided to treat myself to one and WOW – I love it!

This is the exact set I ordered: Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set

No, these are not little red potatoes… it sure looks like it doesn’t it?

I, Kelly, bought radishes. Trust me – it’s a shock!

I’ve never liked them, but I’ve only ever had raw.  Tonight I roasted them and I didn’t hate them at all.  I don’t LOVE, probably because my eyes are telling my taste buds that it should taste like a potato.  That’s ok, I think they’ll grow on me over time.

Clean one radish bunch, and trim off the stem and bottom.

Cut them to fairly uniform size so they finish cooking at the same time.

Toss in extra virgin olive oil with your choice of seasoning.  I used Rosemary & Garlic. (Dean Jacob’s Bread Dipping Seasonings Variety Pack)

Roast in an over or toaster oven at 450 for 20 minutes or until tender.

This yields a bit less than one cup and is only 2 net carbs.

I’m going to get some more radishes and try them in a potato salad recipe – I think they might work really well for that.

When my friend Nicole mentioned having ‘fried coleslaw’, I was partly intrigued, partly repelled.  ‘Fried’ carries good memories but cooked cabbage does not.  Then Tracy mentioned ‘broccoli slaw’ and I though, hmmm – maybe there’s a broccoli/cabbage slaw combination?  Well, there is – but there’s also this:

This is ‘Rainbow Salad’ at Meijer.  It was right next to the cole slaw and broccoli slaw and all that.  It has shredded cauliflower hearts, broccoli florets, shredded carrots and red cabbage.  I decided it was coming home with me for a taste test.

As per Nicole’s instructions I put some butter (well, lots of butter – at least two tablespoons LOL!)  in the ban and poured in a nice serving of the rainbow veggies.  I cooked it over medium/high until everything was almost all the way soft, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Right out of the pan I sprinkled some shredded cheese on top, just a couple of tablespoons – and here it is.

It was delicious!  I’m thinking this would make a great baked casserole for a large group. I’ll play with that next holiday I think