Tag: low-carb

Cheddar Egg Bake With Spinach

Cheddar egg bake with spinach cut into squares, one on a small plate in a shallow bowl.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 21 grams of protein in one small square, from eggs, cottage cheese, and cheddar.
  • About 285 calories in that same square, most of it from the cheese and the eggs, so a few bites carry a lot.
  • The trade-off: cheese makes this a higher-fat, higher-sodium dish. That is by design for someone eating very little, and the card shows the amounts.

Eggs whisked with cottage cheese and milk, poured over thawed spinach and shredded sharp cheddar, and baked in a square pan until just set. It cuts into six soft squares that keep in the refrigerator for four days and in the freezer for two months. One square reheats in the microwave in about a minute.

The texture is soft and moist all the way through, more like a savory custard than a frittata, and the flavor is mild: cheddar, a little onion, spinach, and pepper. Nothing sharp, nothing spicy.

Why This Egg Bake Is Great When Appetite Is Small

During an illness or a course of treatment, two things happen at once. The body needs more protein than usual to repair tissue and fight infection, and appetite falls, sometimes to a few bites a meal. A plate of plain food cannot close that gap, because the person cannot eat enough of it.

The answer is to put more nutrition into every bite. Eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, whole milk, nut butter, and olive oil all raise protein and calories without raising the amount of food on the fork. A square of this egg bake a little larger than a deck of cards carries about 21 grams of protein, roughly what a person would get from a full plate of eggs and toast.

Every Ingredient Is Doing Two Jobs

The eggs are the base and about half the protein. The cottage cheese is stirred into the eggs, where it disappears, and adds protein while keeping the texture soft. The cheddar adds protein, calories, and most of the flavor. Whole milk instead of water does the same on a smaller scale.

The spinach is there for iron, folate, and color, and because a small amount of vegetable is easier to eat when it is baked into something soft. How to fortify other everyday foods the same way, and how much protein a day of illness calls for, is in Protein Density: Eating Enough When Appetite Is Small.

Make It on a Good Day

Fatigue is as much a barrier to eating as appetite. This is a recipe for a good day, or for a friend to make: fifteen minutes of work, then the oven does the rest. Cut it into squares while it is warm, cool it, and store the squares in a single layer.

On a hard day, one square goes from the refrigerator to the microwave to the plate in about a minute, with no cooking smell to face. Frozen squares reheat in about two minutes.

Soft, Mild, and Not Too Hot

For a sore mouth or a changed sense of taste, serve the square warm rather than hot, and skip the black pepper. A spoon of plain yogurt or sour cream on top adds moisture and a little more protein. For a metallic taste, the sharpness of the cheddar helps; use extra-sharp.

Cheddar egg bake with spinach cut into squares, one on a small plate in a shallow bowl.
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Cheddar Egg Bake With Spinach

Eggs, cottage cheese, sharp cheddar, and frozen spinach baked into soft squares that reheat in a minute. About 21 grams of protein in one square.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Breakfast, lunch
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cheddar egg casserole, egg bake, high protein breakfast, make ahead breakfast, soft food
Servings: 6 square
Calories: 285kcal

Equipment

  • 8-inch square baking dish
  • Whisk

Ingredients

  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 cup 2 percent cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon butter for the dish
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
  • Squeeze the thawed spinach in your hands or in a clean towel until no more water comes out. Spread it over the bottom of the dish with the chopped onion and 1 cup of the cheddar.
  • In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the cottage cheese, milk, salt, and pepper until blended; small curds of cottage cheese are fine.
  • Pour the eggs over the spinach and cheese. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar on top.
  • Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the center is set and no longer jiggles and the top is lightly golden. Cool 10 minutes before cutting into 6 pieces.
  • Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 months. Reheat one square in the microwave for about 1 minute from the refrigerator, or 2 minutes from frozen.

Notes

For more calories in the same square, whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the eggs or use 4 percent cottage cheese. For a sore mouth, leave out the pepper and serve warm rather than hot. Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added cottage cheese and skip the added salt. Frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped small, can replace the spinach.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.6g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9.6g | Sodium: 552mg | Potassium: 309mg | Fiber: 1.5g | Sugar: 3.4g | Calcium: 362mg | Iron: 2mg | Magnesium: 52mg | Phosphorus: 355mg | Choline: 220mg

Gluten Free

Eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, milk, and spinach are naturally free of gluten, and this recipe uses no flour or bread. For people with celiac disease, check the shredded cheddar label, since a few brands dust shredded cheese with wheat starch to keep it from clumping; a block of cheddar shredded at home avoids the question. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any shredded cheese.

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Turkey Potato Salad With Spinach

A bowl of turkey potato salad with spinach in a yogurt-mustard dressing in a wide bowl.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 35 grams of protein in one adult bowl, from turkey and yogurt, in a lunch built to be served plain to a child and sharpened for an adult from the same pot.
  • Potatoes cooked ahead and cooled bring potassium and resistant starch, and spinach brings folate and vitamin K.
  • The trade-off: a child’s bowl is about two thirds of the adult’s, and the card shows the adult figures. The notes say how the child’s portion works out.

A pound and a quarter of ground turkey is browned with garlic, paprika, and black pepper until crisp at the edges. It is folded, still warm, into red potatoes that were boiled the night before and cubed cold, along with baby spinach that wilts a little on contact.

The dressing is Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, lemon, and olive oil. At the table, the children’s bowls get the salad as it is. The adults’ bowls get chopped pickled onion, more mustard, hot sauce, and fresh dill.

Why This Salad Is Great for a Table With a Seven-Year-Old at It

Most families that cook two meals do it over seasoning. The child will eat potatoes, turkey, and spinach; what the child will not eat is the sharp mustard, the vinegar, the heat, and the herbs that make the same bowl interesting to an adult. Cooking two dinners to solve a seasoning problem doubles the work for a difference that fits in a spoon.

The fix is to cook the base plain and finish each bowl at the table. This salad is built that way from the start.

One Pot, Two Finishes

The base is mild on purpose: turkey with garlic and paprika, potatoes, spinach, and a yogurt dressing with only a teaspoon of mustard in it. A child’s bowl is that, in a smaller portion. An adult’s bowl is the same salad with pickled onion, extra mustard, hot sauce, and dill stirred in, which takes thirty seconds and no second pan.

The adult bowl carries about 35 grams of protein, and the child’s, at two thirds the size, about 24. How to run the same trick across a week of dinners, and what portion a child of each age needs, is in One Dish, Two Plates: Feeding Adults and Children From the Same Recipe.

The Child’s Bowl and the Adult’s Bowl

A seven-year-old needs about two thirds of an adult’s portion and about the same range of foods, so the child’s bowl is the adult’s bowl scaled down, with nothing taken out. The turkey is cut the same, the potatoes are the same, and the spinach goes in, whether it gets eaten or not; a vegetable that appears on the plate every time gets eaten eventually.

What differs is the finish. Children’s palates are more sensitive to bitterness, sourness, and heat, which is why the mustard, vinegar, and hot sauce stay on the adult side of the table. As the child gets older, one of them moves across.

Potatoes Cooked Ahead, and Why That Helps a Child’s Blood Sugar

Potatoes boiled the night before and eaten cold or barely rewarmed carry more resistant starch than hot potatoes. The starch recrystallizes as it cools into a form the small intestine cannot digest, so the potato raises blood sugar more slowly and feeds gut bacteria instead.

Paired with the turkey’s protein and the yogurt, the potatoes in this salad land gently. That matters for the two hours after lunch when a child needs to sit still in a classroom or a car.

How much the cook-and-cool step changes a potato is in Cook, Cool, Reheat: Resistant Starch in Everyday Cooking.

A bowl of turkey potato salad with spinach in a yogurt-mustard dressing in a wide bowl.
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Turkey Potato Salad With Spinach

Ground turkey browned with garlic, paprika, and black pepper, folded warm into red potatoes boiled the night before and cubed cold, with baby spinach and a dressing of Greek yogurt, Dijon, lemon, and olive oil. Served plain for children and finished at the table for adults with pickled onion, mustard, hot sauce, and dill. Four adult bowls with about 35 grams of protein each, or three adult and two child bowls.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time27 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch, Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: family lunch recipe, kid friendly lunch, make ahead family lunch, one recipe two plates, spinach potato salad, turkey potato salad, warm potato salad with turkey
Servings: 4 adult bowl (a child's bowl is about two thirds)
Calories: 438kcal

Equipment

  • Medium pot
  • Large skillet
  • Large mixing bowl

Ingredients

Salad

  • 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes scrubbed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/4 pounds 93 percent lean ground turkey
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups baby spinach

Dressing

  • 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Adult finish, at the table

  • pickled red onion extra Dijon mustard, hot sauce, chopped fresh dill

Instructions

  • The night before, boil the potatoes in their skins until a knife slides in, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool, and refrigerate. Cube them cold.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey, garlic, paprika, pepper, and salt and cook, breaking it up, until browned and crisp at the edges, about 8 minutes.
  • Whisk the yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, and oil in a large bowl. Add the cold potatoes, the warm turkey, and the spinach and fold together; the spinach wilts a little.
  • Serve the children's bowls as is. Finish the adult bowls at the table with pickled onion, more mustard, hot sauce, and dill.
  • Keeps 3 days in the refrigerator; good cold in a lunchbox.

Notes

One pot, two finishes: the base is mild so a child eats it as is, and adults sharpen their own bowls at the table, which takes thirty seconds and no second pan. A child of about seven eats roughly two thirds of an adult bowl, about 24 grams of protein, with nothing left out; the spinach goes in every time, eaten or not. Cook the potatoes the night before: cooled potatoes carry more resistant starch and raise blood sugar more slowly. Lower-sodium version: skip the salt and let the lemon and mustard carry it. Ground chicken works the same way.

Nutrition

Calories: 438kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 4.7g | Sodium: 327mg | Potassium: 1337mg | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 4.2g | Calcium: 135mg | Iron: 4mg | Magnesium: 99mg | Phosphorus: 460mg | Choline: 117mg

Gluten Free

Turkey, potatoes, spinach, yogurt, lemon, olive oil, and paprika are naturally free of gluten, and this salad is gluten-free as written. For people with celiac disease, check the Dijon mustard and the hot sauce for wheat flour or malt vinegar, and check the pickled onions for malt vinegar in the brine. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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Chicken Cacciatore for the Instant Pot(R)

Chicken Cacciatore for the Instant Pot

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Bone-in chicken thighs give each serving about 25 grams of protein, enough to build a satisfying dinner around.
  • Herbs, garlic, and no-salt-added tomatoes build the flavor, so this braise fits a heart-conscious eating pattern.
  • The skin and dark meat make this higher in saturated fat; take the skin off before serving to cut it.

A good chicken cacciatore usually simmers on the stove for the better part of an hour. In the Instant Pot, the browning and the braise happen in one pot, and dinner is ready in about 45 minutes. Pressure cooking shortens the long braise to a fraction of the time, and the chicken turns tender enough to fall from the bone.

Lower-Sodium Braising Starts With Herbs and Aromatics

Most of the salt in a classic braise comes from bouillon, canned broth, and salted tomatoes. This version builds flavor another way. Herbes de Provence, garlic, celery, and mushrooms give the sauce a savory depth. No-salt-added stewed tomatoes and low-sodium broth carry the body of the braise without the added sodium. The sauce reads as a full cacciatore, and the calculated sodium stays moderate for a dish this hearty.

Sodium matters here because eating less of it eases the pressure inside your blood vessels over time. Salting lightly at the end, after the sauce reduces, puts a small amount of salt on the surface where you taste it most. Leaving the skin on to brown and removing it before serving keeps the saturated fat down while you still get the flavor the skin adds during cooking.

What’s in a Serving

The calculated card shows what a cook wants to know before making this. Each serving lands at about 410 calories, with roughly 25 grams of protein and only about 7 grams of carbohydrate. That balance eats as a filling, lower-carbohydrate main.

Saturated fat comes in around 7 grams, most of it from the chicken skin, and the skin-off step is what brings that number down. Fiber is low at about 1 gram, so a vegetable side or a spoon of beans rounds out the plate.

Ingredient Spotlights

Bone-in, skin-on thighs are the right cut for pressure braising. Dark meat stays juicy under pressure where lean breast can dry out, and the bone adds body to the sauce. Brown the skin for flavor, then lift it off before serving so the saturated fat goes with it.

Mushrooms and celery build the savory base that lets the sauce taste full with less salt. A 4-ounce pack of mushrooms is light for four servings, so add a second pack if you want a deeper sauce. Olive oil is the cooking fat, and herbes de Provence with no-salt-added tomatoes carries the flavor of a long-simmered braise.

Who This Braise Fits, and When to Go Easy

This is a good dinner for anyone who wants a hearty, higher-protein plate with very little carbohydrate, and who is keeping an eye on sodium. The rebuilt sauce keeps sodium moderate, and the protein makes it filling without a large portion.

Go easy on the saturated fat by taking the chicken skin off before serving, which is where most of it sits. Because the fiber is low, serve the braise with a vegetable or a small portion of beans so the meal keeps you full until the next one.

How to Make It Your Own

A few easy swaps change the recipe to fit how you eat.

  • Use skinless thighs from the start for the lowest saturated fat.
  • Add a second pack of mushrooms, or a chopped bell pepper, for more vegetables and fiber.
  • Choose a certified gluten-free broth to keep the dish gluten-free.
  • Stir in a splash of red-wine vinegar at the end to brighten the sauce.
  • Serve it over sauteed vegetables or a small portion of white beans in place of pasta.

Make It Ahead and Store It

This braise tastes even better the next day, once the herbs and tomato have had time to settle into the sauce. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to four days, or freeze it for up to three months. Reheat it gently on the stove or in the microwave so the chicken stays tender.

Chicken Cacciatore for the Instant Pot

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Chicken Cacciatore for the Instant Pot

Hunter-style braised chicken thighs made fast in the Instant Pot, rebuilt lower in sodium with no-salt-added tomatoes and low-sodium broth.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken cacciatore, high protein dinner, Instant Pot chicken, lower-sodium cacciatore, pressure cooker chicken thighs
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 410kcal

Equipment

  • Instant Pot (or electric pressure cooker)
  • Instant-read thermometer

Ingredients

  • 4 6 oz bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion chopped
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 4 oz package sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 14 oz can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes optional
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper optional

Instructions

  • Rinse the chicken thighs and pat dry. Set the Instant Pot to Saute and heat the olive oil. Brown the thighs about 6 minutes per side, then transfer to a plate, reserving the drippings.
  • Add the onion, celery, and mushrooms; cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook 2 minutes.
  • Return the chicken to the pot. Add the stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and herbes de Provence, then pour in the low-sodium broth.
  • Close and lock the lid. Select high pressure and cook 11 minutes (allow about 10 to 15 minutes for the pot to come to pressure).
  • Quick-release the pressure (about 5 minutes). Check that the chicken reads 165 degrees F at the bone. Season with red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste.
  • For a thicker sauce, remove the chicken and reduce the sauce on Saute mode. Remove the skin before serving to lower the saturated fat.

Notes

  • Lower sodium: this version uses no-salt-added stewed tomatoes and low-sodium chicken broth in place of the original water and bouillon cubes, which removes most of the added sodium; salt lightly to taste at the end.
  • Lower saturated fat: leave the skin on for browning, then remove it before serving.
  • Gluten-free: choose a certified gluten-free broth (some broths and bouillon contain wheat).
  • Make-ahead and storage: the flavor deepens overnight; refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months, then reheat gently.
  • Timing: beyond the 45 minutes of prep and cook, allow about 10 to 15 minutes for the pot to reach pressure and about 5 minutes to quick-release.
  • Buying guidance: bone-in, skin-on thighs stay juicy under pressure; a 4 oz pack of mushrooms is light for four servings, so add a second pack for a heartier sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servings per bowl | Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 399mg | Potassium: 536mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg | Magnesium: 40mg | Phosphorus: 261mg | Choline: 75mg

Takeaway

This weeknight braise gives you a tender, higher-protein dinner from the Instant Pot in about 45 minutes. The sodium has been rebuilt lower, and an easy skin-off step keeps the saturated fat down.

Serve It With

Spoon it over sauteed greens, cauliflower mash, or a small white-bean side, and add a simple green salad to round out the plate.

Cottage Cheese Flatbread

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Cottage cheese and eggs make this flatbread high in protein and almost starch free, which fits a blood-sugar-friendly eating pattern.
  • It is gluten free, and it takes about five minutes of hands-on work before the pan goes in the oven.
  • Cottage cheese is high in sodium, so buy the low-sodium tub and go light on salty seasonings.

In a turkey sandwich, almost all of the carbohydrate is in the bread or the wrap. Blend a tub of cottage cheese with two eggs, spread the batter across a sheet pan, and bake it into a flatbread pliable enough to fold around turkey and lettuce. Two ingredients, one pan.

Swapping the Wheat Wrap Changes What Lunch Does to Your Blood Sugar

A flour tortilla is mostly starch, which is glucose molecules linked in long chains. Enzymes in your mouth and small intestine cut those chains apart quickly, and the freed glucose moves into your blood within minutes. A burrito-size wrap has about as much carbohydrate as three or four slices of bread. That is the main reason a sandwich lunch raises glucose.

This flatbread is cottage cheese and eggs, so there is no flour and no starch to break down. The carbohydrate it does have is lactose, the sugar naturally in milk, and a serving contains only a small amount. Same fillings, and a much smaller glucose rise afterward. The wrap did supply some fiber, and this flatbread supplies none, so put the fiber in the filling and the side.

The Protein Slows How Fast the Rest of the Meal Reaches Your Blood

Protein slows how fast the stomach empties into the small intestine. Food leaves gradually, so glucose from whatever carbohydrate is in the meal reaches your blood over a longer stretch of time. The flatbread itself has almost no carbohydrate, so that slowdown works on what you put in it and next to it, the fruit, the crackers, the soup.

Casein, the main protein in cottage cheese, forms a soft curd in stomach acid, and that curd leaves the stomach slowly. A serving here is half a sheet pan, and it has about as much protein as a serving of chicken before you add any filling. For daily protein targets, see Protein: How Much Do You Need And Where Do You Get It.

What’s in a Serving

The protein comes from two places, the curds in the cottage cheese and the eggs. Cottage cheese is a good source of phosphorus and vitamin B12. It has less calcium than the same amount of milk, since most of the calcium leaves with the whey when the curd is made. The eggs add choline and a little vitamin D.

Sodium is the figure to check on the card, and almost all of it comes from the cottage cheese rather than from anything you add. One serving takes a real share of a day’s sodium, which is why the low-sodium tub is worth buying. The fat depends on which tub you bought, since 4 percent bakes richer than a 2 percent version.

What to Buy

Cottage Cheese

Whole milk cottage cheese at 4 percent milkfat gives the most tender flatbread and the best flavor. A 2 percent tub works and bakes a bit firmer and drier. Read the ingredient list and favor a tub whose label reads cultured milk, cream, and salt. Gums such as xanthan and guar are safe to eat, though they can leave a slightly rubbery edge.

Low-sodium cottage cheese sits next to the regular tubs in most supermarkets and cuts the salt substantially. Some tubs list live and active cultures on the label, and those taste tangier. Cottage cheese also has less lactose than milk, since most of it drains away with the whey.

Eggs

Two large eggs go into one sheet-pan batch. The egg proteins set as the batter bakes. That set protein network is flexible enough to fold at the crease without cracking once cooled.

Parchment Paper

Line the sheet pan with parchment and leave an overhang on the long sides so you can lift the flatbread off in one piece. Foil sticks to the batter and tears the surface.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

This flatbread suits anyone managing prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, anyone who had gestational diabetes and is still watching glucose, and anyone eating gluten free. It also works for someone who eats little protein in the morning, since one serving has more than most breakfasts. For more on how this applies over a day, see How Low Glycemic Foods Help Manage Blood Sugar and Boost Energy.

Go easy if you follow a strict low-sodium plan, and buy the low-sodium tub when you do. Some brands add phosphate salts as stabilizers, and the body takes those up more completely than the phosphorus that occurs naturally in food. If you have kidney disease, read the label for ingredients with phos in the name, and follow the protein and sodium targets your kidney care team set for you.

How to Make It Your Own

Savory Versions

Blend in half a teaspoon of garlic powder and a teaspoon of Italian herbs for a savory, herb-forward flatbread. Everything bagel seasoning scattered over the batter before baking gives the top a seedy, salty crust. That seasoning is salt-forward, so pair it with the low-sodium tub if sodium is your concern.

For a pizza base, bake the flatbread, add sauce and mozzarella, and finish it under the broiler for three minutes. A little almond flour blended into the batter makes a sturdier bread that holds a heavier filling.

A Breakfast Version

Cinnamon and a splash of vanilla turn the same batter into something closer to French toast. If you want it sweet, allulose measures close to sugar and blends straight into the batter. A monk fruit blend works too, and monk fruit is far sweeter than sugar on its own, so follow the package to match the sweetness you want.

Swaps Recap

  • Low sodium: use low-sodium cottage cheese, and skip the everything bagel seasoning.
  • Lower sugar: the base recipe has no added sugar, and the breakfast version sweetens with allulose or a monk fruit blend.
  • Dairy free: this flatbread is built on cottage cheese, so for a dairy-free bread make a chickpea flour flatbread instead.
  • Nut free: the base recipe is free of nuts, so skip the almond flour in the savory variation.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Let the flatbread cool completely on the pan before you move it. A warm flatbread tears as you pull the parchment away, and a cool one lifts off clean. Cut it into serving pieces, stack them with parchment between the layers, and refrigerate in a covered container for four days.

The pieces freeze for up to three months in a zip-top bag, parchment still between them. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a dry skillet over medium heat for about a minute a side, or in a toaster oven. Both dry the surface again, so the flatbread folds without tearing. A microwave leaves it limp.

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Cottage Cheese Flatbread

A pliable, high-protein flatbread blended from cottage cheese and eggs and baked on a sheet pan. It folds like a wrap and has almost no starch.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: lunch
Keyword: blood sugar friendly lunch, cottage cheese flatbread, gluten free flatbread, high protein flatbread, low carb wrap, two ingredient flatbread
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 166kcal

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Rimmed Sheet Pan
  • parchment paper

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cottage cheese 4 percent milkfat
  • 2 eggs large

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the two long sides.
  • Put the cottage cheese and eggs in a blender.
  • Blend on high until the mixture is completely smooth, about 45 seconds.
  • Pour the batter onto the lined pan.
  • Spread the batter into a rectangle about 9 by 12 inches and 1/4 inch thick.
  • Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the surface is dry to the touch and the edges are golden.
  • Set the pan on a rack and cool the flatbread completely, about 20 minutes.
  • Lift the parchment overhang to release the flatbread from the pan.
  • Peel the parchment away from the underside.
  • Cut the flatbread in half to make 2 servings.

Notes

Passive time: the flatbread needs about 20 minutes of cooling on a rack before you move it, and that time sits outside the prep and cook times above. A warm flatbread tears as you pull the parchment away. A cool one lifts off clean.
Low sodium: cottage cheese is high in sodium, and a low-sodium tub cuts most of it. Skip salty toppings such as everything bagel seasoning if sodium is a concern.
Savory version: blend in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon Italian herbs. For a pizza base, bake the flatbread, add sauce and mozzarella, and broil 3 minutes.
Breakfast version: blend in 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. To sweeten, allulose measures close to sugar and blends straight into the batter. A monk fruit blend works too, and monk fruit is far sweeter than sugar on its own, so follow the package to match the sweetness you want.
Sturdier version: blend a little almond flour into the batter for a bread that holds a heavier filling. That version is no longer nut free.
Dairy free: this flatbread is built on cottage cheese, so there is no dairy-free version of it. Make a chickpea flour flatbread instead.
Buying the cottage cheese: 4 percent milkfat gives the most tender flatbread and the best flavor, and a 2 percent tub bakes a bit firmer and drier. Favor a short ingredient list. Gums such as xanthan and guar are safe to eat, though they can leave a slightly rubbery edge.
Kidney: some cottage cheese brands add phosphate salts as stabilizers, and the body takes those up more completely than the phosphorus that occurs naturally in food. Read the label for ingredients with phos in the name.
Storage: stack cut pieces with parchment between the layers and refrigerate in a covered container up to 4 days. Freeze up to 3 months in a zip-top bag. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a dry skillet over medium heat about a minute a side, or in a toaster oven. A microwave leaves it limp.

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 393mg | Potassium: 170mg | Sugar: 3g | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 14mg | Phosphorus: 254mg | Choline: 149mg

Cottage Cheese and Eggs Make a Wrap That Is Mostly Protein

A cottage cheese flatbread folds and chews like a wrap, with about the protein of a chicken serving and almost none of the starch. The sodium is high, and the low-sodium tub brings it down substantially. The fiber has to come from the filling and the side. Half a sheet-pan flatbread per person is a serving, and it holds a sandwich’s worth of filling without falling apart.

Serve It With

Fold it around Cool ‘n’ Crunchy Chicken Salad for a lunch that needs no cooking beyond the flatbread itself. A side of Easy Kale Salad brings the fiber this flatbread lacks. If you want another low-carbohydrate bread to keep in the freezer, Cloud Bread uses eggs the same way.

Creamy Coconut Curry Dressing

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Turmeric, ginger, and garlic make this a dressing that fits an anti-inflammatory eating pattern.
  • The fat comes from coconut and olive oil, so it suits dairy free and lower carbohydrate eating.
  • Coconut milk is high in saturated fat, so keep the pour to two tablespoons or use the light coconut swap.

Raw cauliflower and shredded cabbage taste better with something creamy on them. This dressing takes five minutes in one bowl with a whisk. The fat in canned coconut milk dissolves the curry spices, lime sharpens the whole thing, and grated ginger and garlic add pungency. A jar in the refrigerator makes the vegetable half of dinner easy for the rest of the week.

Fat and Black Pepper Get More Curcumin Out of Turmeric

Curcumin Dissolves in Fat

Curcumin is the yellow compound in turmeric, and it makes up roughly two to five percent of the spice by weight. It dissolves in fat rather than water. Sprinkling dry turmeric over vegetables leaves most of it in a form the gut absorbs poorly. Whisking it into coconut milk and olive oil puts it in the fat where it dissolves.

Black Pepper Slows How Fast the Body Breaks Curcumin Down

The liver and the gut wall break curcumin down quickly, so little of it reaches the blood. Piperine, the compound that makes black pepper hot, slows those enzymes. Blood curcumin rose sharply in people who took piperine along with it (Shoba et al., Planta Med, 1998, PMID 9619120).

Culinary turmeric carries far less curcumin than the concentrated amounts used in that work, so a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground pepper is how you get more out of the turmeric already in the jar. A concentrated form is a separate decision, and the curcumin page covers it.

Ginger and Garlic Add Their Own Compounds

Gingerols give fresh ginger its pungency, and they slow the enzymes that produce inflammatory signals. Garlic contributes organosulfur compounds, which form when a clove is cut or crushed. The amounts in a two tablespoon serving are modest, so using these spices often over a week matters more than any single pour.

What’s in a Serving

Almost all of the calories in two tablespoons come from fat, and most of that fat comes from the coconut milk. Coconut fat is largely saturated, and the olive oil adds monounsaturated fat alongside it. There is very little carbohydrate and only a trace of protein.

The spices contribute polyphenols, plant compounds that fall outside what a nutrition label reports. The lime juice adds a little vitamin C. The salt you add is the only sodium in the jar, though some curry blends contain salt. The recipe card below shows the exact figures for a serving.

What To Buy

Canned Coconut Milk, Stirred Before You Measure

Canned coconut milk separates in the can, with thick cream on top and thin liquid below. Scrape the whole can into a bowl and whisk it smooth before you measure, or the dressing comes out greasy or watery. Full fat gives the dressing enough body to cling to raw vegetables. Light coconut milk works too and makes a thinner dressing with roughly a third of the fat.

Coconut beverage in a carton is mostly water, so buy the canned kind. Look for cans labeled BPA free. More BPA moves from a can lining into a fatty food than into a watery one.

Curry Powder Plus a Little Extra Turmeric

Curry powder is a blend, and turmeric is one part of it alongside coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and pepper. How much turmeric a blend holds varies a lot between brands. Adding a half teaspoon of straight ground turmeric raises the curcumin in the jar with little change to the flavor. Madras curry powder is hotter than a standard blend, so start with less if that is what you have.

Ground spices fade after about a year on the shelf. Buy the small jar and finish it. Toasting the curry powder in a dry pan for thirty seconds deepens the flavor. That is the one optional step here.

Grate the Fresh Garlic and Ginger on a Rasp

Grate the garlic and the ginger on a rasp grater so both dissolve into the dressing. Fresh garlic gives you more of the sulfur compounds and fresh ginger more gingerol, and the flavor is cleaner. With dried on hand, use a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder and a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

This dressing fits someone building an anti-inflammatory eating pattern, eating dairy free, or keeping carbohydrate low. It also suits anyone who wants a fast way to dress raw or roasted vegetables through the week.

Watch the portion if you are cutting saturated fat to bring LDL cholesterol down. Two tablespoons of the full fat version carry about as much saturated fat as a tablespoon of heavy cream. Light coconut milk cuts that by roughly two thirds, and swapping half the coconut milk for plain yogurt cuts it further while adding protein.

How To Make It Your Own

A tablespoon of peanut butter turns this into a peanut curry dressing thick enough for cold noodles or a cabbage and carrot slaw. Thin it with warm water until it pours.

Doubling the lime juice and leaving out the olive oil gives you a thinner version that works as a marinade for chicken thighs or firm tofu. Give it thirty minutes in the refrigerator before cooking.

Warmed in a small pan and spooned over roasted cauliflower or sweet potato, the same jar becomes a sauce. Keep the heat low so the coconut milk stays smooth.

When the lime tastes sharp, a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup balances it. Allulose measures close to sugar and works in its place. A monk fruit blend works as well. Follow the package to match the sweetness of a teaspoon of sugar.

Swaps Recap

  • Low sodium: leave the salt out and add another squeeze of lime, which brightens the dressing the same way. Check the curry powder label, since some blends have salt in them.
  • Lower sugar: the base recipe has no added sugar. With the optional honey, use allulose or a monk fruit blend in its place and follow the package to match a teaspoon of sugar.
  • Dairy free: the base recipe is already dairy free, so make it as written and skip the yogurt variation.
  • Nut free: make the base dressing and skip the peanut butter variation.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving Ideas

Kept in a jar in the refrigerator, this holds about a week. The coconut fat firms up cold, so the dressing thickens into something closer to a dip. Ten minutes on the counter or a splash of warm water brings it back to pouring consistency.

The garlic gets sharper by day three or four, so grate in a fresh clove if you want a milder jar. Skip the freezer with this one. The coconut fat separates as it thaws and the texture turns grainy. Two tablespoons over shredded cabbage, cucumber, and cilantro makes a fast side, and the same amount thins into a sauce for a rice and roasted vegetable bowl.

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Creamy Coconut Curry Dressing

A no-cook curry dressing built on canned coconut milk, with turmeric, ginger, garlic, lime, and black pepper. It whisks together in five minutes and keeps about a week in the refrigerator.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Seasonings and Sauces
Keyword: anti-inflammatory dressing, coconut curry dressing, dairy free dressing, no cook dressing, turmeric dressing
Servings: 6 servings
Calories:

Equipment

  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Rasp Grater
  • Glass Jar With Lid
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup coconut milk canned, full fat, whole can whisked smooth before measuring
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice fresh
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
  • 1 clove garlic grated
  • 1 teaspoon ginger grated, fresh
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Scrape the entire can of coconut milk into a bowl.
  • Whisk the coconut milk smooth, then measure 1/2 cup into a mixing bowl.
  • Add the lime juice and olive oil to the measured coconut milk.
  • Add the curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, garlic, ginger, and salt.
  • Whisk for about 30 seconds, until the color is even with no streaks of spice.
  • Taste and adjust, adding more lime for brightness, more salt for depth, or a pinch of cayenne for heat.
  • Pour into a jar and refrigerate at least 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

Stir the can before you measure. Canned coconut milk separates into thick cream and thin liquid, so whisk the whole can smooth or the dressing comes out greasy or watery.
Passive time: give the finished dressing at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator so the flavors come together. That time sits outside the 5 minute total.
Lower saturated fat: use light coconut milk, which makes a thinner dressing with roughly a third of the fat. Swapping half the coconut milk for plain yogurt lowers it further and adds protein, and that version contains dairy.
Lower sodium: leave the salt out and add another squeeze of lime. Check the curry powder label, since some blends contain salt.
Lower sugar: the recipe has no added sugar. With the optional teaspoon of honey or maple syrup, allulose works in its place and measures close to sugar. A monk fruit blend works as well, and you follow the package to match the sweetness of a teaspoon of sugar.
Nut free as written. Skip the peanut butter variation.
Buying guidance: curry powder blends vary in how much turmeric they hold, so the extra half teaspoon of ground turmeric is what keeps the curcumin steady. Look for cans labeled BPA free, since more BPA moves from a can lining into a fatty food than into a watery one.
Variations: whisk in 1 tablespoon peanut butter for a peanut curry dressing, thinned with warm water. For a marinade, double the lime juice and leave out the olive oil.
Storage: keeps about a week in a covered jar in the refrigerator. It thickens cold, so let it sit 10 minutes on the counter or whisk in a splash of warm water. Skip the freezer, since the fat separates as it thaws.

Coconut Milk and Black Pepper Make Turmeric Easier To Absorb

Curcumin dissolves in fat, and black pepper slows how fast the body breaks it down, so a dressing built on coconut milk supplies both at once. The ginger and garlic add their own compounds. Coconut milk brings real saturated fat with it, so keep the serving to two tablespoons, or use light coconut milk. Make a jar on Sunday and the vegetable side of dinner is already handled.

Serve It With

Shredded cabbage, cucumber, and a handful of cilantro is the fastest thing to put this on. For a fuller plate, spoon it over roasted vegetables and serve a Chickpea and Spinach Egg Scramble alongside for protein. For what the garlic in here contributes on its own, see Garlic As A Supplement.

Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Asparagus and garlic both contain inulin, a fiber your gut bacteria ferment into butyrate, the fuel your colon cells burn.
  • Asparagus is also one of the better vegetable sources of folate, which suits anyone filling that gap.
  • The bottled dressing is the one processed ingredient and the source of the 70 milligrams of sodium, so whisk your own.

This side takes five ingredients, one skillet, and about two minutes of heat. The garlic goes into the oil first, then the cut asparagus, then the vinaigrette and the pepper. The bottled dressing is the seasoning, so you skip building a sauce. The pieces come out bright green and very crisp. Asparagus and garlic also both contain inulin, a fiber your gut bacteria feed on.

Asparagus and Garlic Both Contain Inulin, the Fiber That Reaches Your Colon Intact

Most of the carbohydrate you eat is broken down in your small intestine and absorbed there as sugar. Inulin passes straight through. Your small intestine lacks the enzyme that would split it, so it arrives in your colon whole. A fiber that reaches the colon and feeds the bacteria living there is called a prebiotic.

Asparagus is one of the better vegetable sources of inulin, and garlic contains more of it per gram. This recipe uses both. One clove of garlic is a small amount, so most of the inulin here comes from the asparagus. For more on this fiber and the other foods that supply it, see Inulin.

Your Gut Bacteria Turn Inulin Into Butyrate, the Main Fuel for Your Colon Cells

Once the inulin reaches your colon, the bacteria living there ferment it. Bifidobacteria use it most readily, and feeding them raises their share of the population. That fermentation produces short-chain fatty acids. The one that matters most to your colon is butyrate.

The cells lining your colon wall absorb butyrate and burn it for energy. Butyrate is their main fuel, while most other cells in your body use glucose carried in the blood. A steady butyrate supply helps those lining cells hold a tight barrier between the contents of your colon and the rest of your body. For more, see Butyrate.

What’s in a Serving

A serving of this dish is mostly asparagus, so that is where most of the nutrition comes from. That means fiber, including the inulin, plus folate, which asparagus contains in larger amounts than most vegetables. There is vitamin K as well, a little vitamin C, and some potassium. The olive oil adds a small amount of monounsaturated fat.

Your body uses folate to build and repair DNA and to form red blood cells. Folate also helps keep the homocysteine in your blood at a healthy level. The dressing adds the sodium and any added sugar, and the recipe card below has the exact figures. For background on both nutrients, see Folate and Fiber 101.

What to Buy: Firm Spears and a Short Label on the Dressing

Asparagus

Look for firm stalks that stand straight and tips that are still tight and closed. Loose, mushy tips mean the bunch has been sitting a while. Thin spears are the best fit here, because the heat is short. Thick ones stay raw in the center, so cut those into shorter lengths or give them another minute.

The Vinaigrette

Turn the bottle around and read the label before you buy. That quarter cup is where nearly all the sodium in a serving comes from, and most brands add sugar as well. A lower-sodium bottle with a short ingredient list is the better choice. Whisking your own from red wine vinegar and olive oil puts you in control of both.

Garlic and Olive Oil

Fresh garlic has more flavor than the jarred minced kind, which matters when it gets only a minute in the oil. Extra-virgin olive oil adds a peppery note, and a two-minute sauté at moderate heat is gentle enough for it.

The Pan

Two pounds of asparagus fills a pan. Spread the pieces out in the widest, heaviest skillet (affiliate link) you own, because a crowded pan steams them instead of browning them.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

This side fits anyone working to eat more fiber, and it pairs with any protein. It is gluten-free, and a plain red wine vinaigrette keeps it dairy-free too. At 58 calories and 2 grams of protein a serving, it stays a side, so build the rest of the meal around chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, or beans.

The same inulin that feeds your gut bacteria is also a FODMAP, a fermentable carbohydrate. In people with irritable bowel syndrome or a sensitive gut, a large helping can bring on gas and bloating. If that describes you, start small and leave the garlic clove out. Garlic-infused olive oil still tastes of garlic, because the fructans stay behind with the solids. Our Low FODMAP Recipe Index has more options.

How to Make It Your Own

To roast instead of sauté, toss the pieces with the olive oil and spread them on a sheet pan. Give them 10 to 12 minutes at 425°F, then add the vinaigrette and pepper off the heat. Roasting browns the tips, concentrates the flavor, and cooks thick pieces all the way through.

Swaps Recap

  • Lower sodium: skip the bottle and whisk 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of dried oregano.
  • Lower sugar: most bottled vinaigrettes contain added sugar. If you build your own and want a little sweetness, allulose measures like sugar, and a monk fruit blend works when you follow the package.
  • Dairy-free: a plain red wine vinaigrette is dairy-free. Check the label on any creamy dressing you use instead.
  • Nut-free: every ingredient in the recipe is nut-free as written.
  • Gentler on a sensitive gut: leave the garlic clove out and cook the asparagus in garlic-infused olive oil for the garlic flavor.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Asparagus is best cooked the day you plan to eat it, so buy it close to when you need it. Before cooking, stand the bunch upright in an inch of water in the refrigerator with the tips loosely covered. It will stay crisp that way for three or four days. Cooked, it keeps about three days covered in the refrigerator.

Reheating softens the pieces, so leftovers are better cold. The vinegar keeps soaking into the asparagus overnight, and a cold serving the next day tastes like a marinated salad. Add the pieces to a grain bowl, or lay them over greens with a soft-boiled egg for lunch.

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Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette

Fresh asparagus cooked fast in a hot skillet with garlic and red wine vinaigrette, so the pieces stay bright green and crisp.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Asparagus, garlic, quick, sautéed
Servings: 8
Calories: 58kcal

Equipment

  • 1 skillet

Ingredients

  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 lbs fresh asparagus
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinaigrette dressing
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  • 1. Mince the garlic.
  • 2. Trim the asparagus and cut it into 2 inch pieces.
  • 3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  • 4. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute.
  • 5. Add the asparagus pieces and stir to coat.
  • 6. Add the red wine vinaigrette dressing and the black pepper.
  • 7. Stir and heat 1 minute more.
  • 8. Remove from the heat and serve.

Notes

Lower sodium: skip the bottled dressing and whisk 3 tbsp red wine vinegar with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of dried oregano.
Lower sugar: most bottled vinaigrettes contain added sugar. If you make your own and want a little sweetness, allulose measures like sugar. A monk fruit blend works too, following the package to match the sweetness of the sugar being replaced.
Dairy-free: a plain red wine vinaigrette is dairy-free. Check the label on any creamy dressing used in its place.
Nut-free: every ingredient is nut-free as written.
Gentler on a sensitive gut: leave the garlic clove out and cook the asparagus in garlic-infused olive oil. Inulin is a fructan, and fructans stay behind with the garlic solids rather than passing into the oil.
Roasting variation: toss the pieces with the olive oil and spread them on a sheet pan. Roast 10 to 12 minutes at 425 F, then add the vinaigrette and pepper off the heat.
Pan size: 2 lbs of asparagus fills a pan. Use the widest, heaviest skillet you have so the pieces brown instead of steaming.
Storage: refrigerate cooked asparagus up to 3 days. Leftovers are better cold than reheated.

Nutrition

Calories: 58kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 70mg | Potassium: 154mg | Fiber: 2g | Calcium: 19mg | Phosphorus: 51mg

Vinaigrette Asparagus Turns a Two Minute Side Into Food for Your Gut Bacteria

Asparagus and garlic both contain inulin, and this recipe puts them in the same pan. Your gut bacteria ferment that inulin into butyrate, and the cells lining your colon burn butyrate for fuel. Asparagus also supplies folate. The dressing is the one processed ingredient, so read the label or whisk your own. Count a serving as one eighth of the pan.

Serve It With

Asparagus works next to almost any simple protein, and it is especially good beside fish. Honey Rubbed Salmon makes an easy pairing, and Braised Balsamic Chicken shares the same vinegar note. If you have asparagus left over, Asparagus Crepe Rolls turns it into brunch. Add brown rice or farro and the meal is finished.

Avocado Shrimp Ceviche

Nutrition Snapshot

  • A serving gives about 20 grams of protein from shrimp, with only about 1 gram of saturated fat in the whole dish.
  • Diced avocado adds the same kind of fat as olive oil, plus most of the fiber in a serving.
  • A serving holds about 346 milligrams of sodium, so use a no-salt-added ketchup and cut the Worcestershire sauce.

Ceviche is what you make when it is too warm to stand at the stove. Shrimp, lime juice, tomato, onion, and cilantro go into one bowl and chill for an hour. The diced avocado goes on at the very end so it stays green. Poaching the shrimp first makes the dish safe for guests who should skip raw seafood.

Lean Shrimp and Avocado Fat Make This a Heart-Healthy Starter

Shrimp Gives Protein With Almost No Fat of Its Own

Almost all of the calories in shrimp come from protein. A serving of this ceviche has about 20 grams of it. The 5.5 grams of total fat in a serving comes mostly from the avocado, and only about 1 gram of that is saturated.

Shrimp is high in cholesterol, and that matters less than most people expect. Your liver makes most of the cholesterol in your blood, and it makes less when you eat more from food. Saturated fat has a much larger effect on LDL cholesterol, which is why shrimp fits a heart-healthy pattern.

Avocado Adds the Kind of Fat That Helps

Almost all of the fat in an avocado is the kind that stays liquid at room temperature, called monounsaturated fat. It is the same type that makes up most of the fat in olive oil. Swapping monounsaturated fat in for saturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol.

The avocado is also the biggest source of fiber here. The tomatoes and onion add the rest, for about 3 grams a serving.

Shrimp and Tomatoes Bring the Potassium

A serving has about 472 milligrams of potassium, which is more than its 346 milligrams of sodium. Potassium relaxes the muscle in the walls of your blood vessels, which lowers the pressure inside them. It also increases how much sodium the kidneys remove in the urine. Eating patterns higher in potassium than sodium are linked with lower blood pressure.

The shrimp supplies about half of the potassium here, and the tomatoes and avocado supply most of the rest. For more on this mineral and where to get it, see Potassium: Understanding This Major Mineral and Its Impact on Health.

What’s in a Serving

Most of a serving comes from the shrimp: the protein, about half the potassium, and a good share of the sodium, since shrimp contains sodium on its own. The tomatoes and onion add water, fiber, and potassium for very few calories. The avocado adds the fat and most of the fiber. The bottled sauces add flavor and the rest of the sodium.

A serving is small in calories, so you can eat a real portion of it. For how much protein you need in a day and where to get it, see Protein: How Much Do You Need And Where Do You Get It. The recipe card below lists the full nutrition figures for a serving.

What to Buy

Shrimp

Raw shrimp that is already peeled and deveined saves you the fussiest step. Frozen is usually the better buy, since most shrimp sold thawed at the fish counter was frozen first anyway. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator or under cold running water. The shrimp gets chopped, so any size works. Buy whatever is on sale.

Limes and Cilantro

Squeeze the limes fresh. Bottled lime juice tastes flat here. Three quarters of a cup takes about six to eight limes, so buy more than you think you need. Choose limes that feel heavy for their size. Cilantro should look crisp, with green leaves and dry stem ends.

Avocado

You want one that yields to gentle pressure at the stem end. A firm avocado ripens on the counter in two or three days, faster in a paper bag with a banana. Dice it right before serving. Lime juice slows the browning, and the pieces still look best within an hour of dicing.

The Bottled Sauces

The Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce are where most of the added sodium comes from. A no-salt-added ketchup and a lower-sodium hot sauce both work here with little change to the flavor.

Worcestershire also contains anchovies, so leave it out for a fish allergy or a vegetarian guest. If the dish needs to be gluten-free, check the label, since some versions use malt vinegar from barley and some use a soy sauce made with wheat.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

This fits anyone eating for their heart and anyone who wants a high-protein starter that stays light. Poaching the shrimp widens who can eat it. Lime juice firms raw shrimp, and it leaves bacteria and viruses alive. Poaching kills them, so the dish is safe in pregnancy, for young children, for adults over 65, and for anyone with a weakened immune system.

Shrimp is also among the lower-mercury seafoods, which answers the other half of the pregnancy question. If you are watching sodium closely, skip the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to a teaspoon. Shrimp is the whole dish, so a shellfish allergy means a different starter.

How to Make It Your Own

Bay scallops work in place of the shrimp. They are small, so give them about a minute. Firm white fish such as cod or halibut also works, poached and flaked. Diced cucumber, jicama, or mango add crunch and sweetness. A minced serrano gives you more heat than the bottled sauce does. Leaving out the Worcestershire and ketchup gives you a cleaner, more traditional lime and cilantro ceviche.

Swaps Recap

  • Lower sodium: leave out the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to 1 teaspoon.
  • Lower sugar: ketchup is the only source of added sugar here, so a no-sugar-added ketchup removes it.
  • Fish-free: leave out the Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies, and add another squeeze of lime instead.
  • Dairy-free: the recipe is dairy-free as written.
  • Nut-free: the recipe is nut-free as written.
  • Gluten-free: check the Worcestershire label, and scoop with corn tostadas or gluten-free crackers.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

The shrimp mixture can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. The shrimp gets slightly firmer as it sits in the lime juice, so the texture changes a little overnight. Hold the avocado and the green onion until you serve, then stir the avocado in gently so the pieces stay whole.

Leftovers keep two days in the refrigerator. Freezing turns the shrimp rubbery and the tomatoes watery, so plan to finish it. Serve it cold in glasses or small bowls, with whole grain crackers, corn tostadas, or endive leaves for scooping.

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Avocado Shrimp Ceviche

Poached shrimp chilled in fresh lime juice with tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, then topped with diced avocado. A light, high-protein starter you make ahead.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Keyword: avocado shrimp ceviche, heart healthy appetizer, high protein appetizer, make ahead appetizer, shrimp ceviche
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 166kcal

Equipment

  • large pot
  • Colander
  • Mixing bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds shrimp large, raw, peeled, deveined, and chopped
  • 3/4 cup lime juice fresh
  • 5 tomatoes roma, diced
  • 1 onion white, medium, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cilantro fresh, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
  • black pepper ground, to taste
  • salt to taste, optional
  • 1 avocado peeled, pitted, and diced
  • 2 tablespoons green onion chopped, for garnish

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • Add the shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until they turn pink and opaque all the way through.
  • Drain the shrimp and move them straight into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
  • Drain again, pat the shrimp dry, and chop them into bite-size pieces.
  • Put the chopped shrimp in a large bowl and pour the lime juice over them.
  • Stir until every piece is coated.
  • Add the tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, and stir until they are coated with the lime juice.
  • Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot pepper sauce.
  • Season with black pepper, and with salt only if you want it.
  • Spoon the ceviche into glasses or small bowls.
  • Top each serving with the diced avocado and the chopped green onion.

Notes

METHOD CHANGE FROM THE ORIGINAL CARD: the shrimp is now cooked for 2 to 3 minutes and chilled before it meets the lime juice. Lime juice firms raw shrimp, and it leaves bacteria and viruses alive, so a 5-minute acid soak is a raw-seafood preparation. Cooking the shrimp gives a firmer bite and makes the dish safe in pregnancy, for young children, for adults over 65, and for anyone with a weakened immune system. Every ingredient and amount is unchanged.
Passive time: 1 hour of chilling in the refrigerator after the vegetables go in. This is on top of the 25 minutes of active time.
Lower sodium: leave out the added salt, use a no-salt-added ketchup, and cut the Worcestershire sauce to 1 teaspoon. Shrimp contains sodium on its own, so the seasonings are where you have room to work.
Lower sugar: ketchup is the only source of added sugar in the recipe. A no-sugar-added ketchup removes it.
Fish allergy and vegetarian guests: Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. Leave it out and add another squeeze of lime instead.
Gluten: check the Worcestershire sauce label. Some versions use malt vinegar from barley and some use a soy sauce made with wheat. Serve with corn tostadas or gluten-free crackers rather than whole grain crackers if the dish needs to be gluten-free.
Hot sauce: leave it out of the bowl and set it on the table so each person adds their own.
Avocado: dice it and stir it in just before serving so the pieces stay green and whole.
Presentation: save two whole cooked shrimp and hook them over the rim of each glass.
Serving: serve cold with whole grain crackers, corn tostadas, or endive leaves for scooping. Set out extra lime wedges, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce so people can season their own.
Make ahead and storage: the shrimp mixture can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. The shrimp gets slightly firmer as it sits in the lime juice, so the texture changes a little overnight. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated. Do not freeze it; freezing turns the shrimp rubbery and the tomatoes watery.
Dairy-free and nut-free as written.
Serving size: about 1/2 cup per serving, 8 servings.
Nutrition is calculated by WP Recipe Maker. Re-run the calculation after import.

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 682mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 60mg | Phosphorus: 284mg | Choline: 11mg

Poaching the Shrimp Widens Who Can Eat This Cold Starter

Two or three minutes in boiling water is the whole difference. The shrimp is cooked, so you can serve this to a pregnant guest or a grandparent. The lime still gives it the flavor. What you get is a cold starter with about 20 grams of protein and about 1 gram of saturated fat. Serve it in small glasses, about half a cup each, with corn tostadas for scooping.

Serve It With

Ceviche is cold and acidic, so it pairs well with something crunchy and something green. Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw repeats the lime and cilantro and adds cabbage crunch. A Jicama and Carrot Salad uses the jicama from the variations above. An Easy Kale Salad turns either pairing into a light summer supper.

Shashlik (Shish Kebab)

Nutrition Snapshot

  • High in protein and very low in carbohydrate, so it fits a blood sugar friendly dinner as written.
  • The seasoning is vinegar, garlic, pepper, and oregano instead of salt, which keeps a serving low in sodium.
  • Beef sirloin is red meat, so keep this to one skewer and put chicken or salmon on the grill other nights.

Shashlik is beef sirloin, onion, and bell pepper cut into chunks, soaked in vinegar and oil, and grilled on skewers. The marinade takes two minutes to mix. Most grilled main courses pick up their sodium from a rub or a bottled sauce, and the seasoning here is acid, garlic, and herbs, so a serving comes in at 60 milligrams.

Grilled Sirloin and Peppers Make a Dinner With Almost No Carbohydrate

The Carbohydrate Comes From the Onion and Peppers

A serving holds about 26 grams of protein and about 5 grams of carbohydrate. Beef has no carbohydrate at all, so those 5 grams come from the onion and the two bell peppers. Both vegetables are mostly water and fiber, so that carbohydrate arrives with bulk behind it. The skewer is the whole dish, so any bread or rice on the plate is one you add yourself.

Why Protein and Fat Keep the Glucose Rise Small

This dinner starts with very little carbohydrate, which is the main reason blood sugar moves so little after it. Protein and fat add a second effect. Both slow how fast the stomach empties into the small intestine, so sugars from a meal reach the bloodstream over a longer stretch of time. Between the two, the rise after this dinner stays small and easy to plan around.

What’s in a Serving

The protein comes almost entirely from the sirloin. The peppers and onion add potassium and vitamin C, and a red pepper holds more vitamin C than a green one. Sodium is low because the seasoning is acid and herbs, so the only sodium in a serving is what the beef and vegetables hold on their own.

The fat number on the recipe card counts the full half cup of oil in the marinade. Most of that oil is poured off with the leftover marinade and never eaten, so a serving is leaner than the card figure suggests. Marinating in a quarter cup of oil brings the card closer to what reaches the plate.

Vinegar and Oil Soften the Sirloin and Lower the Compounds High Heat Forms

Acid Keeps a Lean Cut Tender

Sirloin is lean, and lean muscle dries out and tightens over high heat. Vinegar loosens the protein structure at the surface of each cube, a change called denaturing. The outside then stays soft while the inside cooks through. Oil spreads the pepper, garlic, and oregano over the meat and helps the surface brown.

A Marinade of Oil, Vinegar, and Herbs Lowers the Compounds Grilling Forms on Beef

Muscle meat cooked over high heat forms heterocyclic amines, compounds that are suspected human carcinogens. Marinating the beef first lowers how much of them forms. Beef steaks coated with a commercial spice marinade formed 57 to 88 percent less. That marinade used an oil, water, and vinegar base and went on an hour before grilling (Smith, Ameri, and Gadgil, Journal of Food Science, 2008, PMID 19241593).

This recipe uses a shorter soak and a cooler grill, so expect a smaller effect than those figures. Mix the marinade first and give the beef the full 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Grill over medium heat, which browns the surface more slowly than a hot fire. Turn the skewers every few minutes so no one side blackens.

What to Buy: Sirloin, Peppers, and the Marinade Oil

The Beef

Top sirloin is the right cut here. It is lean enough to keep the saturated fat modest and firm enough to hold together on a skewer. Trim the visible fat before you cube it. That lowers the fat in the finished dish and cuts down on flare-ups over the coals.

The Oil

Canola oil as written is mild and mostly unsaturated. Extra virgin olive oil gives the marinade more flavor and works well here, since oil clinging to the meat reaches a far lower temperature than oil in a hot pan. Avocado oil has the highest smoke point of the three, which makes it the steadiest choice over a hot grate.

The Vegetables

Buy firm peppers with tight skin and heavy onions with dry, papery outsides. Cut the onion into quarters, then separate the layers into two or three leaf thicknesses. At that thickness they thread onto the skewer and cook through. One red pepper alongside the two green ones adds sweetness and color.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

This dish suits anyone eating for steady blood sugar, anyone keeping sodium down, and anyone on a lower carbohydrate eating pattern. It is gluten free, dairy free, and nut free as written.

Go easy if you have reduced kidney function. The peppers and onion are a fair source of potassium, and a serving is high in protein, so set the portion against your own potassium and protein targets. Anyone managing gout may want a smaller skewer, since red meat is high in purines.

How to Make It Your Own

Change the Protein

Swap the beef one for one: boneless chicken thighs, salmon chunks, or extra firm tofu all skewer and marinate the same way. Chicken needs an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Salmon and tofu are done in about 8 to 10 minutes on the grill.

Add More Vegetables

Mushrooms, zucchini rounds, and cherry tomatoes all thread well and take the same marinade. More vegetables raise the fiber and spread the beef across more skewers, which keeps the red meat portion modest.

Swaps Recap

For less fat, marinate in a quarter cup of oil. For a different fat profile, use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. As written the recipe is already low in sodium, sugar free, dairy free, and nut free, so those four adaptations are built in.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Cube the beef and cut the vegetables up to a day ahead and refrigerate them, and mix the marinade in a jar at the same time. Combine the two up to eight hours before you grill. Thirty minutes is the minimum soak, and eight hours is a sensible maximum, because acid keeps loosening the surface proteins past that point and the outside of the meat turns soft.

Cooked kebabs keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 2 months in the freezer. Reheat them in a 350 degree F oven so the sirloin stays tender. Sliced off the skewer, the leftovers are good cold over greens the next day.

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Shashlik (Shish Kebab)

Beef sirloin, onion, and bell pepper marinated in vinegar and oil, then grilled on skewers. High in protein, very low in carbohydrate, and made with no added salt.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Eastern European
Keyword: beef kebabs, grilled beef skewers, low sodium dinner, shashlik, shish kebab
Servings: 6 kebabs
Calories: 338kcal

Equipment

  • Grill
  • Skewers
  • Mixing bowl
  • Cutting board
  • Chef’s Knife

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vinegar distilled white
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano dried
  • 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
  • 2 onions medium, cut into quarters and separated into layers
  • 2 bell peppers green, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares
  • 1 bell pepper red, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares

Instructions

  • Whisk the vinegar, canola oil, black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano together in a bowl.
  • Trim the visible fat from the beef sirloin.
  • Cut the beef into 1 1/2 inch cubes.
  • Cut the onions into quarters and separate them into layers.
  • Cut the bell peppers into 1 1/2 inch squares.
  • Put the beef and vegetables in a covered container.
  • Pour the marinade over the beef and vegetables and turn everything to coat.
  • Cover the container and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
  • Heat the grill to medium.
  • Lift the beef and vegetables out of the marinade and let the excess drip off.
  • Thread the beef and vegetables onto skewers, alternating meat and vegetables.
  • Grill the kebabs over medium heat, turning every few minutes, 10 to 30 minutes depending on how done you want the beef.
  • Discard the leftover marinade.
  • Rest the kebabs 3 minutes, then serve them hot.

Notes

Marinating time: at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator, and up to 8 hours for deeper flavor. This time is hands off and sits outside the prep and cook times.
Doneness: grill whole beef cuts to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, then rest them 3 minutes before serving. Pull the skewers closer to 135 degrees F for medium rare.
Skewers: soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes so they hold up over the flame. Metal skewers need no soaking and carry heavier cubes better.
About the calculated fat: the nutrition figures count the full 1/2 cup of marinade oil, and most of that oil goes down the drain with the leftover marinade. A serving delivers less fat than the figure on the card shows.
Less fat: use 1/4 cup of oil in the marinade. The vinegar still coats the beef and the flavor holds.
Oil swap: extra virgin olive oil works in place of the canola oil, and avocado oil handles grill heat well.
Lower sodium: this recipe adds no salt, so a serving is already very low in sodium. Season at the table if you want more.
Protein swaps: boneless chicken thighs, salmon chunks, or extra firm tofu all work on the skewers. Chicken needs an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Salmon and tofu grill in about 8 to 10 minutes.
More vegetables: mushrooms, zucchini rounds, and cherry tomatoes skewer well and marinate in the same mixture.
Grilling tip: trim the visible fat from the beef and keep the grill at medium so the drips stay off the flame. A heavy black char tastes bitter and adds compounds worth keeping to a minimum.
Dairy free, gluten free, and nut free as written. Distilled white vinegar carries no gluten.
Make ahead: cut the beef and vegetables and mix the marinade up to a day ahead, and keep them refrigerated. Cooked kebabs keep 3 days in the refrigerator and 2 months in the freezer. Reheat them in a 350 degree F oven so the beef stays tender.
Nutrition: leave every field blank on the card. WP Recipe Maker calculates it. Re-run the calculation after any card edit.

Nutrition

Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 70mg | Potassium: 566mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg | Magnesium: 38mg | Phosphorus: 258mg | Choline: 107mg

Shashlik Turns a Lean Cut Into a Whole Dinner on One Skewer

One skewer gives you a serving of lean beef, a serving of vegetables, and a marinade that seasons the meat and lowers the compounds grilling forms on it. Both the carbohydrate and the sodium are low, which is uncommon for a main course off the grill. Red meat still belongs in a modest portion, so make one skewer the serving and fill the second one with vegetables.

Serve It With

A green salad and a scoop of cauliflower rice keep the meal low in carbohydrate. For something bigger, add flatbread. For another beef dinner that goes light on starch, see Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry. For a make-ahead beef dish that freezes well, see Spicy Chili Con Carne. To use up leftover grilled beef, try Tacos with Mexican Spice Seasoning.

Baked Chickpea Falafel Fritters for a High-Fiber Lunch

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Three fritters give you about 11 grams of fiber, nearly all of it from the chickpeas themselves.
  • Two tablespoons of oil cover the whole batch of 24, so these fit a heart-healthy eating pattern.
  • Three fritters have about as much carbohydrate as two and a half slices of bread, so count them as that meal’s starch.

Falafel is one of the few fried foods that bakes well, and the reason is structural. Soaked raw chickpeas, ground coarse, hold their shape on their own, so a muffin tin browns them the way a pot of oil once did.

Plan around the clock rather than the work. The beans soak overnight, the ground mixture chills two hours, and the hands-on time is about 25 minutes. One batch makes 24 fritters and they freeze for three months.

Soaked Raw Chickpeas Are What Hold These Together

Raw Starch Is What Sets in the Oven

This recipe starts with dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and put into the processor raw. Soaking softens the bean enough to grind while the starch inside stays raw and granular. The ground mixture holds together and sets in the oven.

Cooked Chickpeas Turn to Paste

A canned or home-cooked chickpea has already taken on water, and cooking has gelatinized its starch. Ground up, it turns to paste with nowhere for the moisture to go, and the fritters slump in the tin.

The Chill Firms the Ground Bean

Two hours in the refrigerator firms the ground bean enough that a scooped ball holds its edges going into the cup. Skipping the chill is the usual reason home falafel bakes flat.

The Soluble Fiber in Chickpeas Lowers LDL Cholesterol

Fiber Pulls Cholesterol Out of Circulation

Soluble fiber binds bile acids in the small intestine and carries them out in the stool. The liver has to build replacement bile acids, and it uses cholesterol pulled from the blood to do it. LDL cholesterol falls as a result.

Eating about one serving of beans a day for three weeks or longer lowers LDL cholesterol by roughly 6 points (Ha et al., CMAJ, 2014, PMID 24710915). Three of these fritters use about two ounces of dried chickpeas, which is close to that amount once cooked. A batch made on Sunday covers most of a week.

The Starch Arrives Slowly

The starch inside a chickpea sits behind plant cell walls that survive soaking and baking largely intact, so digestive enzymes reach it gradually. Soluble fiber adds to that. It draws in water and thickens, which slows how fast the stomach empties, and glucose from the meal reaches the blood over a longer stretch.

Eating chickpeas in place of a food with the same carbohydrate load lowers the rise in blood glucose after that meal (Mah et al., Nutrition Journal, 2025, PMID 40660242). That makes these a better choice than a roll for the same amount of carbohydrate, and the portion still needs planning.

Potassium Helps the Kidney Clear Sodium

Potassium raises how much sodium the kidney puts into urine, which lowers blood pressure over time. Chickpeas supply a useful amount of it, and the salt here is three quarters of a teaspoon spread across 24 fritters. For where potassium comes from and how much you need, see Potassium.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is three fritters, one eighth of the batch. Most of the carbohydrate is chickpea starch, and it comes with the bean’s fiber still attached, which is the difference between this and a starch eaten on its own.

The fat is small, and nearly all of it is the peanut oil brushed on the tin and the tops. Deep frying multiplies that several times over, the largest nutritional difference between these and takeout falafel. The salt is measured rather than added to taste, so the card’s sodium figure accounts for it. The recipe card below has the exact figures.

What to Buy

Dried Chickpeas

Buy plain dried chickpeas, sometimes sold as garbanzo beans. Beans more than a year old soak unevenly and grind into gritty pieces, so buy from a store that sells a lot of them. One pound is about two and a half cups. Buy organic (to avoid glyphosate), since chickpeas are often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it.

The Onion, Parsley, and Garlic

Two cups of chopped white onion is a lot of onion and a lot of water. Blot it with a towel before it goes into the processor so the mixture stays dry enough to shape. Use flat-leaf parsley and pull the thick stems, which stay stringy through any amount of pulsing. Use fresh garlic. Jarred garlic is packed in acid and tastes of it.

The Spices and the Oil

Cumin and coriander are the flavor of falafel, and ground spices fade within a year of opening. If the cumin in your jar smells like dust, buy fresh. Peanut oil has a neutral flavor and stays stable at 400 degrees. Avocado or olive oil substitute cleanly.

Who This Fits and Who Should Watch the Portion

Who It Fits

These suit anyone eating for heart health. The added fat is small and unsaturated, the fiber is high, and the sodium stays modest. They are meatless and dairy-free as written, and they supply real plant protein, which is hard to find in a snack.

Go Easy If

Carbohydrate is the honest limit here. Three fritters carry about as much as two and a half slices of bread, so count them as the starch for that meal rather than serving them alongside rice or pita.

The recipe uses one and a half tablespoons of all purpose flour, so it contains gluten as written. Use the chickpea flour or oat flour swap in the notes to make it gluten free. Peanut oil is the one allergen in the ingredient list, and anyone avoiding peanuts should use avocado or olive oil in its place.

Chickpeas are high in FODMAPs, so anyone eating low FODMAP for irritable bowel syndrome should reintroduce these carefully.

How to Make It Your Own

Herbs are the easiest change. Swapping half the parsley for cilantro, or adding a handful of fresh mint, changes the flavor and leaves the structure alone. A quarter teaspoon of baking soda folded in before chilling gives a lighter, more open crumb. For heat, double the cayenne or add a chopped serrano with the garlic. Flattening the balls into patties works too, and they bake in the same time.

Swaps Recap

  • Lower sodium: cut the salt to a quarter teaspoon and rebuild the flavor with an extra tablespoon of lemon juice and a half teaspoon more cumin.
  • Gluten free: use chickpea flour or oat flour in place of the all purpose flour, same amount.
  • Peanut free: use avocado oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil, same amount.
  • Dairy free: the recipe is dairy-free as written, so serve it with tahini rather than yogurt.
  • Lower sugar: the recipe has no added sugar, so no swap applies.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Freezing

The uncooked mixture keeps a day covered in the refrigerator, so soaking, grinding, and chilling can all happen the night before. Baked fritters keep four days refrigerated and three months frozen. Freeze them in a single layer on a sheet pan and bag them once they are solid, or they freeze together into a block.

Reheat at 375 degrees for eight to ten minutes. A microwave steams the outside and softens the crust.

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Baked Chickpea Fritters (Falafel)

Baked instead of fried, so these keep the fiber and protein of the chickpeas without the oil a deep fryer adds. Dried chickpeas soaked overnight are what hold them together.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Soaking and chilling10 hours
Total Time10 hours 40 minutes
Course: lunch, Snack
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: baked falafel, chickpea fritters, high fiber, meatless lunch, plant based protein
Servings: 8 servings (makes 24 fritters, 3 per serving)
Calories: 269kcal

Equipment

  • Large pot or bowl
  • for the overnight soak
  • Colander
  • Food processor
  • Standard 12-cup muffin tin
  • Cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure
  • Pastry Brush

Ingredients

  • 1 lb dried chickpeas about 2 1/2 cups, soaked overnight and drained
  • 2 cups white onion finely chopped
  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped, thick stems removed
  • 4 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
  • 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp peanut oil

Instructions

  • Cover the dried chickpeas with 3 inches of cold water in a large pot. Soak at room temperature overnight, at least 8 hours.
  • Drain the chickpeas in a colander, rinse, and pat dry with a towel. The drier they are, the better the fritters hold their shape.
  • Finely chop the white onion. Chop the green onions, parsley and garlic.
  • Put the chickpeas, white onion, green onions, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, flour, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a food processor.
  • Pulse in short bursts until the mixture looks like coarse meal and a squeezed handful holds together. Stop before it turns into a smooth paste.
  • Scrape the mixture into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate 2 hours. Chilling firms it up so the fritters do not crumble.
  • Heat the oven to 400 F. Brush a standard 12-cup muffin tin with about half the peanut oil.
  • Scoop a scant 1/4 cup of mixture per fritter, roll it into a ball, and press it into a muffin cup. Brush the tops with the rest of the oil. You will get 24 fritters, so bake in two batches.
  • Bake 7 minutes. Turn each fritter over and bake 7 to 8 minutes longer, until browned and firm at the edges.
  • Let the fritters rest in the tin 5 minutes, then lift them out and serve warm.

Notes

Use dried chickpeas only. Canned or cooked chickpeas hold too much water and the fritters fall apart in the oven. There is no substitute for the overnight soak.
If the mixture feels wet, blot the chopped onion with a towel before it goes into the processor, or add flour 1 teaspoon at a time until a squeezed handful holds its shape.
Lower-sodium version: cut the salt to 1/4 teaspoon and build the flavor back with 1 more tablespoon of lemon juice and an extra 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.
Peanut-free: use avocado oil or olive oil in place of the peanut oil, same amount.
Gluten-free: use chickpea flour or oat flour in place of the all-purpose flour, same amount.
Serving: three fritters make a snack. For a fuller lunch, serve them over greens with plain yogurt or tahini sauce, which adds protein and slows the carbohydrate.
Make ahead: the uncooked mixture keeps covered in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before baking.
Storage: refrigerate baked fritters up to 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months. Reheat at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes. A microwave makes them soft.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 618mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 8g | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 5mg | Magnesium: 77mg | Phosphorus: 232mg | Choline: 58mg

Baking Cuts the Fat and Keeps the Fiber

The chickpea is what makes this dish worth eating, and it supplies the fiber, the plant protein, and the slow starch. None of that changes between the fryer and the oven. What changes is the fat, and two tablespoons brushed across a whole batch is a different food from a fritter cooked submerged.

The carbohydrate is the one thing to plan around, and the fix is what goes beside it. Put three fritters over greens with tahini or plain yogurt, rather than three fritters and rice.

Serve It With

Three fritters over greens with tahini or plain yogurt is the serving this recipe is built for, and the yogurt adds protein that slows the carbohydrate further.

For chickpeas in a different texture, see Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Smoked Paprika and Garlic. To fold them into something, Cottage Cheese Flatbread holds a filling better than a pita. For more on the fiber here, see Fiber 101: Gut Health, Weight Management, Cholesterol, and More.

Crab-Stuffed Shrimp

Nutrition Snapshot

  • Three stuffed shrimp give you about 27 grams of protein and six grams of carbohydrate.
  • Shrimp and crab supply vitamin B12 and iodine, which are easy to fall short of without seafood.
  • About half the calories come from butter, so keep the brush coat thin or use two tablespoons in total.

Crab-stuffed shrimp bake in about ten minutes and put an entree’s worth of protein at the front of the meal. Three of them give you roughly the protein in three ounces of chicken breast, with six grams of carbohydrate alongside it. They also look like restaurant food on the plate, which is a fair return for about twenty-five minutes of prep.

Protein First and Six Grams of Carbohydrate Make for a Gentle Start

Blood sugar rises in response to carbohydrate. A serving of these shrimp holds six grams of it, most of that from the quarter cup of bread crumbs spread across twelve shrimp. Protein and fat slow the rate at which the stomach empties. Glucose then reaches the bloodstream more slowly.

The order of a meal matters too. Starting with protein instead of the bread basket keeps the opening of a meal low in carbohydrate, which leaves less to raise blood sugar early on. That habit is useful at a long dinner, where the appetizer often adds the most carbohydrate of anything before the entree.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is three stuffed shrimp. Nearly all of the protein comes from the shrimp themselves and the crab in the filling, both lean to start with. A little over half the fat is butter, two tablespoons of it in the filling and the rest brushed on before baking. The shrimp and crab supply what is left.

Sodium comes from three places: the crab meat, which is packed or pasteurized with salt, the bread crumbs, and the shrimp. Most frozen shrimp is treated with a salt or phosphate solution before freezing. The recipe card below shows the exact figures.

What to Buy: Shrimp, Crab, and Bread Crumbs

Raw Jumbo Shrimp, Peeled With Tails On

Look for raw shrimp sold at 16 to 20 per pound, labeled jumbo or extra jumbo depending on the store. That size leaves room to cut a pocket deep enough to hold the filling. Buy them peeled with the tails left on as a handle, or peel them yourself and leave the last segment in place.

Check the bag for a single ingredient. Shrimp treated with salt or phosphate holds extra water and extra sodium, which is a real difference in a dish that already sits near 400 milligrams a serving.

Crab Meat With Real Crab Flavor

Pasteurized lump crab in a tub, sold near the seafood counter, has the best texture for a filling. Canned crab costs less and works fine here. Drain it well and press out the liquid so the filling holds its shape in the shrimp. Imitation crab is made from processed fish with added starch and sugar, which changes both the flavor and the carbohydrate count.

Organic Bread Crumbs

Buy organic bread crumbs (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it. Plain dry crumbs suit this filling best. Panko is coarser and drier, so use a little less of it and add a spoonful of the melted butter.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

Who It Fits

This suits anyone building meals around protein: a low-carbohydrate eating pattern, a blood sugar plan, or a night when the main course is already starchy. It also works when you want something small and filling before a late dinner.

Go Easy If

Go easy if you have a shellfish allergy, since shrimp and crab are two of the most common triggers. Shellfish is high in purines, which matters if you have gout. Three shrimp deliver close to 400 milligrams of sodium, so use the lower-sodium swaps below if you are working to a strict target.

How to Make It Your Own

The filling takes seasoning well, so treat the base as a starting point. A pinch of cayenne or a chopped scallion belongs here. A half teaspoon of Old Bay works too, though it adds noticeable salt to a dish that already has some.

The Health Swaps in Short

  • Lower sodium: rinse and drain the crab meat, use unsalted or homemade bread crumbs, and season with extra lemon and black pepper.
  • Lower sugar: the recipe uses no added sugar, so it already fits a lower-sugar plan.
  • Dairy-free: use olive oil in place of the butter, in the filling and for brushing.
  • Gluten-free: swap in gluten-free bread crumbs or almond flour, measure for measure.
  • Nut-free: keep to the gluten-free crumbs rather than the almond flour.
  • Lighter: use two tablespoons of butter in total, keeping the brush coat thin or leaving it off.

To turn the appetizer into dinner, plan on six shrimp a person over a green salad or a scoop of cauliflower rice.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Stuff the shrimp up to a day ahead, cover the tray, and refrigerate. Bake them straight from cold and add a minute or two to the time. The filling itself keeps two days in a covered container, which makes this a reasonable dish to prep the morning of a party.

Cooked shrimp reheat poorly, since a second round of heat turns them rubbery. Bake only what you plan to serve and leave the rest stuffed and raw. Any that do get cooked are good cold the next day, sliced over a salad.

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Crab-Stuffed Shrimp

Jumbo shrimp baked with a crab and bread crumb filling. A high-protein appetizer with six grams of carbohydrate a serving.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time37 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Keyword: crab stuffed shrimp, high protein appetizer, low carb appetizer, make ahead, seafood appetizer
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 164kcal

Equipment

  • baking sheet
  • Mixing bowl
  • Paring Knife
  • Pastry Brush

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces crab meat drained and finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs dry, organic
  • 3 tablespoons butter unsalted, melted, divided
  • 1 teaspoon celery minced
  • 1 teaspoon parsley chopped
  • 1 teaspoon onion minced
  • 1 teaspoon bell pepper green, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce about 3 drops
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 shrimp jumbo, raw, peeled with tails on

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  • Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Finely chop the crab meat, celery, parsley, onion, and bell pepper.
  • Combine the crab, bread crumbs, celery, parsley, onion, bell pepper, lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper in a bowl.
  • Stir 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into the crab mixture, then set it aside and reserve the rest of the butter for brushing.
  • Wash and devein the shrimp, then pat them dry.
  • Cut a 1/2 inch deep pocket along the inner curve of each shrimp, running from the tail down the center and leaving 1/2 inch at the end, without cutting through the back.
  • Widen each pocket with a finger.
  • Mold about 2 tablespoons of the crab mixture into each pocket, dividing the mixture among the 12 shrimp.
  • Arrange the stuffed shrimp on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Brush the shrimp with the reserved melted butter.
  • Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the shrimp are opaque. Do not overcook.

Notes

Serving: one serving is 3 stuffed shrimp.
Bread crumbs: look for organic bread crumbs. Wheat is often treated with glyphosate before harvest, and organic wheat is grown without it.
Shrimp: check the bag for a single ingredient. Shrimp treated with salt or phosphate holds extra water and extra sodium.
Crab: pasteurized lump crab in a tub has the best texture. Canned crab works, so drain it well and press out the liquid.
Lower sodium: rinse and drain the crab meat, use unsalted or homemade bread crumbs, and season with extra lemon juice and black pepper.
Lower sugar: the recipe has no added sugar, so nothing changes.
Dairy-free: use olive oil in place of the butter, in the filling and for brushing.
Gluten-free: use gluten-free bread crumbs, or almond flour measure for measure.
Nut-free: keep to the gluten-free crumbs rather than the almond flour.
Lighter: use 2 tablespoons of butter in total and keep the brush coat thin. Olive oil changes the kind of fat rather than the amount, so cut the butter itself.
Make ahead: stuff the shrimp up to a day ahead, cover the tray, and refrigerate. Bake straight from cold and add a minute or two. The filling alone keeps 2 days covered.
Storage: cooked shrimp turn rubbery on reheating. Bake only what you will serve, keep the rest stuffed and raw, and eat any leftovers cold over a salad.
Serving idea: a side of melted unsalted butter is optional and adds fat, so leave it off if you are watching that. Six shrimp over a green salad makes it dinner.

Nutrition

Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 35mg | Phosphorus: 172mg | Choline: 3mg

Crab-Stuffed Shrimp Put the Protein at the Start of the Meal

Three of these give you the protein of a small entree with very little carbohydrate, which is what makes them a steady way to open a meal. The butter is real. Swapping in olive oil changes the kind of fat rather than the amount, so use two tablespoons of butter in total when you want the dish lighter. Three shrimp is an appetizer; six with a salad is dinner.

Serve It With

A bright green vegetable balances the butter. Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette cooks while the shrimp bake, and Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw can be made hours ahead. For your daily protein target, see Protein: How Much Do You Need And Where Do You Get It.