Cookbook: Simple, basic, real ingredients

[Portail]

Can anyone recommend a cookbook with
1. Low-carb recipes
2. Basic simple classic cooking
3. Few ingredients
4. Only real-food ingredients
5. NO specialty products such as soy, Splenda, protein powders, Atkins Bake Mix,, Somersize sweetener, ThickenThin, fructose, etc etc…
6. Stove-top and microwave cooking only

My cookbook by Patricia HAAKONSON, All New Easy Low-Carb Cooking is wonderful, except for her use of Splenda and many BBQ recipes.

I hope someone has a good recommendation.

[Nancy LC]

There's a 5 ingredient or less recipe thread in the paleo section. It probably meets most of your criteria. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=361226

1) Must use 5 ingredients or less. No more!

2) Must be able to prepare and serve within 1 hour! (Yes, Crockpot simmers >1 hr are okay, so long as prep time is <1 hr and other criteria are followed.)

3) Can include actual "recipes" as well as ideas, so long as they fulfill the other criteria (like using lettuce leaves to wrap stuff in).

4) Must use ingredients that are generally considered PALEO and which MOST of us have access to or can make a reasonable substitution. Prepared foods/items that are generally considered "Paleo wholesome" (like coconut milk) are acceptable. (Use your best judgment!)

[Portail]

Thank you Nancy

It is a good site (5 ingredient or less recipe thread) and I do like the Paleo concept. I will check the site regularly.
The problem I'm finding is that a lot of the newer low-carb cookbooks are really just a means to get the reader to buy the author's diet product. Very frustrating.
The "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Quick & Easy Low-Carb Meals" is quite good and I have a very old "French Cooking for Beginners" which is also good for classic cooking but it uses the dreaded whites...flour, sugar, potatoes etc.

It isn't that I am a beginner at cooking, but I like simplicity.
Pick it or kill it. Put it in a pan with a few herbs. Cook it.
Thanks again. Good suggestion.

[Nancy LC]

It isn't that I am a beginner at cooking, but I like simplicity.
Me too!

I think Dana Carpender has one low carb cookbook that has extremely easy recipes, I can't recall the title though. But I found I didn't use her books much for some reason, maybe because I stopped using dairy products.

Karen Barnaby's "Low Carb Gourmet" is excellent too but the recipes have more ingredients. Their quality is just awesome though.

[Portail]

Thank you Karen !

I have the “Low-Carb Gourmet” but I had packed it away in frustration. Too many ingredients and often too much work. None the less, I’ve dug it out and will give it another try. I see that one of her desserts got a rating of 0 out of 5 (it used splenda) but the Salmon Cakes got a 5/5.
I also have Dana Carpender’s “500 Low-Carb Recipes”. I can’t remember why I gave up on it.

I really can’t understand why there isn’t exactly what I’m looking for, in a cookbook.

Thank you Nancy, it never occurred to me to check out Paleo and NeanderThin.

I just googled Paleo cookbooks: http://www.paleocookbook.com/ (http://www.paleocookbook.com/) I wonder how it is, re simplicity.
and Paleo recipes: chttp://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/recipes.shtml (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/recipes.shtml) …not bad and http://paleofood.com/hors.htm (http://paleofood.com/hors.htm) and http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/paleo/ (http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/paleo/)
And NeanderThin Recipes: http://xeles.homestead.com/ntrecipes.html (http://xeles.homestead.com/ntrecipes.html)
Good grief….BLUE text on BLACK background !

But I do prefer a paper book, so I can brouse and make notes in the margins (and score the recipes).
Thanks again

[Nancy LC]

I don't know if the recipes will be too complex to suit you but they're sure lovely from the standpoint of being whole foods and no weird ingredients. There's a cookbook called "The Garden of Eating" that some of us got. I confess I've only made two things from it, and both were very good.

It takes forever to get though, took about 4-6 weeks to arrive.
http://www.thegardenofeatingdiet.com/

They have sample recipes up.

[Kisal]

I have Carlean Johnson's "Six Ingredients or Less Low-Carb Cooking" cookbook. IMO the recipes are simple and basic, and they range from 0 to 6 net carbs per serving.

I also have Dana Carpender's "15-Minute Low Carb Recipes" book, but the recipes have more than a few ingredients. The recipes look really good, but I doubt I would be able to complete one of them in 15 minutes, just 'cause I'm slow. :lol:

[Portail]

Thank you Kisal. The Carlean Johnson cookbook does sound good. I’ll see if I can find it.

I had a look at my Dana Carpender cookbook and realized why I put it away. There are too many recipes with soy, tofu, protein powders etc.

I think I was too hard on Karen Barnaby's "Low Carb Gourmet" though. Even though many recipes use bizarre ingredients, and tofu, and artificial sweeteners, I think I should give it another chance.

Many thanks.

[Gypsybyrd]

Carlean Johnson's low-carb cookbook is pretty good - I bought a copy when it first came out. Looks like it is still available on Amazon.

Ms. Johnson gives simple tips and hints for adding variety.

[Portail]

Thanks Gypsybyrd (and Kisal).
I just ordered it (used) from Amazon.
The Amazon reviews were good also.
Great suggestion !

[LessLiz]

The Carpender 500 Recipes book uses some weird ingredients -- whey powder, etc in some recipes. I never cooked much from it though what I did cook I liked.

I use regular cookbooks for the most part. I use steamed zucchini cut with a mandoline into long strands in place of pasta, grated cauliflower in place of rice, grated zucchini in place of things like bread or cracker crumbs in meatballs and meatloafs (read that tip here). The one "weird" ingredient I use is xanthum gum to thicken gravies and sauces. Put it in a salt shaker with some raw rice to keep it from clumping and shake it into whatever I need to thicken. I have found that modifying recipes is pretty straightforward since I've found just those few tips.

[Kisal]

I have all of Dana Carpender's cookbooks, except for the one on smoothies and the one on barbecuing, because I only make a smoothie once in a great while, and I haven't barbecued outdoors in years. I like the books and use the recipes for the things I like. I really like her coleslaw dressing recipe a lot, and use it frequently. :)

[Portail]

Thank you LessLiz
That is a great tip about the xanthum gum. I have some in the freezer but wasn’t sure how to use it for thickening. I’ve been using cornstarch (the horror !).
I’ll give it a try. Can I keep it at room temperature or should I keep it in the frig or freezer?
More or less 1/4 tsp xanthum gum per cup of liquid ?
Many thanks

[Kisal]

Can I keep it at room temperature or should I keep it in the frig or freezer?I would say it depends on how quickly you use it up. I've had my package for ... ummm ... 3 1/2 years now. :blush: I'm glad I decided to store it in the freezer! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Portail]

While peddling on the bicycle at the gym I discovered “French Food at Home” with Laura Calder (on the Food Network). http://www.foodtv.ca/frenchfoodathome/ (http://www.foodtv.ca/frenchfoodathome/).
The recipes are all easy, with few ingredients.
Being French style cooking, they are mostly low-carb.
And the website has all the recipes.
The show is WONDERFUL and the recipes too.
I have ordered her cookbook.

[now_motvtd]

I do have a question -- what is "CarbQuick" and where do you find it in the store?