I had a diabetes diagnosis last November. There are a few recipes I use a lot now, part of my new diet: low calories, low carbs.
- Cottage cheese with garlic and mint: as a dip or instead of tartare sauce
- Goat cheese spread
- ‘Pain de légumes‘ – not a bread at all, more like a quiche but no crust
- Moroccan lentils
- Tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta and lamb lettuce salad
- Quinoa with leeks
- Velouté de courgettes (sounds fancy, right? 😉 )
Cottage cheese with garlic and mint
Very simple to do if you have a good mixer. It’s a nice dip and good substitute for tartare sauce, with fishcake for example.
Just put a few garlic cloves in the mixer, with leaves of fresh garlic and the whole pot of cottage cheese, mix and put back in the pot.
If you do not like garlic, it could work without and other herbs could work too.
Goat cheese spread
Simple as well if you have a mixer. For a glass pot of a similar size to the ‘Bonne maman jam pot’ you need:
- 250g of soft goat cheese (this is two packs)
- some garlic cloves (to your taste)
- fresh basil leaves or about a big tablespoon of frozen one
- a big tablespoon of tomato puree
- 3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
Mix everything together and put in the glass pot in the fridge. It never last long at home, but it should probably keep as long as the ‘best by date’ you had for the goat cheese initially. It makes ryvita much better.
Pain de légumes
This is a good way to add proteins and vegetables to your meals. It’s easy to make and keeps well in the fridge (over a week)
- 2 garlic cloves
- green curry paste
- a bag of frozen vegetables (500g) I use one with cauliflower, brocoli, green beens, peas and carrots
- 4 eggs
- 75g of double cream
- 75g of grated cheddar
Boil the vegetables then drain the water. In the meantime, mix the crushed garlic with a big teaspoon of green curry paste (I add some vegetable stock powder too), add one egg first to mix well, then the other 3. Add the cream, mix well, then the cheddar, and finally the vegetables.
Pour in a buttered dish, and place the dish in a slightly bigger dish where you pour water in to make a bain-marie. In the oven at 210ºC for 30min. If you do not bother with the bain-marie, it’s easier but the texture will be different: it will be a bit drier and will ‘self-destruct’ a bit as you slice it.
This is good hot or cold. It makes 6 big slices or 8 normal size ones. Can be a starter or added to a main.
Moroccan lentils
I used that recipe ‘Lentilles à la marocaine’ (in French), but changed it a bit, for 6/8 portions:
- One pack of green lentils (500g)
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves
- 3 shallots (about 150g)
- 3 onions (about 300g)
- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (800g)
- a big teaspoon of ginger puree
- a small teaspoon of paprika
- a small teaspoon of ras el hanout
- a lot of fresh parsley and/or coriander leaves
Cook the lentils for about 30 mins in a lot of water (instructions are usually on the pack of lentils)
While the lentils cook, cut the onions and cook them in a big pan with the olive oil until they are a bit brown. Use a mixer for the shallots and garlic and add to the onions.
In a small bowl, mix the ginger and spices with a bit of hot water and add to the pan, then add the chopped tomatoes. Use a bit of water to clean the cans and add to the pan too and finally the lentils once they are nearly cooked, so it finished to cook with the rest of the ingredients. You might need to add a bit more water. Add some salt – it’s up to you how much you add, keep tasting as you add it. At the end, add the coriander and/or parsley.
This will keep well in the fridge for over a week.
Tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta and lamb lettuce salad
You can vary all the ingredients but here is what I use for a big plate:
- about 2 spring onions, sliced
- 10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in 2
- 1/4 of a cucumber
- 4 red olives thinly sliced
- 50g of feta cheese, diced
- half a pack of lamb lettuce
- 2 tablespoons of mix nuts
- balsamic glaze
I usually prepare 2 plates, and only add salt if I’m eating right away. If you will eat later, it’s best to not add the lamb lettuce and the nuts either.
Start with the spring onions, tomatoes and cucumber, add some salt but not too much as the feta is very salty and olives too. Then add the olives and the feta cheese, and the lamb lettuce on top.
Put the mixed nuts in a pan, roast them lightly then spread over the salad. Finally add some balsamic vinegar (glazed) – there is a bit of sugar in that but not much. I do not use oil, but you could add some if you wanted to.
Quinoa with leeks
You can cook quinoa using the instructions on the pack. I cook batches of it using a rice cooker: for two cups of quinoa, I use 3 cups of water and a bit of salt.
For the leeks: cook them in a pan with some olive oil. Cut a stock cube in small pieces and mix with half a glass of hot water, add to the leeks. When it’s nearly cooked (still a bit firm) add some double cream and then some quinoa, finish cooking and serve.
This recipe also keeps well for a few days.
Velouté de courgettes
This is a very easy soup to make, you need a blender though. Give it a try even if you do not like the ingredients individually as it tastes different once all done. Personally, I do not like the laughing cow cheese (“Vache qui rit” in French) but I do like the soup. For 4 bowls:
- 6 courgettes (about 1 kilo in total)
- a box of ‘Laughing cow’ – that’s 8 portions
- 3 cloves of garlic
Wash the courgettes, cut both ends but do not peal them, cut in small pieces. Cut the garlic too. Put both in a pot that will be high enough if you use a hand blender. Add a bit of salt but not too much as you will add the cheese at the end which adds salt to the soup.
Add enough water so that the courgette pieces cook well but not too much as all the water will become part of the soup.
Once the courgettes are cooked, add the cheese and use the blender. That’s it!