I have a friend coming over tonight to help me with a project. I figure we’ll have dinner here afterward. The problem? She’s on Atkins.
I’ll leave aside my personal feelings about Atkins for the moment, in the interest of trying to provide a meal for my friend that she can eat without my having to go all apeshit at the grocery store or in the kitchen. All of my usual quick and delicious meals for company are out: Pasta primavera, out. Lasagna, out. Stir-fry with rice, out. Peanut stew with Basmati rice, out. Order a pizza, out. We are not big meat-eaters, nor can I afford to go out and buy a hunk of meat. And since we’re not big meat-eaters, we almost never cook it at home, so I’m not really confident there. I’ve hunted around to try to find an “Atkins for Dummies” food list, to get an idea of what we might make without having to learn the whole Atkins thing – with no luck; the sites I’ve found are pretty complicated. About all I know is meat, cheese, green veggies, no sugar, no carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes).
I have no problem cooking for vegetarians, as it fits well with our general diet anyway. And I recognize “regular” meals that count as vegetarian: mac & cheese, veggie stir-fry, veggie chili, and so on. What would be some Atkins equivalents? What’s a standard that I might already be familiar with? I’m pretty busy today, and I also don’t want to make a big production out of it – just whip up something casual.
I’m atkinsing at the moment. What I’d do: get a nice steak, and steam some broccoli and/or spinach. Serve with a reduced gravy (made without flour) with a shot of tabasco and/or worcestershire sauce, or a butter and cream mustard and/or horseradish sauce. The meal shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to prepare.
I’m also on a low carb diet - from your list of things that you would usually do, I think stir fry without rice would be fine, just bulk it out with extra bean sprouts or something.
Otherwise grilled fish/meat with salad or veggies is quick and simple.
any sort of fish is good. baked, poached, fried without batter, broiled. if it doesn’t involve adding white flour, sugar or honey, you’re probably fine.
chef salads are good. spinach salad is excellent (with the “no sugar” provisio). best dressings are blue cheese, ranch, vinegarette types (as long as they aren’t the “low fat” versions, since these tend to add sugar to offset the reduced oils).
hamburgers without buns would be ok. cheeseburgers without buns ditto. bacon cheeseburgers… damn, i’m getting hungry.
hot dogs aren’t too bad (without buns). baked beans and other dried-bean dishes should be avoided, though.
umm, actually, if i recall correctly, most sprouts are surprisingly high carb. broccoli, cauliflower, good. carrots, corn, tomatoes bad. onions are (pardon the pun) dicey.
I’m also Atkins-ing. My idea’s similar to jjimm’s – quasi-beef and broccoli. Get a couple small, cheap steaks and cut them into ~1/8-inch thick slices while boiling or steaming the broccoli. Fry up the meat real quick (vegetable oil in a frying pan works well enough) and throw in the broccoli for half a minute or so when it’s done. Make some rice for yourself if you want, and apply soy sauce liberally to the end result.
A friend of mine who actually knows how to cook recommended sauteeing some garlic in the pan first, but I haven’t made it back to the grocery store yet, and can’t try that idea.
Another idea, if your store carries them, is pre-seasoned pork tenderloins. They weight about a pound, and half a tenderloin has about 8g of carbs from the seasonings. Broil it up, no extra work is required. Just make sure it cooks through; they’re kinda thick and can stay pink in the middle for a while. Add a side of broccoli or maybe a little zucchini.
Of course, I’m operating under the assumption that anything I can make isn’t difficult
I’ve NEVER cooked a steak or made gravy or sauces. Not about to start experimenting today. Sorry.
Maybe grilled chicken breast? (I haven’t done that either, but I’ve been wanting to try out our cast-iron grill pan.) Marinated? In what?
I also love making stir-fries, and I see the point about just having rice on the side. Garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini – can I put some carrot in there and just let her pick it out? What else? Are water chestnuts OK?
Hmmmm, do you and your friend like eggs? You could make a frittata, which is basically an omlette shaped like a pie. It tastes quite like a quiche, but more eggy and without the crust. It can be an elegant, easy to fix, and very fast, meal. Here are some recipes from Food TV: Frittata Recipes.
If you made a frittata and served it over or next to fresh salad greens tossed with some balsamic and olive oil, you’d have a very nice and very pretty meal.
There really aren’t atkins equivalents for some of the things you listed, since most people who are still in the weight-loss phase don’t eat legumes other than the occaisional peanut. Here are some simple Atkins recipe ideas:
Chicken parmesan. 1 chicken breast, place in pan, pour tomato sauce* over, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese, cover with tin foil, bake 30 minutes @350. You can make eggplant parmesan for yourself by breading thick slices of eggplant, frying them, then baking them in the same sauce w/ cheese arrangement. Serve w/ steamed broccoli.
*There is a new brand of sugar-free pasta sauce from Ragu, found in most grocery stores in the pasta sauce aisle. It’s got a sky blue label and is called “Carb Options” and it should cost the same as “regular” pasta sauce.
Chicken Cordon Bleu – 1 chicken breast, 1 slice swiss cheese, 1 slice ham. Pound chicken thin by whacking with any heavy, blunt object you have to hand (I like a pyrex measuring cup). lay cheese on chicken, then ham, then roll everything up and secure package with toothpicks. place in a baking dish open side down, bake 30 minutes at 350. Serve with steamed broccoli.
Any kind of meat stir fried with veggies such as sugar snap or snow peas, celery, broccoli, sliced cabbage, or asian greens (and a little onion). Saute with Sesame oil, ginger, garlic and a little soy sauce. Tofu can also be used, it’s extremely low in carbs. of course, not everyone (atkins or no) likes it!
NEVER cooked a steak? You’re missing out - cooking them is half the fun.
Grilled chicken breast is perfect - no need to marinate. I prefer baked myself, but it’s all good. Go easy on the black pepper. A touch of garlic is good, but use fresh - the powder is surprisingly high. Water chestnuts are verboten, but they can just pick around them. (Pork is also good - roast, loin, etc. Ever had buffalo? Good red meat.)
Like others have said, green and leafy is simple and easy: Broccoli, Asparagus, Brussel Sprouts (bleagh), green beans, lettuce/cabbage, spinach, cauliflower (not green, I know). Avoid starchy things like potatoes and other tubers. No corn, peas or anything else bred to be sweet.
Duh . . . I have been making veggie-only stir-fries for so long that I forgot that I could put the meat right in! I think that’s what I’ll do . . . I am always happy over a wok. Chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, maybe some yellow squash and plenty of soy.
I’ll save the other ideas and practice on them so I’ll feel comfortable cooking them for company – I’ve found that it’s dangerous to experiment on guests! That frittata sounds good – I love quiches but am still trying to get Mr. S to like them.
Thanks, everyone, for help with the brainstorming. I only wish I were as comfortable cooking for others as my friends seem to be, but I’m working on it.
chicken breast is fine. you could marinate it in italian-style salad dressing (again with the vinegarette). grilled, broiled or baked should work. and you don’t even need to remove the skin.
olives are also good. nuts like pecans, walnuts, pistaschios and probably pine nuts are fine. peanuts are borderline. cashews should be avoided.
bits of carrot in a stirfry or whatnot shouldn’t be a big deal. if your friend is in the initial start-up phase, she can just pick them out. i would just try to avoid serving them as the main vegetable for the meal. i can’t remember exactly where water chestnuts fall on the scale at the moment. when in doubt, look at the label where it lists the nutritional breakout. if the Carbohydrates (per serving) rate is getting over 10, you might want to skip it. (or let your friend pick them out. just tell her beforehand that you won’t mind if she does, in case she worries about hurting your feelings by picking at what you prepare.)
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oh yeah, beverages. caffeine is discouraged by the real die-hards. check with your friend to see where she falls on that scale. but milk or regular sodas would be a bad idea. diet sodas (especially if they use Splenda as the sweetener) are ok. lately we’ve been drinking a lot of the Diet Green Tea with Ginseng. i think Arizona is the company that makes it.
[Seinfeld]
We get our meat on the OUTSIDE!
[/Seinfeld]
Really, we just don’t cook red meat at home, and we seldom eat it. Mr. S grew up in a meat-and-potatoes household where the stove was covered in grease, and cooking/handling meat just icks him out. When we want steak (about twice a year), we go out and let the chef deal with it. We have a recipe for pork roast that we make very rarely for company, and maybe ground beef in chili (but more often TVP or just veggies). I can’t remember the last time I ate a hamburger. Even buying raw chicken would be a departure for me.
Bevvies are no problem for my friend – she drinks water, tea, and coffee (usually decaf), and we have plenty of all of that. No worries about picking stuff out – we’re close enough that she knows I won’t mind.
I hope you all realise the only reason Atkins works is because it’s a high protein diet. It’s nothing to do with the low carbs, and all the animal fat isnt healthy.
Also, fact - Atkins was clinically obese(sp?) when he died.
