Low-Carb Appetizers

by Elizabeth Vance

November 19, 2020 • 0 comments

My new book, The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook, was inspired by my readers, viewers, colleagues, friends, and family who are always looking for low-carb recipes. As a dietitian, though, I wanted to pair it with one of the healthiest diets in the world—the Mediterranean diet.

The book was written while we were all going into worldwide lockdown in the spring, I was writing the manuscript for the book, testing the recipes, working with the photographer and food stylist and we were sourcing groceries for the recipes while grocery stores were totally maxed out. The bonus was that my family and I ate very well during this time.

The recipe inspiration came from my travels to the Mediterranean and the foods I like to eat that are easily found in U.S. grocery stores. I also gathered my grandmother’s and great grandmother’s recipes, who emigrated from Lebanon, another Mediterranean country, to the U.S. when my grandmother was a baby.

Ground meat stuffed into food vesicles is a very Lebanese thing, so I came up with these Mini Bell Peppers with Turkey and Pistachios. They are a finger food that’s ready in 3 minutes from start to finish and have a pretty presentation. You can prep these the day before Thanksgiving and just pop them into the oven on the day of. One of the best parts about these is that they have just 2 g carbs per pepper, with 5 g protein and only 60 calories.

My Shrimp-Stuffed Mushrooms with Lemon and Rosemary are always a hit at parties. Usually stuffed mushrooms are made with a lot of cream cheese, so I changed up the formula in this recipe, using mostly shrimp and just a smidgen of good, real mayonnaise. You just chop up the filling in your food processor, then stuff them into the mushroom caps. The filling also contains scallions, garlic, rosemary, and lemon. A great tip is to season your mushroom caps with a bit of salt before you stuff them for maximum flavor. This recipe has just 1 g carbs per mushroom, with 3 g protein and only 30 calories.

To snag a copy of my book, you can pre-order wherever fine books are sold, like Amazon, and also through your local bookstore, like Turn the Page in Westfield. Books will ship in May.