IDEAS FOR LOW-CARB SUMMER MEALS

 

Grill some vegetables before putting the fish or meat on the grill. I got four different side dishes from these.

My aerobics group is on hiatus for the month of August. Good thing, too, as the thought of putting on socks and gym shoes is unbearable in this heat. While I’m hunkering down, it seems a good time to cut down on carbs such as bread, pasta, rice and other cereals and legumes. So, what’s to eat? Here are some ideas. 

• Dorada a la espalda (butterflied bream) on the grill with roasted red pepper salad and olivada sauce.
• Chicken breasts poached in olive oil with tomatoes and basil, a side of zoodles (zucchini noodles). .
• Grilled leg of lamb with three sauces (Turkish walnut-red pepper sauce; olivada and baba ghanoush) with Belgian endive leaves and cauliflower dippers and pita chips for the bread eaters at the table.
• Gazpacho for snacks, anytime of the day or night. 

These gilt-head bream (dorada) are opened up, a la espalda, so they grill in no time at all. Served with olivada sauce, sort of like tapenade, made with canned olives stuffed with anchovies, and a side of roasted pepper salad, using one of those red bell peppers, it was a lovely and quick meal for two.

One roasted pepper, peeled and dressed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and a few drops of Sherry vinegar made a side with the fish. The other three peppers I saved to make mujammara, a Turkish walnut and red pepper sauce, to go with another meal. 

No oven, no browning. Boneless chicken breasts are poached in a heavy, lidded pan with lots of olive oil and some cut-up tomatoes.  They're cooked in just 15 minutes. Sprigs of basil add a fresh flavor. Served with a side of zoodles (zucchini noodles) that cook in the microwave in 3 minutes.

No carbs, meat-centric--a boned leg of lamb on the grill. Sauces and dippers on the side. 

Three sauces to accompany the lamb or to serve with endive leaves and cauliflower florets for dipping. On the left is olivada, made to accompany the grilled fish, but pretty great with lamb, too. (Recipe for olivada is here ) At the top is baba ghanoush, made with the grilled eggplants and whole head of roasted garlic (recipe, with tahini, is from Claudia Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food.) On the right is mujammara, a Turkish sauce with walnuts and red peppers (mujammara recipe is here.)

Marinade for Grilled Lamb

Marinada para Cordero a la Parilla

This marinade is adapted from a recipe for Persian-style lamb kebabs. Grated onion in the marinade both tenderizes and flavors the meat. Add any combination of herbs and spices to the basic onion. Marinate the lamb up to 8 hours. Before grilling, bring it to room temperature and scrape off and discard the marinade. 

How long to grill the lamb will depend on type of grill (wood fire, charcoal or gas), thickness of the meat and preferred degree of doneness. At my house, son, Ben, is in charge of grilling—and he got it just right! 

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

¼ cup loosely packed parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

Pinch of sumac (optional)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 pounds boned and butterflied leg of lamb

Finely chop the onion, garlic, parsley, oregano and sumac, if using, in a blender or food processor. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. 

Spread open the piece of lamb. Trim off excess fat. Place in a rimmed sheet. Spread half the marinade on the skin side and turn the lamb, skin-side down. Spread remaining marinade on the meat’s surface. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.

To grill the lamb, scrape off excess marinade. 

No-Bread Gazpacho

Gazpacho Sin Pan

Gazpacho is a glass, perfect for sipping on a hot afternoon.

Or serve gazpacho in bowls as a starter. Drizle with additional olive oil. Add chopped serrano ham and, for bread eaters, crunchy croutons.

With a heap of tomatoes left from last week’s tasting of tomato varieties and soaring temperatures (38ºC/100ºF) I crave gazpacho. I love the traditional recipe for Andalusian gazpacho, in which a bread and olive oil emulsion gives body and smoothness to the tomatoes. But, cutting carbs, I’m eating no bread this month. Here’s an alternative version, with almonds in place of bread, that was every bit as satisfying as the traditional.

Blend chunked tomato.

The best way to prepare tomatoes for gazpacho is to chunk them up and blend them—skins, seeds and all—to a puree, then sieve the pulp to produce a silky-smooth tomato blend. 

The addition of green pepper, onion and cucumber is optional. Use  a piece, to taste, of each, for example, a 2-inch chunk of cucumber and a quarter of a green pepper and onion suit me about right. Use your best extra virgin olive oil; the flavor is important. Thin the gazpacho with water—from ¼ to 1 cup. A sipping gazpacho should be the consistency of light cream, but, if served in a bowl with a spoon, it can be thicker. 

Pour the finished gazpacho into a covered pitcher (or plastic water bottle) and chill in the fridge. Serve it in glasses for sipping or in bowls garnished with chopped serrano ham, grapes or melon, or, for those eating bread, crispy croutons.

Almonds replace bread in this gazpacho.

2 pounds ripe tomatoes

Piece of green pepper

Piece of sweet onion

Piece of peeled cucumber

2 cloves garlic

½ cup skinned almonds

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon salt or to taste

Water to thin the gazpacho

Cut the tomatoes, pepper, onion and cucumber into chunks and place in a large bowl. With an immersion blender, blend the vegetables until pureed. 

Sieve out seeds, skins.

Push the puree through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much pulp as possible. Do this in two or three batches if necessary. Discard the solids left in the sieve.

Return about a quarter of the puree to the large bowl. Add the garlic and almonds and blend until they are finely ground. Blend in the oil, vinegar and salt. Beat in the remaining three-quarters of the tomato puree.  Thin the gazpacho with water. Chill the gazpacho.