It's kind of hard to beat cooking a big juicy steak on the grill and having a nice fresh salad to go along with it. But there are times when low carb dieters want something a little gooier. It's not hard to do with a little creativity.

This article is not designed to give you specific recipes, but to inspire you to become more creative in your low carb cooking. Having a good idea of foods that go well together can give you a whole new perspective when preparing your meals.

The first step is to think of obvious foods that go well together; meat and cheese, meat and onions, meat and cabbage, meat and peppers, etc. I use ground beef a lot because it's very versatile and goes well with a lot of things.

Gooey and Filling

When I want something gooey, I will take ground beef and brown it with chopped onions, salt and pepper. After it is browned I add shredded cheese and mix it well. It's very filling, very satisfying and very fast.

For Mexican Food Lovers

If you are a lover of Mexican food and miss it due to low carbing, brown the ground beef without putting the cheese in it. Then put the meat over some crisp chopped lettuce and top with shredded cheese and a little picante sauce. This makes a great low carb taco salad.

Another great tasting Mexican food dish is a low carb chilli relleno casserole. Brown some ground beef with onions, salt and pepper. Whisk 3 or 4 eggs well and add 12 to 16 ounces of half and half or heavy cream. Layer a square baking pan with whole green chilies (a couple 10 ounce cans with seeds cleaned out). Put the beef over the layered chillies then add the egg mixture until it's just about at the top of the meat. Sprinkle a generous amount of shredded longhorn cheese over the top and cook in a slow oven 30 to 40 minutes. Watch to make sure the cheese doesn't get too brown. Let it sit for awhile after cooking to thicken (if you can resist it long enough).

For Pasta Lovers

Do you miss having pasta on your low carb diet? Cook a nice casserole using thin slices of zucchini. Brown some ground beef and make 2 or 3 layers of beef alternated with the zucchini. Add some mozzarella cheese to each layer and some crushed tomatoes. Top this off with more cheese and cook on low heat for 60-90 minutes. This is absolutely delicious. You can even add pepperoni to each layer to help kill the craving for pizza.

Another variation of this crosses over the lines of Italian and Mexican foods. For this recipe I recommend Mexican tomato sauce. It's lower in carbs and adds a little heat and zest to the dish. Any low carb tomato sauce, or even crushed tomatoes will work.

Parboil some cabbage leaves then cut into bite sized pieces. Brown some ground beef with onion, salt and pepper. Then, mix the cabbage in with the beef and add the tomato sauce. Cook in a slow oven 30 to 45 minutes.

These pasta lover dishes are good to eat and good for cleaning out your system.

Summary

The idea is to come up with ideas to put more variety into your low carb cooking. I don't use recipes, I shoot from the hip. If I want to make a meat loaf, I throw some ground beef into a bowl, throw in an egg or two, maybe some crushed pork rinds and some chopped veggies, a little Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and pepper and go. I go through the refrigerator and the cupboard to see what I have. If it's low carb and I think it will work in my recipe, I put it in.

If I'm craving a certain food, I try to think of a way to make it low carbohydrate so I can have it. Use your creativity and you'll not only be looking forward to eating, you'll be looking forward to cooking.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Cooking