A friend is staying with us, and she’s keto. Paleo. Low carbs. Low GI. Low something else – basically, she doesn’t eat what I can cook best: bread, cakes, pasta or rice. Thankfully, she’s lovely enough to have around to make up for those questions I have an urge to scream out: ‘what on earth will I feed her for breakfast???’
You’d think a vegan would be a trickier guest – not so, I’d just cook pasta and rice and pasta simply swapping butter for olive oil, omitting bacon and stocking up on vegan cheese (it’s their loss). Those pesky carbs are without a doubt flexible ingredients and without them, what's left? Steak every day and bad breath?
So if you find yourself in my shoes or, more probably, in her shoes, here’s how to tackle it. Breakfast can be lots of bacon, of course, but to make it a little more interesting you could cook bacon and banana. Very keto. Very Elvis. Cheese and mushroom omelette will definitely be welcome too, and if you’re really keen, prep the makings of a smoked mackerel kedgeree. Yes, it is a breakfast dish. Yes, it has rice in it but rice is low GI.
For lunch, how about an avocado and red beans salad with crispy garlic? Or a prawn burger – naked, of course. You could whip up a skillet of calamari with chorizo or make chilli crab butter – the low carb person whoever it is will approve, anything butter is good in their books. No toast or bread but no reason why you couldn’t spread it on Romaine lettuce leaves.
For the main meal get a whole lamb going on a spit or roast a whole rib of beef. No? Well, maybe not – steak with grilled vegetables might be more sensible, or a pork stroganoff. There’s also grilled balsamic bream or teriyaki chicken, all of those with plenty of vegetables: piperade, ratatouille or green beans and tomatoes.
There’s no dessert as we know them, needless to say, unless they/you allow fruit: pears with blue cheese with be the ticket then. Or peaches with savoury crumble – but note there’s a little flour going in there.
Hope this has given a couple of ideas to low carb folks or their hosts. Make sure you get my weekly newsletter with new, not only low carb recipes!