The Family Centre's Carb Conscious Cookbook is full of delicious recipes aimed at reducing the carbohydrate load of the meal, in particular processed and grain-based ingredients. We know carbs are sometimes tough to tackle for people living with type 1, but we also get that reducing carbohydrate for the whole family may not always be feasible.
Adapting higher-carb meals into lower carb options is always fun, but have you every considered doing it the other way around?
We have chosen one of our favourite winter dinner recipes from our very own Carb Conscious Cookbook and want to show you how take a low-carb recipe and adapt it to suit the level of carbohydrate you and your family are happy with.
Ingredients
Carbs are in blue
500g cauliflower (cut into florets) 10g
2 tbsp cream 1g
1 tbsp olive oil 0g
400g skinless chicken breast (diced) 0g
60g spinach 0.5g
1 leek (halved and sliced) 2g
100g middle rasher bacon (chopped) 0g
250g mushrooms (sliced) 1g
2 tbsp almond meal 1g
1⁄2 cup chicken stock 1.5g
1⁄2 cup cream 4g
Total Carbohydrate 21g
Serves 6
Carbohydrate per serve 3.5g
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Prepare cauliflower mash by steaming the cauliflower until softened.
Place in a large bowl and add 2 tbsp. of cream. Use a hand mix to blitz until smooth.
Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium and add oil.
Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until browned.
Transfer to a large baking dish and top with the spinach.
Add leek and bacon to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until leek has softened. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until tender.
Gradually add the almond flour and stir, then add the stock and cream whilst stirring.
Season with salt and cracked black pepper.
Bring to the boil, then pour over the chicken and spinach.
Top with the mashed cauliflower and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.
Modifying the carbs
Keeping it low-carb: serve with steamed broccolini or green beans
The middle ground: use a 50/50 potato and cauliflower mash blend
Carb me up: serve with crusty garlic bread, or replace the cauliflower with mashed sweet potato
Note: If you've made modifications, don’t forget to do the maths on the extra carbs while it's cooking and adjust your final carbohydrate count.