Hey, it’s the Saturday before Easter, and I’ve written this article just for the occasion. Why? Because I happen to know that a huge number of you will have leftover ham in the house come Sunday night, and most of you will have hardboiled eggs on hand, too. Since low carbers ain’t gonna eat ham sandwiches, or egg salad sandwiches, either, I thought I’d come up with a couple of new recipes to help you clear out the fridge without messing up your diet. Here they are!

This one will just use up ham, but makes a great lunch for a couple of days after Easter – just throw some in a snap-top container, grab a plastic fork, and go. Better yet, mix it up and immediately divide it among two or three containers, and there are your lunches for the next few days, ready to go. Feel free to double this, of course.

Colorful Ham and Cheese Salad

1/4 cauliflower head
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup ham cubes
4 ounces smoked provolone cheese slices
1 small tomato
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon minced fresh
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into chunks no bigger than 1″. Put in a microwaveable casserole with a lid, add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover, and nuke on high for 9 minutes, or until tender but not mushy.

In the meanwhile, cut up everything else – the red onion, bell pepper, ham (go for cubes smaller than 1/2″), provolone (again, smallish pieces), tomato, and parsely. Put ’em all in a non-reactive mixing bowl.

When the cauliflower is done, uncover it so the steam can escape, and let it cool for at least ten minutes.

While the cauliflower is cooling, measure the olive oil, and crush the garlic into it. Let it sit.

Okay, your cauliflower is cool. Add the garlic_y olive oil, the lemon juice, and oregano. Toss everything well. Now salt and pepper, tossing as you go, to taste.

I ate some of this right away – it was supper time, after all – but I think it’s better given at least several hours for the flavors to blend, and it’s even better the next day.

2-3 servings. Assuming 2, each will have: 568 Calories; 46g Fat; 24g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber, 13 g usable carb (This will, to some degree, depend on the carb count of your ham. I hope you chose the lowest carb ham in the store. If you did, your carb count may be a tad lower.)

This one uses up ham and eggs, both, and turns them into a tasty, filling, and rather attractive supper casserole. This is very flexible; feel free to increase the recipe to fill a bigger pan and serve a bigger crew. It also warms up nicely in the microwave, so you could make extra to warm the next day.

Shakel Ham and Egg Supper

This started with a recipe in a Peg Bracken book – long time readers know of my idol-worship for Peg Bracken, a mid-20th century cookbook author. I added the ham, and also had to make up my own cheese sauce, since traditional cheese sauce has flour in it.

Triple batch Cheese Sauce (recipe below)

2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
3 cups ham cubes
8 hard_boiled eggs

Make your cheese sauce first.

Preheat your oven to 350. Coat an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Now dump a box of thawed broccoli in your pan – drain off any water, first. Spread it in an even layer, and top it with half the ham cubes. Peel and slice four of the eggs, and lay the slices over the ham cubes. Spoon half the cheese sauce over that.

Repeat your layers a second time – broccoli, ham cubes, sliced eggs, cheese sauce.

Bake for 45 minutes, then serve.

If you serve 6 with this, each will get: 608 Calories; 45g Fat; 40g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 8 g usable carb.

(Come to think of it, this recipe would be really good with a couple-few drained cans of tuna in place of the ham, come some day when you don’t have leftover ham lurking in the fridge.)

Here’s the recipe for a single batch of cheese sauce; triple this for your casserole:

Cheese Sauce

1 ounce cream cheese
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper – to taste

Simply combine everything but the salt and pepper in a heavy_bottomed saucepan over low heat, and whisk till the cheeses are melted, and everything is smooth. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Assuming three servings, each will have: 238 Calories; 20g Fat; 11g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 2 g usable carb.

Now put down that Peep!

More Low Carb Easter Ideas

More Low Carb Recipes & Articles by Dana Carpender

3 Question Interview with Fred Hahn – CarbSmart Podcast Episode 20

In today's three question interview from CarbSmart. Dana Carpender interviews Fred Hahn, owner of Slow Burn Fitness and author of The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution and also Strong Kids, Healthy Kids. He's also a long time low-carber. Let's hear what Fred has to say about low-carb nutrition and fitness.