Low-Carb Lesson #62: A Low Carb Menu For Casual Entertaining

Low Carb Cooking 101: Casual Entertaining

My son and his girlfriend spent their spring break with us, and we all had a wonderful time. We spent several evenings by eating dinner out on the patio, and dinner dissolved into card and game playing or just good conversation.

Since I didn’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen, our meals revolved around some type of meat on the grill, deviled eggs, a vegetable relish plate with dip, and a fruit plate. I made the deviled eggs, the vegetable relish plate, and the fruit plate up at the beginning of the week and replenished them daily as we ate all of certain items. So when dinnertime rolled around each day, I simply had to turn on the grill to cook the meat and bring out the various plates of side dishes.

And I discovered something: when people get to choose what they want from a couple of different options, and when the options involve individual pieces, as vegetable and fruit plates do, then they linger longer over the meal. They’re relaxed, they have something to do with their hands (pick at the food), and they stay longer because the meal is never quite officially over.

This is the perfect way for Casual Entertaining during the summer months. The prep work is all done ahead of time, so you as host or hostess don’t have to be fussing with the food. Everybody can choose what they want as their side dishes, so everyone’s individual dietary plan can easily be accommodated with a minimum of fuss. In the vegetable and fruit plates below I have included only low carb choices, but if you’re in the midst of a vast sea of non-low carbers, you can adjust the contents of the plates to suit anyone’s preferences. The only important thing to remember is to include enough low-carb choices for YOU to be satisfied with your options.

Since Chris and Mikaela have left, I’ve continued keeping the vegetable and fruit plates in the refrigerator and we’ve nibbled from them every evening. By keeping a bowl on coleslaw and a bowl of fauxtato salad on hand, I’ve increased the low-carb options even more. In the process, I’ve drastically reduced the time I spend in the kitchen each day. Most days we grill some meat and choose from the various vegetables, fruits, and salads already prepared and on hand. Some days I cook a vegetable, too, but not always.

By storing the fruit and vegetable plates in Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or some other large divided container with a snap-on lid, I can prepare the plates and store them ready to go in the refrigerator. Serving is merely a matter on snapping the lids off and putting the containers on the table. Putting them away after the meal is just a matter of putting the lids back on and putting the containers back in the refrigerator.

Here’s this evening’s menu:

• Thai Barbecued Chicken
• Devilishly Creamy Deviled Eggs Recipe
• Vegetable Relish Plate
• Fruit Plate

Here’s the shopping list for the meal. You may very well already have some of these things on hand:

• 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 8 large or extra-large eggs
• small curd cottage cheese
• 1 small head cauliflower
• cilantro
• 2 jalpeno peppers
• 1 small package table-ready small whole carrots
• 2 bell peppers (green, red, yellow, or orange)
• 1 bunch celery
• 1 small package radishes
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 onion
• 2 large jicama
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms
• 1 lemon
• 1 or 2 pints strawberries
• 1 small honeydew melon
• 1 small cantaloupe
• 9 cloves garlic or jarred minced garlic
• mayonnaise
• pickle relish (optional)
• fish sauce
• Brown Sugar Twin
• Tabasco sauce (or other hot sauce of your choice)
• sugar free DaVinci Pineapple Syrup
• sugar free apple cider drink mix
• curry powder
• paprika
• dry mustard
• celery salt
• salt
• pepper
• 1 lemon

Here’s the game plan:

Everything for this meal is prepared ahead of time with the one exception of cooking the chicken.

Prepare the jicama for the Zapples and Pinezapples at least 24 hours in advance in order to let the jicama chunks and slices absorb the flavors of the liquids.

Boil the eggs for the Deviled Eggs either several hours or up to 24 hours before you want to devil them.

Prepare the fruits and vegetables for the plates either early in the morning or up to 24 hours in advance. Place them on the plates you will be using for serving, cover them tightly, and put them in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the meal.

Prepare the vegetable dip (unless you have bought prepared vegetable dip) either early in the morning or up to 24 hours in advance. Put the dip in the container you are going to use on the table, cover it tightly, and put it in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the meal.

Prepare the Thai Barbecued Chicken seasoning paste and rub it on the thawed chicken breasts. Cover them tightly and place them in the refrigerator until and 45 minutes before you want to serve the meal.

About 45 minutes before you want to serve the meal, preheat the grill. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator to warm up a bit while it is preheating. Set the table.

Cook the chicken according to the recipe directions. While it is cooking, take the deviled eggs, vegetable relish plate, and fruit plate out of the refrigerator, remove the coverings, and place them on the table.

When the chicken is done, place it on a serving plate or platter and put it on the table along with the rest of the food.

Call everybody to dinner and sit down to a well-deserved, relaxing meal.

And, finally, here’s the recipes:

Low-Carb & Keto Thai Barbecued Chicken

• 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 2 jalpeno peppers, coarsely chopped
• 8 cloves garlic coarsely chopped, or 3 to 4 tablespoons jarred minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Twin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• grated peel of 1 lemon
• 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed if previously frozen

Place the cilantro, jalapeno peppers, garlic, fish sauce, Brown Sugar Twin, curry powder, and lemon peel in the blender or in a food processor and process until the ingredients form a thick paste.

Rinse the thawed chicken breasts with water and pat them dry with paper towels. Poke each breast on both sides several times with a fork. Rub the spice paste on both sides of each breast.

Place the breasts in a large Zip Lock bag or in a shallow plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. Place them in the refrigerator for a minimum or 3 to 4 hours or as long as 24 hours.

About a half an hour before you plan to serve the meal, preheat the grill.

Place the chicken breasts on the preheated grill and close the lid. Continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes. Lift the grill lid and turn the breasts over. Close the lid and continue cooking until the breasts are cooking through and the juices run clear, about 5 to 8 minutes more.

Place the breasts on a serving plate and put them on the buffet immediately.

Serves 6 to 8, depending upon appetite.

Devilishly Creamy Deviled Eggs Recipe

Low-Carb & Keto Vegetable Relish Plate

1 small head cauliflower
1 small package table ready whole baby carrots
2 bell peppers (green, red, yellow, or orange)
1 small package radishes
2 cucumbers
1 bunch celery
8 ounces fresh mushrooms
prepared vegetable dip or homemade vegetable dip of your choice (See recipe below.)

Low-Carb Gluten-Free Spicy Vegetable Dip Recipe

Low-Carb & Keto Fruit Plate

• 1 small cantaloupe, cut into chunks
• 1 small honeydew, cut into chunks
• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and halved
• Zapple chunks or slices (See recipe below.)
• Pinezapple chunks (See recipe below.)

Low-Carb & Keto Zapple Wedges

• 1 small jicama
• 1 to 2 packets sugar free apple cider drink mix

Dissolve 1 packet or sugar-free apple cider drink mix in 1 cup hot water. Set aside.

Wash and peel the jicama. (*** See note.)

Slice the jicama in half, and then slice each half into wedges that are approximately 1/4-inch thick. Place the jicama slices into a plastic bowl with a lid or a Mason jar with a lid. Shake the bowl or jar to settle the slices.

Pour the dissolved apple cider drink mix over the jicama slices. If the drink mix does not cover the slices, use an additional packet of drink mix and another cup of water to cover them.

Cover the container and place in the refrigerator overnight to allow the jicama slices absorb the flavor of the sugar-free apple cider drink mix.

To serve, spear the jicama slices with a fork and shake the liquid off them. Do not throw out the remaining apple cider drink mix until you have used the last of the jicama slices.

Slices will remain fresh and crisp for 3 to 5 days.

***Note: Peeling jicama is not fun, but you can accomplish it with a minimum of frustration and swearing by remembering that you cannot peel it round and round like an apple.

Peeling jicama is much easier if you slice a thin slice off the top and bottom of the jicama, then use a sharp knife to loosen thin strips of the peel, beginning at the top or bottom. When you have enough peel loose, put down the knife and pull downwards on the peel. You should be able to pull off substantial strips of peel this way, although you’ll be darn lucky if you can get it all by working from one end.

When you have removed as much peel as you can from one end of the jicama, flip it over and repeat the process from the other end.

Use the knife to remove any remaining peel, then rinse off the peeled jicama before slicing.

Low-Carb & Keto Pinezapple Chunks

• 1 small jicama
• DaVinci Gourmet Pineapple Sugar-Free Syrup to cover

Wash and peel the jicama. (*** See note.)

Slice the jicama in half, and then into quarters. Slice the quarters into bite-sized chunks. Place the jicama chunks into a plastic bowl with a lid or a Mason jar with a lid. Shake the bowl or jar to settle the slices.

Pour the sugar-free DaVinci Pineapple Syrup dissolved over the jicama chunks until it just covers them. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator overnight to allow the jicama chunks to absorb the flavor of the sugar-free DaVinci Pineapple Syrup.

To serve, spear the jicama chunks with a fork and shake the liquid off them. Do not throw out the remaining sugar-free DaVinci Pineapple Syrup until you have used the last of the jicama chunks. (You can add fresh jicama chunks to the unused syrup when you have used up the first batch.)

Slices will remain fresh and crisp for 3 to 5 days.

***Note: Peeling jicama is not fun, but you can accomplish it with a minimum of frustration and swearing by remembering that you cannot peel it round and round like an apple.

Peeling jicama is much easier if you slice a thin slice off the top and bottom of the jicama, then use a sharp knife to loosen thin strips of the peel, beginning at the top or bottom. When you have enough peel loose, put down the knife and pull downwards on the peel. You should be able to pull off substantial strips of peel this way, although you’ll be darn lucky if you can get it all by working from one end.

When you have removed as much peel as you can from one end of the jicama, flip it over and repeat the process from the other end.

Use the knife to remove any remaining peel, then rinse off the peeled jicama before slicing.