Diabetes-friendly Recipes
Vegetable Soup with a Basil and Garlic Garnish
This soup provides the same flavours as a traditional minestrone soup, but it is low in carbs, making it great for meals where your carbohydrate totals are being met by other dishes. Any soup containing beans offers more fibre and protein.
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) extra virgin oil
- 2 cups (500 mL) chopped onion
- 4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 ½ cups (375 mL) diced carrots
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 medium or 3 small zucchini, diced
- 8 cups (2L) no-added-salt or sodium-reduced vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 can (28 oz./796 mL) no-added-salt tomatoes with juices, coarsely chopped
- 1 can (14 oz./298 mL) diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tsp (2mL) each salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups (1 L) baby spinach
Garnish
- 1 cup (250 mL) fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp (25 mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 tsp (20 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add carrots, celery, and zucchini; cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add vegetable broth, canned tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach and continue to cook, covered, another 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in food processor, mix together garnish ingredients until well blended. Set aside.
- Season soup with freshly ground pepper, to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve garnished with 1 ½ teaspoons (7 mL) basil mixture.
- Makes 10 servings (each 1 ½ cups/375 mL)
Nutritional breakdown per serving: 13 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 3 g fibre, 225 mg sodium, 109 calories.
From the Canadian Diabetes Association's Summer 2015 Diabetes Dialogue.
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Pasta with Shrimp and Mushrooms
This recipe, from Lighthearted Everyday Cooking (Macmillan of Canada) by Anne Lindsay is a great example of how to stretch your services of starchy foods.
- 1 lb. (500 g) pasta (penne or rigatoni)
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil or soft margarine
- 4 small (about 7 inches/18 cm) zucchini, julienned
- ½ lb. (250 g) mushrooms, sliced
- 2 lb. (1 kg) large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large tomato, diced
- ½ cup (125 mL) chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup (50mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until tender but firm, drain and return to pot.
- Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil over high heat; stir-fry zucchini and mushrooms for about 3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Transfer to a bowl.
- In the same skillet, heat remaining oil over high heat; cook shrimp and garlic, stirring, for 3 minutes or until shrimp is opaque. Add tomato and cook for 1 minute. Transfer shrimp and zucchini mixtures (including all liquids) to pot of hot pasta. Add parsley, cheese, and lemon juice; toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 8 servings
Nutritional breakdown per serving: 50 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 9 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 4 g fibre, 195 mg sodium, 376 calories.
From the Canadian Diabetes Association's Summer 2015 Diabetes Dialogue.
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Apricot-Oat Almond Muffins
If you are a muffin fan and are carb counting, this is the muffin for you! It could have just half the carbohydrates and calories of a store-bough one. This recipe is from Norene’s Healthy Kitchen (Whitecap) by Norene Gilletz.
- ½ cup (125 mL) whole-wheat flour
- ½ cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (250 mL) rolled oats
- 1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
- ½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
- 1 large egg (or 2 egg whites)
- ¼ cup (50 mL) soft tub margarine or canola oil
- ½ cup (125 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup (250 mL) plain non-fat yogurt
- ½ tsp (2 mL) almond or pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (150 mL) finely chopped dried apricots
- 12 whole almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 4000 F/2000 C. Line compartments of a muffin pan with paper liners (or spray with cooking spray).
- In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine flours, oats, baking powder, and baking soda; process for 5 seconds. Add egg, margarine, brown sugar, yogurt, and almond extract; process for 25 to 30 seconds or until smooth and blended. Stir in apricots with a rubber spatula.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each compartment about two-thirds full. Top each muffin with 1 almond. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched.
Makes 12 muffins.
Nutritional breakdown per muffin: 25 g carbohydrate, 4 g protein, 6 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 2 g fibre, 155 mg sodium, 160 calories.
From the Canadian Diabetes Association's Summer 2015 Diabetes Dialogue.
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Zucchini as a Low-Carb Spaghetti Substitute
A typical plate of spaghetti can easily provides 100 to 150 grams of carbohydrate, and that is before you even consider the garlic bread and soft drink that might go with it. Most low-carb diet plans recommend limiting your daily carb intake to fewer than 100 grams a day, or even below 50 grams a day if you're someone dealing with insulin resistance. If you want to enjoy spaghetti without blowing your carb budget, zucchini can be a low-carb substitute.
How To
To use zucchini instead of regular high-carb spaghetti, simply wash your zucchinis and cut both ends. Keep the skin on for extra fiber. Cut your zucchini into thin slices lengthwise, and then cut each slice into thin strips to create spaghetti-like zucchini pasta. If you are not skilled with the knife, you can find kitchen gadgets -- such as a mandoline -- to help you transform vegetables like zucchini into long spaghetti-like strips. Just boil your zucchini in water for a couple of minutes and serve it with your favorite low-carb spaghetti sauce.
Low-Carb Sauces
Replacing your usual high-carb spaghetti pasta with zucchini will help you drastically reduce your carb intake for that meal, but don't forget that spaghetti sauce can also be relatively high in carbohydrates too. Tomato sauce can contain up to 10 grams of carbs per 1/2-cup serving, which can quickly add up, depending on the amount you use. Find a sugar-free tomato sauce or make your own spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes to keep your carb intake as low as possible. Using meat in your zucchini-based spaghetti meal does not affect the carb content, and the carb content of cheese is minimal.
Low-Carb Side Dishes
Instead of having the traditional garlic bread, Caesar salad with croutons and soft drink to accompany your spaghetti, choose low-carb side dish to help you better control your weight and blood sugar levels. A salad of leafy greens with fresh tomatoes and slices of avocado drizzled with balsamic vinegar makes a delicious accompaniment. Sprinkle your spaghetti with grated Parmesan and treat yourself to a small glass of wine -- white has fewer carbs than red -- and you may not even miss the missing carbs.
Nutrition Facts
Each medium zucchini provides 33 calories, 6.1 grams of total carbohydrates and 2.0 grams of fiber, which works out to only 4.1 grams of net carbs. Net carbs are the amount of carbs that your body can actually digest, and which can contribute to increasing your blood sugar levels. By comparison, a 2-cup serving of wheat pasta contains approximately 90 grams of carbohydrates.
From Healthy Eating by Aglaee Jacob, Demand Media
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