The following high protein low carb recipes are perfect for those people on the Atkins, Zone, South Beach, or other similar diets.  Make sure you follow your diet’s guidelines for allowable carbohydrates and foods.  The following recipes for high protein low carb meals contain only 8 (or less) grams of carbs per serving.

Cabbage Soup With Beef

This delicious high protein low carb soup recipe is flavored by beef and bacon (which also provide the protein), herbs, wine, and vegetables.  It’s perfect for cold winter days when you have time to prepare it (the beef needs tenderized and therefore must be simmered for 3 hours).  This is one of my favorite dishes.

Here’s what you need:

1 ¼  pounds of round roast (beef top)
2 slices of bacon chopped finely
1 onion diced
I carrot diced
2 celery stalks diced
1 green bell pepper diced (remove the core and seeds)
½ cup red wine
½ cup steak sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp granulated garlic
½ tsp pepper
¼ dried oregano
¼ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp caraway seeds (whole)
9 cups of filtered water
2 crumbled beef bouillon cubes
½ head green cabbage (should be about twelve ounces) diced (make the dice larger – about 1 inch)
3 ounces of jarred, roasted red peppers (drain and then diced)

Here’s how  you make it:

Take the beef top round roast and trim off the fat.  Don’t discard it.  Cut the meat and the fat into cubes (½ inch for the meat and ¼ inch for the fat).

Put your bacon and beef fat into a large pot.  Bring to a medium heat and cook until the fat has been rendered and the bacon has browned.  Be careful not to burn the bacon and fat.  Stir occasionally.  Remove the browned pieces of fat and bacon and set them aside.  Leave the rendered fat in the the pot.

In the liquified fat add the onions, celery, green peppers, and carrots.  Saute over medium-low heat until they are soft (about 5 minutes).  Add the beef to the sauteing vegetables and raise the heat to a medium.  Saute the beef and vegetable mixture for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Take the fat and bacon that you put to the side into the pot with the beef and vegetables.
To the pot you want to now add your wine, steak sauce, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, garlic, and caraway.  Stir for about 60 seconds.  Add your water and crumbed cubes of beef bouillon.  Continue stirring until the bouillon cubes have completely dissolved.

Now add your red peppers and cabbage.  Bring the pot with your ingredients to a boil.  Then once it reaches a boil reduce the heat and allow it so simmer for 3 minutes.  Skim the top to remove the substance that has accumulated.  Now, you want to cover the pot partially and allow it to simmer for 3 hours.  Stir the pot occasionally (you may need to skim the top a few more times).

Taste to see if your seasonings are good and if the soup is too thick you may need to add more water.  Try adding a cup or half a cup at a time.

Serve and enjoy!

Dijon Creamed Pork Chops

This is a delicious low fat high protein dinner recipe and is suprisingly light because it uses either fat-free half and half or evaporated milk.  It’s also pretty simple to make (although it doesn’t taste simple at all).

Here’s What You Need:

4 oz pork loin chops (center-cut and boneless)
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
Cooking spray
1/3 cup fat free and low sodium organic chicken broth
1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk or fat-free half and half

Here’s How You Make It:

Take the pork chops and trim the fat off of them. Sprinkle salt and pepper to both sides.  Spray a large nonstick skillet with the cooking spray.  Heat the pan over medium high heat until it’s nice and hot.  Put in the pork chops and cook them for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Once they are browned on both sides remove them from the pan.  *Make sure your pork is cooked thoroughly before you serve it.

To the pan you now add the broth.  Stir and make sure to loosen up the browned bits that are stuck to the pan.  Add the Dijon mustard and the half and half or evaporated milk.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about seven minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened.  Now spoon the sauce over the pork chops.

Enjoy!

Low Carb Chocolate Mousse

This low carb dessert recipe is delicious and it doesn’t even contain sugar! It’s rich and creamy and only contains about four net carbs per serving.  There is a bit of gelatin that you add to the recipe and this helps firm up the mousse so you can prepare it before hand.  I also love this recipe because it only takes about fifteen minutes to make.

Here’s What You Need:

1 teaspoon of gelatin (unflavored)
1 tablespoon of cold, filtered* water
2 tablespoons of boiling filtered* water
1 cup of Splenda
½ cup of cocoa (powdered and unsweetened)
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of organic* vanilla extract
You can top this dessert with whipped cream if you’d like (make sure it’s sweetened with Splenda or another low carb sugar substitute).
Dust the mousse lightly with the cocoa powder

*Filtered and organic when possible.  If you don’t have filtered water then tap water will work and if you don’t have organic then you can use traditional.

Here’s How You Make It:

Put a medium sized mixing bowl in the refrigerator to chill.

Place the cold, filtered water into a smaller bowl.  Add the gelatin slowly and then let is sit for 60 seconds.  Now add the boiling filtered water into the bowl until the gelatin has dissolved.  Set the bowl aside for now.

Pull the chilled bowl out of the refrigerator.  In it add the vanilla extract, heavy whipping cream, salt, cocoa powder and Splenda.  Use an electric mixer to combine ingredients. Mix until it becomes stiff.  Try and not over-beat the mixture or it will end up having a texture like butter.  Once the mixture becomes stiff add the gelatin.  Beat it until it’s just combined.

Now take your mousse and place it in a decorative dish (I personally like to use martini glasses).  Chill the mouse for one or two hours before you serve it.

Top with whipped cream and unsweetened cocoa and serve!

Note:  You can make this recipe a day in advance if you are short on time.