Low-Carb Mediterranean Chicken 'Sandwich'

Glistening, jewel-bright Mediterranean ingredients form the filling for this 'sandwich' of flash-cooked chicken breasts. This is a lovely lunch if you're on a low-carb regime or you're diabetic.

You can serve this as an 'open' sandwich, or place another griddled chicken breast
on top (see picture, below) .

I've featured many low-carb recipes on this blog, because I love this way of eating. You can see a selection of 30 of my original dishes here, and read more about the contentious but popular Tim Noakes low-carb regime in this blogpost.

The double-decker version of my low-carb chicken 'sandwich' .

This easy recipe is most delicious, crammed as it is with all sorts of Mediterranean flavours. You can pack anything you like between the breasts - when I make this dish, I raid my local deli counter and buy small quantities of anything that takes my fancy.  Bacon would be good, and perhaps some avocado, or sliced boiled eggs, or any of the high-fat foods encouraged on regimes of this sort.

You can make this in a jiffy if you cook the chicken breasts in a sandwich press. To find out how to do this - and why it's such a quick and sneaky way of cooking for kids - click here.

This recipe serves one.

Low-Carb Mediterranean Chicken 'Sandwich'

2 free-range, skinless chicken breasts
salt and milled black pepper
2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, for frying
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
4 calamata olives, pitted and halved
3 small preserved artichoke hearts, halved lengthway
3 Tbsp (45 ml) crumbled feta cheese
a white anchovy fillet [optional, and to taste]
a few rocket or watercress leaves
extra olive oil for drizzling

Heat a ridged griddle pan or frying pan until it is very hot. Place the breasts between two sheets of clingfilm or baking paper and, using a rolling pin, lightly flatten them so they are of an even thickness at both ends.  Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the olive oil to the pan and fry both the breasts and the cherry tomatoes (cut side down) for 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken is just cooked through and the tomatoes are lightly charred.  The time it will take to cook the breasts will depend on how cold they are to begin with, and their thickness.

Splash the lemon juice into the pan, leave for 15 seconds, then remove the breasts and tomatoes from the heat and let them rest for 3 minutes.

Arrange the fillings of your choice, in layers, over the bottom breast..

Arrange the filling ingredients, in layers, between the cooked breasts, sprinkle lightly with olive oil and season to taste with more salt and pepper. Push a skewer through the middle of the 'sandwich' to hold everything together and serve immediately.

Serves 1.

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Low-Carb Recipes: 35 Scrumptious Dishes from South Africa

I've had a flurry of emails from readers since I featured three low-carbohydrate recipes on this blog in recent months, all from people who've been inspired by South African sports scientist Professor Tim Noakes' recent conversion to a low-carb eating plan.

My version of Indonesian Gado-Gado (recipe below)

People on this regime seem to struggle most with finding interesting, satisfying vegetable dishes. 'It's so difficult to enjoy a dinner without potatoes, rice or pasta,' one person told me. 'I need something more exciting than a pile of steamed vegetables.'

I reckon that if you embark on a restrictive eating plan like this, possibly as a long-term lifestyle choice, you definitely need some excitement on your plate. And what better way to pleasure your brain's food-centre than to introduce thrilling flavours that punch you in the tastebuds and deaden any residual cravings for sugar and starch?

So: I've put together this list of 35 of my original low-carb recipes, and I hope you find them useful and inspiring.

Note: I'm not affiliated in any way with Professor Noakes, nor am I endorsing his eating plan, which remains contentious.

However, I find myself drifting closer and closer to its general principles because I love eating this way.  I've never been a great fan of starchy, sugary things anyway, and every time I've embarked on a low-carb diet I've shed kilos quickly. However, I freely admit that I've put some of the lard on again: it's difficult to sustain this diet for more than a month at a time, when thunderous cravings for mashed potatoes, wine gums (oh, okay, wine) and chocolate set in.

If you'd like to know more about how to follow this low-carb lifestyle, I can recommend this article by Professor Noakes.

Postscript, 8 February 2014: I have lost 22 kg in four months, mostly by following a Noakes-style low-carb regime. But more about that in a future blogpost.

Postscript, 23 March 2014: Here is the future blogpost I mentioned  above: Hello diabetes, and how I have had to adjust my cooking style

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Cottage Cheese, Herb and Olive Oil Smothering Dip  A useful, all-purpose, very garlicky cold sauce that packs a powerful flavour punch. Pour it all over whatever you're eating hot, and the warmth of the chicken, fish, steak or veggies will release the aromatic flavours of garlic, herbs and olive oil.  I always keep a lidded plastic container of this in my fridge and use it in place of mayonnaise.

Cottage Cheese, Herb and Olive Oil Smothering Dip

Low-Carb Green Bean, Tomato & Prosciutto Salad with Basil Oil A really easy and delicious throw-together salad featuring beautiful young green beans. Click through to my recipe to find a sneaky way of top-and-tailing a lot of beans in seconds!

Bean, tomato & proscuitto salad

Oven-Roasted Ratatouille I make a huge tray of this at least once a week in summer, because everyone in my family loves it hot and topped with grated Parmesan. It also makes brilliant leftovers: enjoy it cold, with shavings of Parmesan or cubes of feta cheese or shredded fresh basil.  Or whizz it up with some vegetable stock to make a soup or a sauce for pasta.

 My Lemony Green Beans with Aïoli.  Image by Michael Le Grange
 © Random House Struik 2012. Bowl by David Walters.

Lemony Green Beans with Frizzled Prosciutto, Fried Breadcrumbs & Aïoli Strictly speaking, you should leave out the fried breadcrumbs if you're on a low-carb diet. In the picture above, I've used toasted flaked almonds instead of breadcrumbs. This is a dreamy combination and one of my family's favourites.

Marinated Mushrooms with Green Beans and Feta I first learned how to make marinated mushrooms when I was twelve years old, and here I've adapted the recipe to bulk it out with squeaky-fresh green beans and feta cheese.

Warm Marinated Olives with Lime, Thyme and Chilli You won't be able to serve this with warm crusty rolls, as I've suggested in the recipe, but you can add cubed feta and halved cherry tomatoes just before you serve it to create a flavour-crammed starter or snack for a summer meal.

Braised Baby Leeks with Halloumi 'Popcorn'  An adventurous dish with knock-out flavours and textures. Leave the out the bread crumbs if you're on a strict low-carb regime.

Salad of Warm Baby Leeks with Blue Cheese and Chilli Croutons Again, you'll have to forego the chilli croutons. For this salad, baby leeks are simmered whole in water, with a little olive oil and some herbs and garlic. By the time the water has evaporated, the leeks are as tender as a mother's love. They are then left to colour slightly in the remaining oil, and served warm with crumbled blue cheese.

Cauliflower Salad with Crisp-Fried Chorizo Sausage and a Warm Lemon Dressing  An easy tapas-style dish with sensational flavours and textures: shaved raw cauliflower with crumbled fried chorizo, crisp breadcrumbs, a whisper of garlic and a warm lemony olive-oil dressing. Leave out the breadcrumbs if you're evangelical about this diet.

Make an open sandwich using a grilled chicken breast as a base, or pack the filling
between two breasts and secure with a skewer. 

Low-Carb Mediterranean Chicken 'Sandwich' I used grilled chicken breasts instead of bread slices to create this nutrient-packed lunch dish, which is packed with lovely sunny ingredients including feta, scorched tomatoes, olives, artichokes and rocket.

Spiced Baked Aubergines with Yoghurt  A plain dish with simple flavours, but you'll love it if you're a big fan of aubergines.

Pea & Pea-Shoot Salad with Bacon & Eggs

Pea and Pea-Shoot Salad with Bacon and Eggs  Peas do contain some carbohydrates, but this lovely warm-and-cold dish contains just half a cup of them per serving, so I figure that's permissible  If you can't find pea shoots, use fresh rocket, mustard greens, spinach or bok choy.

Halloumi and Beef Carpaccio Salad with Fried Capers The ultimate in indulgence when it comes to a low-carb salad, in my opinion: crisp-fried halloumi cheese, thin slices of seared beef fillet and crunchy fried capers on a bed of peppery rocket.  Here's another, similar salad: Halloumi Salad with Lemon-Caper Dressing.

Egg and Fennel Salad with Nasturtium-Leaf Mayonnaise This salad of boiled eggs and shaved fennel, dressed with a caper & anchovy vinaigrette and a nasturtium-leaf mayonnaise, is surprisingly light and delicate, considering how much oil and egg it contains. If you can't find nasturtium leaves, mix a handful of chopped fresh herbs of your choice into the mayonnaise.

Double-Egged Crustless Spinach & Bacon Tart It's difficult to believe that such a substantial tart contains very few carbs, but there is not a speck of flour, cornflour or added sugar in this easy recipe.

Warm Duck Salad (see below)

Warm Duck Salad with Crackly-Topped Beetroot  Duck is very expensive, but you can stretch two breasts between four mouths in this gorgeous salad. You'll need to leave out the dried cranberries if you're on a strict regime.  See my comments about the glycemic load of beetroot below.

Roast Baby Aubergines with Rocket and Peppered Cream Cheese,and a Tahini Dressing  A scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds gives this salad a satisfying crunch and a good nutritional kick in the pants: they, along with the sesame seeds in the tahini dressing, are among the most wholesome plant foods on earth, in my view. Here's a similar recipe: Warm Grilled Aubergine Slices with Chilli and Pesto

Slow-Cooked Courgettes & Cherry Tomatoes with Melty Feta  A lovely, bright dish that's good both hot or cold.  The half-teaspoon of sugar is there to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes, but you can leave it out and add a tiny pinch of bicarbonate of soda instead.

Pretty Little Individual Tuna Salads I designed this recipe for kids, but this makes a lovely starter for a low-carb feast, and looks so tempting in its perky collar of cucumber. 

Salad of Fennel, Apple & Smoked Mackerel

'Carpaccio' of Kohlrabi with Radishes and Blue Cheese Adapted from a dish in Anton Mosimann's 1991 book Naturally, this is a most unusual starter with its combination of creamy blue cheese, crisp, paper-thin kohlrabi and peppery radish.

Salad of Shaved Baby Fennel, Apple and Smoked Mackerel  If you've never been a fan of fennel, do try it raw in this salad, which is wonderfully nutritious, containing as it does oily fish. You'll need to leave the chilli-dusted croutons out of the recipe, though. 

Wine-Braised Baby Fennel in Crisped Prosciutto Delicate little fennel bulbs with a wrapping of salty ham. Okay, this recipe does contain wine, but all the alcohol boils away during cooking.

Roast Beef Fillet with Creamy Celeriac-and-Horseradish-Cream Salad Celeriac isn't very starchy, which makes it a great substitute for potatoes. Here, I've combined it with a creamy remoulade-style dressing to make a cool topping for roast fillet.

Roast Ratatouille Soup with Basil Mayonnaise This glorious brick-red soup, one of my favourite recipes, contains neither starchy veggies nor any flour or similar thickening agent. It's easy to make, and tastes even better the day after.

Salmon, Beetroot & Rocket Salad

Low-Carb Salmon, Beetroot and Rocket Salad This is a simple salad, but so satisfying: the combination of roasted beetroot, peppery rocket, meltingly tender flakes of salmon and little bursts of tart sweetness from the pomegranate seeds makes me want to eat it every day. Beetroot has a moderately high glycemic index value of 64, but its glycemic load is only five.

My Aunt's Avocado Mousse  I see that Professor Noakes includes avocados on his list of low-carb foods, so I bring you this retrolicious dish: a wobbly, creamy mousse of the palest green, pepped up with a subtle crunch of fresh chives.

Michael Le Grange's photograph of my Peri Peri Calamari with
 Chouriço Sausage.  Image © Random House Struik 2012. 

Peri Peri Calamari with Chouriço Sausage  Peri-peri is one of South Africa’s favourite flavours.  Feel free to add more fresh chillies if you appreciate a blisteringly hot sauce. (This recipe is taken from my cookbook Scrumptious Food For Family and Friends.)

Calamari Salad with Thyme, Lemon, Chilli and Olives  This light, summery seafood salad, sparked with lemon juice, red chilli and fresh herbs, takes just ten minutes to make and keeps very well in the fridge for three to four days.

My version of Gado-Gado. You'll have to forego the potatoes.

Gado-Gado This delicious and unusual dish of cooked vegetables, crisp salad ingredients and boiled eggs smothered with a piping-hot, spicy peanut sauce is my take on Gado-Gado, a dish popular all over Indonesia. Peanuts have a very low glycemic index value, but please leave the boiled new potatoes out of this recipe!

Tomatoes Baked with Garlic Butter and Cream A sinfully rich dish because it's loaded with fat, but it's low in carbs, and brilliant as a special treat with bacon and eggs.

Asparagus with Egg Mimosa, Butter and Breadcrumbs  Based on a classic ‘Polonaise’ dressing, this topping may be old fashioned, but it’s a time-tested classic for good reason.  Cooked, sieved egg yolks are called ‘mimosa’ because they resemble the fluffy yellow flowers of the plant of the same name. The bad news: you'll have to leave out the breadcrumbs. (Another recipe from my cookbook.)

Rainbow Trout en Papillote with Lemon and Herbs Light, bright and singing with clean flavours, this is a dish that I make often, using a variety of fresh, sustainable seafood: farmed trout, angelfish, yellowtail, snoek and black mussels.

Easy Chicken, Feta and Bacon Roll-Ups in a Tomato and Rosemary Sauce  Chicken breast fillets stuffed with feta, garlic and sage, rolled in bacon, crisped in a hot pan and then simmered in a rich tomato sauce. A bit fiddly, but well worth the effort if you're cooking for a special occasion.

My Aunt Gilly's Egg 'Bavarois' Okay, you'll have to leave out the sweet-chilli sauce topping. But this delicate, old-fashioned buffet dish, lightly jellied and subtly flavoured with bay leaves, onion, cloves and nutmeg, is delicious with small, snappy gherkins and other pickles.

Seared Tuna with a Tomato & Caper Dressing

Seared Tuna with a Burnt Tomato & Caper Dressing This is an easy and interesting dish starring just a few beautiful ingredients - spanking-fresh tuna, olive oil, capers, baby herb leaves and Rosa tomatoes at the peak of their ripeness.

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