Slow Carb Condiments One of the most useful parts in making our slow­carb diet less boring is a nice collection of condiments. For the most part, even in the Standard American Diet (SAD), condiments should be relatively low in everything but taste, and in most cases we shouldn’t be using much on our food anyway. Its purpose is to enhance a plate, not cover up the flavor of food. There are already many condiments that are naturally slow­carb friendly. In other words, they’re safe for humans to eat and don’t need to inspire healthier versions. Things like mustard (almost every kind), vinegar, salsa, and most pestos are already good to go. There are other condiments, like mayonnaise, that should be healthy when you consider what it takes to make them, but purchasing them at the store is not a good idea. So after the list below, there’s a collection of condiment recipes you can use to enhance your own plates without worrying about being off the plan. Slow-Carb Condiment List Almond Butter Lemon Juice Salsa Cashew Butter Lime Juice Salsa Verde Coconut Milk Mayo (homemade) Soy Sauce Fish Sauce Mustard Sriracha Hot Pepper Vinegar Oyster Sauce Sunflower Seed Butter Hot Sauce Peanut Butter Tamari (wheat free) Hummus Pesto Vinegar From anything on this list that you might purchase in the grocery store, be sure to check the labels. They should have as few ingredients as possible, you should be able to easily pronounce them all, and they shouldn’t have enough sugar in them to notice. Slow-Carb Condiment Recipes A couple of these recipes are mine, but I do use some from other amazing bloggers. Links are provided when I’ve borrowed from them. Chimichurri Ingredients ● 1 tomato ● handful of chopped parsley ● 1/2 onion ● 1 tbsp oregano (fresh is best) ● 1/2 green pepper ● salt & pepper to taste Slow­Carb Meal Planner | Slow­Carb Condiments | FindingMyFitness.com Directions 1. Rough chop the tomato, onion, and pepper so it can be processed more easily. 2. Put everything in a blender or food processor and blend until the veggies are past the point of being considered “diced”. You don’t want a soup, but you don’t want big chunks either. Hot Pepper Vinegar This can be used as a spicy vinegar, or you can use the peppers as sort of a pickled spicy addition to many dishes. Ingredients ● A whole bunch of red thai hot peppers (or ● 4­5 cloves of garlic, diced any small, thin, long hot pepper) ● 3/4 c white or apple cider vinegar Directions Slice thinly the hot peppers so you have small, spicy rings. In the end, you’d like to have 1/2 to 1 cup of them. Then dump everything into a jar for storage. For less hot, remove the seeds before adding them to the vinegar. Ketchup Ingredients ● 6 ounces tomato paste ● 1 tsp salt ● 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar ● 1/8 tsp ground allspice ● 1/3 cup water ● 1/8 tsp ground cloves ● 2 tbsp onions ● 1/8 tsp pepper ● 2 cloves garlic Directions Combine ingredients in food processor and blend until the onion disappears. Spoon mixture into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. (from Mark’s Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alternative­healthy­condiment­recipes/) Mayonnaise Ingredients ● 2 egg yolks ● 1/2 tsp of dry mustard powder ● 1 c extra virgin olive oil ● 1 clove of garlic, crushed ● 1 tbsp of lemon juice ● salt and pepper to taste Directions 1. In a food processor, drop the yolks, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper and blend together. Slow­Carb Meal Planner | Slow­Carb Condiments | FindingMyFitness.com 2. Pour the oil into the blender in a slow, steady stream while it’s blending, so that it is immediately whisked into the mixture. If you can’t add the oil in a continuous stream, pour it in small batches. Blend until it has the look and consistency of mayo. 3. Taste the mayonnaise. Add the vinegar and any extra seasoning to taste and whisk together one last time. Pesto Ingredients ● 2­3 garlic cloves ● 1 c packed flat­leaf parsley leaves ● 1/4 c pine nuts (1/8 pound) ● 3 tbsp olive oil ● 3 c packed Italian basil leaves ● 1tsp pepper Directions 1. Pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add nuts, a large handful of herbs, and pepper and process until chopped. 2. Add remaining herbs one handful at a time, pulsing after each addition, until finely chopped. 3. With motor running, add oil and blend until incorporated. (based off of http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Three­Basil­Pesto­242861) Pico de Gallo Ingredients ● 1 tomato (the big kind), diced ● 1/2 green pepper, diced ● 1/2 red onion, diced ● juice from 1/2 lemon ● 2­4 cloves of garlic, diced ● salt & pepper Directions 1. If you don’t want to dice the veggies by hand, put them in a processor and pulse so that they dice but don’t become a puree. 2. Toss everything in a bowl and mix together. Salsa, my favorite way Ingredients ● 3 vine­ripened tomatoes ● oregano ● 1 tomatillo ● cilantro ● 4 cloves garlic ● 1 tsp lime zest ● 4 chipotle peppers ● 2 tsp ancho chili powder ● 4 green onions ● salt to taste ● 1/2 small red onion Directions 1. In a blender, combine and blend the tomatillo, 2 of the tomatoes, garlic, and all seasonings until blended completely (hint: cut up the tomatoes into small chunks). Slow­Carb Meal Planner | Slow­Carb Condiments | FindingMyFitness.com 2. Combine into your blender the third tomato and the red onion. Pulse blender until it's all combined well. Salsa Verde Ingredients ● 3­4 jalapeño peppers ● a few cloves of garlic ● 1 banana pepper ● 1/2 med. onion, roughly chopped ● 5­6 tomatillos ● salt to taste Directions 1. Under a hot broiler, on the top rack, roast the peppers, tomatillos, and garlic. Get the peppers nice and black. The tomatillos can be blackening as well, and the garlic husk should be getting dark too. Do this is a pan with a side, as the tomatillos will make some juice. 2. Let the ingredients cool to the point that they can be handled, and take the charred skin off of the peppers. Pull away any charred skin from the tomatillos, and pull the husk off of the garlic. 3. Toss everything, including the onion and salt, into a food processor and blend until chopped well. Taste, and add salt if necessary. Want more? For more amazing condiments you can make, check out the following sites: Slow Carb Foodie ­ Laura’s done a great job at reinventing some common condiments http://www.slowcarbfoodie.com/recipe­index/ Everyday Paleo ­ Sarah is an amazing cook and has a ton of Paleo sauces to try. http://everydaypaleo.com/food/sauces/ Mark’s Daily Apple ­ Mark talks about what he calls a Primal diet and has several safe condiments. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alternative­healthy­condiment­recipes/ With Sarah’s and Mark’s sites, they’ll have fruit or honey sometimes. Either remove those or don’t use those recipes to be slow­carb compliant. For a list of my slow­carb recipes, visit Finding My Fitness: http://www.findingmyfitness.com/4hourbodyrecipes/ Slow­Carb Meal Planner | Slow­Carb Condiments | FindingMyFitness.com.