It’s chilly here in San Diego. With cold nights and dreary days, we’re longing for summer! Citrus flavors make us think of summer. While we can’t will away this blustery, cold weather, we can at least have a taste of summer. Tonight, for dinner, we’re thinking of orange recipes. Packed with vitamins and no fat, salt or cholesterol. We want orange from start to finish. Below are five recipes we love that are low carbs and tasty for dinner and dessert!
Is there anyone who doesn’t love orange chicken? If so, we’ve never met them! This recipe is not low-fat, it’s certainly not a daily go-to recipe, but we love it. Avoiding breading on the chicken helps it lower in carbs, but using pork rinds in the crust significantly ups the fat content. We enjoy this recipe occasionally, and these cold days are the perfect time to indulge. But, it only has one gram of net carbs. A serving has 335 calories, 22.4 grams of fat, 4.6 carbs and 26.4 grams of protein. Get the recipe.
Frequently we default to cooking chicken; many of us view it as healthier than other meats. However, it’s good to have a mix of different proteins. We love this tender pork that falls apart on the fork. It can be made on the stovetop or in a slow cooker. We default to the slow cooker as it warms our homes. It’s another recipe that is quite high in fat but, when we plan ahead, we can work this recipe into our diet plan. A serving is 342 calories, 21 grams of fat, six grams of carbs, one gram of fiber and 31 grams of protein. Get the recipe.
We’re not sure why these are called brownies; to us, it’s obvious these are blondies. There is no chocolate in them—not even white chocolate. It’s really just a delicious, dense, orange cake that you cut into squares. And we love it! Whatever you call them, they should be in your recipe list. In these cold months, we like them warm and fresh out of the oven, in supper, we enjoy them chilled out of the fridge. With only 188 calories, you can easily work them into your menu. But, be aware that they have 18 grams of fat. They have four grams of carbs, 1.7 grams of fiber and five grams of protein. Get the recipe.
This crazy cake uses a whole orange — peel and all! That gives it three grams of fiber. All you do it quarter it and remove the seeds before throwing it into your food processor! We also think it stops it from being cloyingly sweet. You mix the cake in a food processor or blender, so there’s no heavy lifting! Because it’s a layer cake, it’s perfect for a celebration or party. Or, if you want, you can halve the recipe to make it lower in calories and just one layer. A slice (with icing, and two layers of cake) has 197 calories, 16 grams of fat, 7.9 grams of carbs, three grams of fiber and 8.3 grams of protein. Get the recipe.
There are few combinations quite so delicious as orange and chocolate. And this orange chocolate mousse is to die for! It’s high in fat, but we don’t eat dessert every day, and this decadent dessert is perfect for parties, celebrations or get-togethers. It’s so easy, you can whip it up fast. It’s essentially a very dense whipped cream, and we adore it. If you tip it with orange peel and a sprinkle of unsweetened cocoa powder, you can make this an elegant centerpiece at a party. A bowlful has 215 calories, 21 grams of fat, eight grams of carbs, two grams of fiber and one gram of protein. Get the recipe.
We hope these delicious citrus recipes can bring some fresh summery flavors to your kitchen during this chilly time of year! Soon, it will be spring again but, for now, we’ll settle for orange flavors at dinnertime!
