Strawberries—You Gotta Love ’Em
I am happy to announce some really great news: Strawberries are relatively low in carbohydrates! And what makes that such great news? Well, if I tell you that cucumbers are low in carbs, or that celery is low in carbs (which are both true), you will add that bit of knowledge to your knowledge base, but it probably won’t make you leap for joy, because these foods are simply not that exciting. After all, whoever heard of celery shortcake or cucumber shortcake? But everyone has heard of strawberry shortcake!
I grew up loving this taste sensation and still do. But when I developed blood-sugar problems I figured I had to give it up. I was wrong! I can still enjoy strawberries, thanks to the wonderful news that an average-sized strawberry has about one gram of net carbs. This means I can enjoy a bowl of seven or eight strawberries and not do that much to my blood sugar. I can slice several of these babies and put them in a salad. I can slice up three or four and put them in my low-carb cereal. And I can add several to low-carb yogurt in my blender and make a delicious smoothie.
Not only are strawberries relatively low-carb and tasty; they are also nutritious. They can give oranges a run for their money when it comes to vitamin C (bet you didn’t know that) and they contain all sorts of minerals, other vitamins, and antioxidants, which do the body good. And on top of all of this they come in a pretty red color. Who could ask for more?
But for me, the greatest and tastiest form of strawberries is in strawberry shortcake. And while this can be safe for the diabetic, the one thing you cannot do is use the little yellow, spongy shortcakes that you find in your local grocery store. Just one of those scrawny little cakes has between 17 and 20 grams of carbs with almost no fiber. We will have to come up with a low-carb version.
But low-carb does not mean bad-tasting! There are a number of low-carb shortcake recipes available. Some of the ones that come closest to the original yellow cakes are a bit complicated, and I don’t like complicated. So I have come up with a few of my own that do the job nicely, as far as I’m concerned.
A simple way to have strawberry shortcake is to use any low-carb muffins you have on hand (recipe in chapter 16). Just split the muffin into two or three slices, add about four sliced and mashed strawberries, and spray a little whipped cream on top. Or you can take any low-carb muffin recipe, bake the batter in a pan rather than in a muffin tin, and then divide into individual sizes when it is done. Another option is to simply put strawberries on a couple of low-carb pancakes (recipe in chapter 19).
The only caveat concerning strawberries is that carbs will eventually add up, so you can’t just fill a bowl with 20 or 30 of these babies and eat to your heart’s content. And, of course, if you are allergic to them you need to avoid them altogether. But for most of us, strawberries can really add a little pizzazz to a low-carb diet.
Another idea for strawberry shortcake: you can take a slice of the low-carb bread made in your bread machine (see chapter 10), cut off the edges, and use that as the base of your shortcake. It has a spongy texture that will remind you a bit of the store-bought shortcakes, and by the time the strawberries and whipped cream are poured on it, it is pretty good.
