[m00ch]

We are having guests for dinner tomorrow, and one of them is on a no-carb diet. Regardless of what I think about the dangers of such a diet (I learned a long time ago not to criticise others about their dietary choices), I would like to try and accommodate them, whilst keeping the meal vegan.

He has offered to bring their own food, but I don't really wan't any meat products in my house, and would like to find a vegan alternative to keep him in a miserable state of ketosis.

I know things like quinoa are a complete protein but not zero carb. Something based around tofu I guess? I always have my tofu with some rice, or grains though. A curry perhaps?

Any ideas welcomed. Is this even possible? If needs be, I will take them up on the offer of bringing their own food

 

[Clueless Git]

Get a live cow from somewhere and when the guest turns up tell him/her that the cow is in the garden and the knives are in the kichen. Go help yourself.

You cant be accused of not offering a salad-dodgers (what else is the Atkins diet really all about?) alternative to the quinoa and tofu stir fry if you do that.

 

[Identity_thief]

I think you're allowed very small amounts of low-carb salad and vegetables... from what I understand from googling anyway. Perhaps you can ask him if he tends to eat them all in one go (and then you can use them for your meal) or split them between meals (where you could use 1/3 of the allowance, or something)?

This website also says TVP is low carb http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/kit...g/kglostvp.htm. I tried looking for recipes but to no avail

How many carbs are in meat substitutes? I think there's a certain amount of grams (very VERY few) that people on atkins eat... so if you check with him what it is, you can start from there I guess.

 

[m00ch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless Git

Get a live cow from somewhere and when the guest turns up tell him/her that the cow is in the garden and the knives are in the kichen. Go help yourself.

You cant be accused of not offering a salad-dodgers (what else is the Atkins diet really all about?) alternative to the quinoa and tofu stir fry if you do that.

Heh, as great as that sounds, it's a bit confrontational and this person is my friend who wouldn't think twice about making something vegan for me. So, I don't mind trying to accommodate them, no matter how harmful his diet may be to himself. He's aware of the issues, it's his choice.

 

[m00ch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Identity_thief

I think you're allowed very small amounts of low-carb salad and vegetables... from what I understand from googling anyway. Perhaps you can ask him if he tends to eat them all in one go (and then you can use them for your meal) or split them between meals (where you could use 1/3 of the allowance, or something)?

This website also says TVP is low carb http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/kit...g/kglostvp.htm. I tried looking for recipes but to no avail

How many carbs are in meat substitutes? I think there's a certain amount of grams (very VERY few) that people on atkins eat... so if you check with him what it is, you can start from there I guess.

Yeah there seems to be carbs in everything I eat. Funny really, because I've managed to lose 20 pounds over the past year just from eating healthy, whole foods, and avoiding an excess of protein and processed crap, and I have been eating LOADS of (unrefined, unprocessed) carbohydrate. Perhaps I will just let him know that dodging carbs isn't the best thing to do

Just been googling myself, a vegan zero carb meal looks to be pretty much impossible. Guess I will have to ask him to bring his own, because I am NOT having meat cooked in my house.

 

[vettechinhippie]

http://www.atkins.com/Program/Progra...forVegans.aspx

This link may help. It will depend a little on what stage of the "diet" this person is at and what their carb limit is. I would ask them about that and any food intolerances/allergies, etc. Then base the meal or part of the meal around nuts, seeds, seitan, etc. Limit the amount of whole grains and starchy vegetables offered and try relpacing soy flour for regular flour in recipies.

Depending on what phase this person is in the allowed carb range will vary from approx 20-60 grams a day. IMO 20 g a day is pretty hard to do on a vegan diet, but 60 is no problem.

There are actually a lot of acceptable veggies in the pre-maintenance phase.
http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1...thisPhase.aspx

It would talk to this person to give them a general idea of what you were planning on serving to 1) make sure it follows their diet and 2) so they can plan ahead. I don't see why this person can't adjust the rest of his/her daily intake to eat the majority of carbs at this meal instead of spread out through the day.

Remember, with the Atkins diet it's all about protein and fat, kind of. As long as you have both at the meal and limited carb (simple or complex) options, it should be alright.

 

[Identity_thief]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m00ch

Yeah there seems to be carbs in everything I eat. Funny really, because I've managed to lose 20 pounds over the past year just from eating healthy, whole foods, and avoiding an excess of protein and processed crap, and I have been eating LOADS of (unrefined, unprocessed) carbohydrate. Perhaps I will just let him know that dodging carbs isn't the best thing to do

Just been googling myself, a vegan zero carb meal looks to be pretty much impossible. Guess I will have to ask him to bring his own, because I am NOT having meat cooked in my house.

Hmm it seems the smallest amount of carbs "allowed" is 20g in the first phase - from low-carb salad and vegetables. So the only thing you could really do there is like vettechinhippe says, ask if he is willing to not eat carbs in the day (and ask how many he's allowed!) and then eat them all in a low-carb salad you make for his dinner? Maybe grill vegetables, toss them with salad leaves and a simple vinegertte - you'd have to count up all the carbs though but it seems like the only option. Maybe then he could bring his own desert if he likes, I don't know about you but something like yogurt is at least less smelly than meat in your house? Or you could make a salad, and he could bring some animal product to eat with it to bulk it out (I don't know how big the salad would be able to be), so that you've at least made the effort to help out?

Best I can think of! Goodluck with whatever you choose.

 

[m00ch]

And people think vegans have a weird diet!

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[karenlovessnow]

Would your friend be open to something like seitan? You can make a nice roast with veggies and I'm pretty sure seitan is fairly low-carb, as long as you don't drown it in barbecue sauce, or something similar.

Oops, I see seitan was suggested already...so it must be a good idea!

 

[mazikeen]

What about seitan? Especially if it's homemade, so you can control the ingredients. Wheat gluten is essentially just protein and you could serve it with some acceptable salad or other accompaniment.

 

[Photojess]

tempeh hasn't been mentioned either.....I don't know much about Atkins....as we know, it's not a healthy means of dieting.

 

[fadeaway1289]

Brunch for dinner? Tofu scramble w/ seitan sausages and tempeh bacon?

 

[SwissMiss]

Does tempeh not have carbs? Oh unless you get the pure soy ones which should have less than the more 'grainy' ones.

My father is a huge Atkins nut - his liver is basically dead by now! But the key is really to keep it high fat and low carbs.

So what you could maybe make him is a giant salad. Lots of greens (those are carb free), no carrots (I think those have sugars which are bad for their diet), avocado so he can get the high fat requirement and some grilled veggies like eggplant? Maybe he would like that? Oh, you could even add lots of nuts to help fill him up? Those are good for those dieters because of the high fat again.

Good Luck tho!

 

[m00ch]

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up making a veggie chilli, heavy on the beans. Turned out he didn't seem to know as much about the diet as I thought, or wasn't as obsessive about it as I expected. He was just cutting out the "obvious" starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, grains etc.. at the moment, with the aim to be full Atkins shortly. So he had veggie chili with us, without the rice and tortillas that we all enjoyed so much.

He seems to still be in the "carbs are evil!" mindset that seemed to be the fad 5 or 6 years ago. I did my best to drop some hints that this wasn't very healthy, but it's his choice. I'm sure after a few months of sustained ketosis he will realise

Anyway, dinner went well, and remained completely vegan! Hurrah.

 

[River]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless Git

Get a live cow from somewhere and when the guest turns up tell him/her that the cow is in the garden and the knives are in the kichen. Go help yourself.

LOL. You just made my day!