I’ve seen quite a few people start the BSD with the idea that certain categories of foods, mostly veggies and salads, are “freebies” that we can eat without counting calories or carbs. I’m guessing this is a holdover from other diets. The BSD is the first diet I’ve ever done so I had no such notions and weighed and measured everything. Still do, in fact, 180+ pounds later. The truth is there are no freebies. The obvious carbless foods (proper grass-fed/pastured meats, some fish, certain cheeses) can be quite high in calories and plenty of vegetables, including salad stuff, can hide some nasty carb surprises.
Every once in a while, I stumble on a precious treasure of a food that is either carbless or so high in fiber that the carbs net out to zero. I hoard them like Gollum with the One Ring. My OH has come close to losing a finger more than once when he attempted to reach out for a taste.
First is something that has become a daily food for me: broccoli sprouts. The tiny smidgen of carbs they have (1 gram per ounce) are fiber, so zero net. They taste fresh and crisp and since the seed is still attached, can add an unexpected crunch to salads and sandwiches. Nutrionally speaking they are stupid good for you. Superfood and all that. I never make a salad without them anymore, and one of the greatest combinations I know is an egg overeasy topped with sprouts, a few avocado slices and a slice of melted smoked gouda to glue it all together. Add a dollop of whole grain Dijon mustard on top and your palate will reach over the table and slap your mama for not making it for you every day since you were weaned.
Next is something that has caused a wee bit of controversy on another thread (inadvertantly so), and that is seaweed. Sea vegetables in general are nutrional powerhouses, packed full of trace minerals and probiotics. They are also extremely good for the environment because they are sustainable, easily grown and harvested. It’s not just for wrapping high-carb, high-sugar sushi rolls anymore. Last weekend I achieved one of my favorite goals thanks to seaweed: a zero carb day. My total for the day was 12 grams carbs, all 12 of them fiber.
I ate a giant plate of seaweed salad made from alaria (a kind of wakame harvested from the coast of Maine) and a combination of wakame, nori, kombu, agar agar and red akamodok. The alaria comes in wide strips and has a fibrous rib down the middle like kale or chard. You have to cook it in boiling water for 10-15 minutes until it’s cooked to your liking. I like it still on the al dente side so I went with 10 minutes. Longer than that and the rib is softer, but the thinner parts of the leaf get a little slimy.
The mixture, which I bought already combined, only needs to be reconstituted in warm water for a few minutes and drained. Squeeze out any remaining water so it’s as dry as it can be. I chopped the alaria crosswise, mixed all the seaweeds up and tossed them with a dressing of 2 tblsp toasted sesame oil, 2 tbslp rice vinegar, 1 tblsp Tamari soy sauce, and several dashes fish sauce*. A sprinkling of sesame seeds on top for texture and there was much rejoicing. It served four very hungry people.
*Note, be careful to check the ingredients on fish sauce. I had to search far and wide to find a brand that didn’t have added sugars and nonsense. Red Boat is the one that finally came to my rescue. Nothing but anchovies and sea salt.
Last (for now) is a recent find. Well, not recent exactly, but recent in terms of my noticing carb counts. It’s lupini beans. I have experimented with lupin flour but hadn’t been able to find the beans themselves. Today I found a bag of Brami Garlic and Herb Lupini Beans and they were scrumptious. One 50 gram serving, which a very big portion because they are so filling, has 60 calories and 7 grams of carbs, all fiber. I used them as the base of a salad with broccoli sprouts, sauerkraut, chevre and some uncured, unadulterated turkey pepperoni baked in the oven until crispy and then crumbled up like bacon bits on top. It tasted fantastic and was so filling it easily carried me through the 14,000-step walk that followed.
What REAL freebies have you encountered?