New Atkins cookbook attempts to dispel myths about diet

Thursday January 29, 2004, Dale Curry

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Please, not another steak and salad.

If you've ever dined with an Atkins advocate, you may have heard this complaint. Like, who could ever get tired of steak?

Well, it's possible, and Atkins Nutritionals Inc. is ready with the answer in its new cookbook, "Atkins, the Complete Cookbook" (Time Inc., $24.95). Featuring hundreds of low-carb dishes, it offers recipes that sound and look high-carb but are stripped of those tempting ingredients such as flour and sugar and made instead with products such as soy flour, Atkins' bake mixes and sugar substitute.

"This is the first time that we have presented recipes with photographs," said Olivia Bell Buehl, director of information for Atkins Health & Medical Information Services.

The earlier "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" is a bestseller but gives only a few recipes to get you started, and the recent "Dr. Atkins' Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook" has no photographs and is limited to simple recipes.

The new book is meant to dispel several myths, according to Buehl. They are:

Myth: On Atkins you just eat steak and lamb chops. Fact: Of the hundred-plus main dish recipes, dozens are for poultry, fish or shellfish. One whole chapter is devoted to vegetarian entrees.

Myth: On Atkins you can't eat vegetables and fruits. Fact: The salads and sides chapter rules that one out.

Myth: There's nothing to eat for breakfast but bacon and eggs. Fact: Check out the breakfast and brunch chapter for pancakes, muffins and French toast.

Myth: You can't exercise your sweet tooth on Atkins. Fact: Cheesecake, brownies and flourless chocolate cake are among a number of desserts.

Ethnic dishes include Mexican, Indian and Thai, and recipes range from easy to complex. A chapter on entertaining includes a roast crown of pork with prune stuffing, creamy crab dip, chocolate-orange souffle, Italian pasta and bean soup, Mediterranean tuna salad sandwiches and cherry cobbler.

The four phases of Atkins are explained in the cookbook, along with lists of accepted ingredients and a pull-out carb counter. The key to counting carbs with the Atkins diet is determining the net carbs. To do so, you subtract the grams of fiber from the grams of total carbs. Here are some recipes from the book:


Avocado-tomato quesadillas

Makes 4 servings

½ cup canned pink beans, drained and rinsed

¾ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon grated lime rind

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon water

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

8 ounces (2 cups) pepper Jack cheese, shredded

4 low-carb tortillas, any flavor

½ avocado, cut into 8 slices

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse beans, chili powder and rind to combine. With machine running, add one tablespoon oil and water. Scrape down sides as needed. Process until a smooth paste forms.

Combine tomatoes, red onion and cilantro in a bowl. Stir in cheese.

Heat one-half tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Fry two tortillas for 30 seconds to one minute, until golden brown spots appear on undersides. Place on paper towel, uncooked side up.

Spread two rounded tablespoons of bean mixture on half of each tortilla. Top with three-fourths cup salsa mixture and two slices of avocado. Fold tortillas in half over filling. Place back in skillet. Cover and cook 30 seconds on medium-low heat to melt cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas and fillings.

Per serving: 13 grams net carbohydrates


Italian ricotta cheesecake

Makes 10 servings

Baking in a water bath gives this cheesecake a creamy texture. Simply place a large roasting pan in the center rack of the oven, put the cheesecake pan in the middle and fill with enough hot water to come at least halfway up the sides of the pan.

CRUST

1 ½ cups finely ground

walnuts or pecans

2 tablespoons melted butter

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the outside of an 8-inch springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Combine crust ingredients; pat onto bottom and sides of pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden; cool on a wire rack.

FILLING

2 pounds ricotta cheese

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

1 ½ cups granular sugar substitute

3 tablespoons Atkins Quick Quisine Bake Mix

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process ricotta until very smooth.

Add cream cheese; process until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, processing until incorporated.

Add sugar substitute, bake mix, vanilla and lemon rind. Process until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Pour filling into cooled crust; smooth top.

Bake cheesecake in a water bath for one hour, until puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted one inch from the center comes out clean. Cool in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then refrigerate until well-chilled.

Per serving: 8 grams net carbohydrates