I spend so much time concentrating on finding recipes for and making main dishes that I have to force myself to look for and try recipes for low-carb side dishes. It gets really old just opening up a can of green beans or turnip greens and heating them up in the microwave when I’ve spent a lot of time making something really yummy like lamb or Chicken Cordon Bleu. So when I did my meal planning for this week, I picked several new side-dish recipes to try, and to share as well.

Roasted Parmesan-Crusted Zucchini
Ingredients (two servings):

• 1 medium to large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
• Pinch garlic powder (I used about 1/2 of the 1/8 teaspoon measure)
• Pinch salt
• Dash ground black pepper (about as much as you would use if you were adding pepper to it on your plate)

Tools & Utensils:

• Sharp knife/cutting board
• Large zip-top plastic bag or container large enough to hold zucchini spears
• Measuring spoons
• Small bowl
• Wire cooling rack and baking sheet lined with foil
• Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with foil. Set cooling rack on it and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Trim ends of zucchini, and cut lengthwise into eight spears. Put zucchini in zip-top bag or container, add olive oil, and toss until spears are completely coated with oil. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. Lay spears across the rack, then sprinkle with the cheese mixture until each is evenly coated. (As evenly as possible.)

Bake 8 to 10 minutes–until spears are tender but not soggy. Set oven to broil and broil about 3 minutes, until topping is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately.

I was only able to eat half of this, along with the lamb I posted the recipe for yesterday, and the zucchini I used was around 7 ounces. The net carbs for the zucchini was about 4.7gnc, and the dry ingredients add about 0.4gnc. So I counted half of the finished product as 2.5g net carbs.