Main Dishes
Of course, any main dish can be used for Easter, but here are some of the more traditional ones:Lamb is a traditional Easter option, and it usually isn't served with a lot of sugar, so it's an excellent choice. Here are some lamb recipes from various About.com Food Sites:
- Lamb Recipes from Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, Home Cooking
- Greek Lamb Recipes from Nancy Gaifyllia, Greek Food
- Roast Leg of Lamb from Linda Larsen, Busy Cooks
Ham Tips:
1) If you can find ham that isn't sugar-cured or baked in honey, that is ideal. You can use a low sugar or sugar-free jam (apricot jam or orange marmalade work well) as the basis for your own glaze. For example, substitute sugar-free marmalade for the regular marmalade in this recipe for Orange-Glazed Ham from Diana Rattray, About.com's Guide to Southern Cooking.
2 Look for slices of regular glazed ham that have only a small section of the glazed part, or cut it off altogether.
Other Ham Resources from About.com's Food Guides:
- How to Cook Ham from Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, Home Cooking
- How to Reheat Cooked Ham from Linda Larsen, Busy Cooks
Other Main Dishes
Salmon is a nice spring dish, as salmon season starts right around Easter. Find out about salmon, including selection, and issues with farmed vs. wild salmon. Recipes especially suited for Easter dinner include Grilled Dilled Salmon and Easy Baked Salmon with Herbs.
Roasted meats, such as roast pork, pot roast, or roast beef are other good choices for Easter.
Side Dishes
One welcome development around Easter time is that we are starting to turn away from the starchy vegetables of winter towards the lighter vegetables of spring. Take advantage of this by serving salads, or cooked spring vegetables. Some of the simplest and most elegant vegetables are left whole and cooked simply to bring out their fresh flavors. One of my favorites is Oven-Roasted (or Grilled) Asparagus with a little lemon and herbs. Steamed artichokes are a spring vegetable that's fun to eat, either dipped in butter with a little garlic and lemon, or fancier (from About.com's Italian Cooking Guide).If you are looking for a substitute for potatoes, I suggest rutabagas. You may not be familiar with rutabagas. They are related to the turnip, and are sometimes called "yellow turnips." But, they are milder and a bit sweeter, with a hint of spiciness and contain less than one-third the carbs of potatoes. One way to cook them is to slice them and make Oven-Roasted Rutabaga Fries.
Cauliflower also works instead of potato in dishes such as Mashed Cauliflower and Cauli-rice.
More Salads and Side Dishes:
- Broccoli Salad with Bacon
- Cauliflower "Potato" Salad
- Simply Scrumptious Spinach
- More Vegetable Recipes
Desserts
There are no real rules for Easter dessert. Here are some ideas:- This lemony Torte del Re ("King's Cake") from Italy. If you happen to have powdered erythritol in the house, sprinkle it on through a stainer over the cake when warm, and then again when cool, making a sort of glaze. The "cooling" yet sweet effect of the erythritol goes wonderfully with this cake.
- Sugar-Free Coconut Macaroons are really easy, with just four ingredients.
- Strawberries are coming into season, so why not try a low-carb Strawberry Cheesecake or Strawberry Shortcake?
- Or, if you're feeling left out of the Easter candy game, check out my Low-Carb Candy recipes.
