food to glow

Low-Carb Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes use celeriac instead of the usual potatoes. And these delicious and easily-made mini fishcakes can be baked or fried. Try them with the easy dill and cucumber sauce, or your favorite cocktail sauce. Enjoy them for dinner, lunch or snack. Freezable, too.

Smoked mackerel is a staple food for us. Inexpensive, freezer-friendly and sustainable, this Omega 3-packed fish is a must-buy if you are, like me, an omnivore. I love it so much that it even featured in my first ever Food To Glow post – for Quinoa and Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes. I hope my photos have improved!

But you really can’t improve on a simple smoked mackerel fishcake recipe. Except perhaps to make it even lower in carbohydrates. In this reimagined recipe I replace standard potato (or quinoa) with low-carb wonder food, celeriac. Have you tried celeriac?

Low-Carb Leanings

It might be obvious to you if you follow me on Instagram, but in case not, I have lately been posting lower carbohydrate recipes. I still love my homemade sourdough bread. And the occasional pasta dish and seasonal new potatoes. However, starting last October, I began to follow a very low carbohydrate diet. Although it is touted for weight loss (yes, this is quite true), lowering my carbohydrate intake has had a hugely positive effect on my chronically painful joints and gut. Chronic pain is something I’ve lived with all of my life. And now it is at such a low peep that I consider myself largely pain-free. No meds, no side effects.

Dropping most carbohydrates and going full keto isn’t something that I recommend, though. Certainly not without professional guidance and follow-up.

Always consult your doctor or a dietitian before making such a major change in diet. It is very easy to do it wrong. But done thoughtfully, especially to manage some chronic illnesses and conditions, it may be something to explore. The NHS, for long promoting a high carb diet for Type 2 diabetes, has endorsed low carb. And even has a low carb app for patients.

I’ve found a healthy balance that works for me, and have devised my own Mediterranean-style low carb way of eating. And I really love it! My altered diet emphasises plenty of above-ground vegetables (below-ground ones are always higher in carbs), some fruits (mainly berries), nuts and seeds, eggs, fish, tofu, occasional organic meat. Lentils and beans are, unfortunately, no-gos for me. They really mess up my gut. Although I can’t help but eat a few spoons of hummus. 🙂

I also make sweet things using safe alternative sweeteners, such as xylitol and stevia. I will share some of my favorite recipes with you, including options for regular sugar. But these I have infrequently so as not to stimulate a craving for sweet things. It’s taken awhile to find what works best for me and that I feel I can stick with. But the way it makes me feel makes that easy. Mostly.

If you are interested – let me know in the comments below! – I will do a post on the ins and outs of a low carbohydrate diet, as well as explaining the pros and cons of the ketogenic diet. Is this something that interests you? I of course will still keep creating and posting a wide range of plant-centric recipes – including modest amounts of pasta, rice, quinoa and other great foods. But Andrew will be my primary taste tester.

Other Low Carb Recipes

I have quite a few lower carb recipes on Food To Glow. A lot from before I really was thinking in a low-carb way. Tap “low carb” into the search bar to the right of this text and have a (vegetable) noodle through the selection. But if you want a few highlights, these are a few to try.

Cauliflower Rösti with a Scandi Vibe

Baked Chipotle Cauliflower Frittata

Summer Ramen Zoodle Salad (zucchini “noodles)

Thai Rainbow Noodle Salad with Tangy Peanut Dressing

Smashed Cucumber Salad with Broccoli and Tofu – Spicy and Garlicky!

Asian Crab Salad for One

Fresh & Light Open Vegetable Lasagne (uses chickpea flour pancakes instead of durum wheat lasagne sheets)

Panini-style Eggplant Parmigiana

And I have LOADS more. Check my Index 🙂

What You Need For Low-Carb Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes

Celeriac – about half a large one. Celeriac – also called celery root – is available year-round in the UK. I’m not sure about elsewhere. It is a hugely useful vegetable and stores well.

Smoked mackerel or smoked herring These are both widely available in the UK. I’ve made it with both, although smoked herring might have too many little bones for your liking. They mostly dissolve with cooking though. You could use hot-smoked salmon too, but I like to have that on its own. Pricey stuff!

Spring onions/green onions

Dijon mustard or horseradish

Fresh dill or parsley

An egg

Capers, if you wish

Ground flax/flaxmeal – for coating, instead of breadcrumbs. Get at most large supermarkets or through online health food stores. Use dry breadcrumbs if that’s your preference and you aren’t low carb.

The optional sauce has Greek yogurt or crème fraîche, more Dijon mustard, lemon, cucumber and dill or parsley.

And all you really do is steam the celeriac (or boil if you wish) and mix with the other ingredients, dredging shaped patties in the golden flax. Then you have a choice of baking or frying. Both methods work well. The images show you both results. My preference is for baking, but you do you! The texture is a bit crispy on the outside, and soft and yielding in the caper and dill-studded interior. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

So, have you been trying low carb recipes too? Would you like me to do a post devoted to explaining healthy low carb and keto ways of eating? Let me know below!