OMG!! Liver and onions

[avid]

Just finished a heaping plate of calve's liver and onions.
Oh, it tasted so good!....all I did was sautee some onions in light olive oil
and then grill up the liver on moderate heat. that's it...nothing fancy.
It wasn't my cooking prowess that made this meal so delicious it was the nutrition. I have been craving liver for over a week, but I'm no cook. I bought some liverwurst, but that was a weak substitute.
I really listen to my body now. It works well for me now that I'm pretty detoxified from nicotene, alcohol, sugar and a host of additives.
My body tells me what it needs.
love this lifestyle.

[LiterateGriffin]

I haven't had liver in years -- I seldom even see it for sale, anymore. But OOooooohhh, is it gooooooooood when it's done right!

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by LiterateGriffin

I haven't had liver in years -- I seldom even see it for sale, anymore. But OOooooohhh, is it gooooooooood when it's done right!

Same here.

[flappa1016]

I've been craving liver for several days now, as well! But I don't like the taste of a hunk of liver (nor the smell while it's cooking) so I visit one of the local kosher delis in my area and buy some chopped chicken or beef liver. I ate about 6 ounces of the stuff for lunch yesterday.

I was looking up recipes online yesterday for homemade chopped liver, and I saw that some recipes call for vegetable oil. Gag! The REAL stuff needs to be made with schmaltz.

[catne]

that sounds so good but unfortunately, it would be way over the top on the carb count for me. Liver has high carbs by itself, and then add the onion carbs and it would stall me for several days, darn it!

Liver & onions are definitely on my some-day list, though...I think I could handle the carb count on maintenance.

Glad you enjoyed it...I can enjoy it vicariously at this point

[Leo41]

I'm with Cathy on this. I love liver and onions, but they're both high in carbs, so I now make my liver without onions. I love it either way, but I can't take the high carb count of the combination.

[LoriWants2Lose]

Sorry, my tastes have changed a lot, but liver? Nope. Can't do it.

[clackley]

Love me some calf's liver, fried in bacon fat and served with onions!!

I also make dynamite chicken liver pate - so easy and so good!!! Liver is really good for a body.

[readyfredy]

I love liver but I've gotten Campylobacter twice from undercooked chicken livers. So just fyi, make sure you don't under cook (on the other hand, i hate overcooked liver...).

[svenskamae]

Like Cathy, I make chicken liver pate, with about equal proportions of chicken livers sauteed in butter and grassfed butter, with some seasoning. It's a staple for me when trying to figure out ways to eat high fat, moderate protein and get the nutrition from liver. I've always loved liver, even as a little kid.

[snowdancer79]

I haven't had liver for a few months, but I ate a ton of it while I was pregnant in 2011 because my iron levels were low. I love it fried up with bacon and onions.

[susume]

I`m drooling. Gotta do me some of this soon. Havent treated myself to liver in a long time.

[PianoAl]

Originally Posted by catne

that sounds so good but unfortunately, it would be way over the top on the carb count for me. Liver has high carbs by itself, and then add the onion carbs and it would stall me for several days, darn it!

I think you are wrong about the carbs in liver. This is chicken liver:



Liver is pretty much a zero carb food.

I buy a tub at the grocery store, break it into about three plastic bags, and freeze them. Then every few days, I take one out and fry it up in coconut oil.

And if you've heard that "The liver is a filter, so it has a lot of toxins." That is not true. Yes, it filters out toxins, but then releases them to bile and the bloodstream.

[Leo41]

Catne and I are not 'wrong.' The liver and onions we're referring to is not made with chicken livers but with beef or calves liver (as the OP described).

A 3oz. portion of beef liver has 5g of carbs, and a dinner serving would be closer to 6 oz or 10g of carbs. That's why we don't want to pair it with carby onions, even though the combination is delicious.

Personally, I'm extremely sensitive to carbs and do best to limit to 20-25g a day. I aim for no more than 10g at any one meal, usually fewer.

[Maumie]

My friend used to serve liver and onions to her children weekly and call it "beef". It was their favorite meal. But if you asked them if they liked liver they would scrunch their noses up and tell you it was nasty!

[luvmybabyhead]

I'm craving liver sausage now!

[Janknitz]

My mom lost a ton of weight on WW in the 1970's. At that time, you were REQUIRED to eat liver once a week and fish twice a week. Bread and starchy foods were limited. Back then, they knew what they were doing. Liver fell out of favor on WW when the cholesterol theory took over. Too bad.

I think liver is an incredibly healthy food, nutrient dense. Whenever I see a tub of chicken liver at the store I buy one and freeze it. Liver makes a great quick meal when nothing else sounds good. And when I can get grass fed beef liver I'm in heaven. Plus, it's really cheap compared to grass fed meat.

DH and I feel like we are really feasting when we have liver, after decades of denial "because of the cholesterol". And it's really fun to gross out our kids, who won't touch the stuff. We feed them turkey sausages instead.

And if you've never had chopped liver, you are missing OUT!

[taokeema]

Originally Posted by flappa1016

I was looking up recipes online yesterday for homemade chopped liver, and I saw that some recipes call for vegetable oil. Gag! The REAL stuff needs to be made with schmaltz.

yes! I've gotta get me some liver, and do just that. yum!

[avid]

I never checked the carb count on the calve's liver. I just assumed because it was meat that it was very low carb. I'm happy to report though that even after eating a heaping serving with onions I didn't gain any weight.
I ate it again today, and have a little left that will go into my morning omelette.
I really love chopped chicken liver. Being born and raised in Long Island, it's pretty hard to avoid...LOL....
I have seen those "tubs" of chicken liver. I think it's a great idea to break them into meal size servings and freeze.....Love the great food ideas on LCF

[shortcut]

Originally Posted by LoriWants2Lose

Sorry, my tastes have changed a lot, but liver? Nope. Can't do it.

I'm with you on this one. As I have gotten older I have learned to love a lot of foods that I wouldn't eat as a kid. But liver? Nope. Didn't happen. I have had it just about every way it can be prepared and it still has this musty, nasty taste that I just can't take.
Well, except for maybe a little liver loaf lunch meat from time to time. Not sure how much real liver there is in that stuff though.

[clackley]

Originally Posted by avid

I never checked the carb count on the calve's liver. I just assumed because it was meat that it was very low carb. I'm happy to report though that even after eating a heaping serving with onions I didn't gain any weight.
I ate it again today, and have a little left that will go into my morning omelette.
I really love chopped chicken liver. Being born and raised in Long Island, it's pretty hard to avoid...LOL....
I have seen those "tubs" of chicken liver. I think it's a great idea to break them into meal size servings and freeze.....Love the great food ideas on LCF

Liver is low in carbs. My only issue with it is it is also pretty low in fat and that is why it is good to eat it with bacon and bacon fat!

Piano Al listed the nutrient content and it is pretty much zero carbs.

[Leo41]

According to the sites I've checked, beef liver is NOT zero carbs at all.

A 6 oz portion of beef liver would have about 10g of carbs, certainly something to 'count' in one's daily menu.

Over the years, I've seen low carbers frequently warned that beef and calves liver is higher in carbs than steak or hamburger and to use caution.

A dinner of liver and onions would easily take me over my carb limit for the day, which is why I've had to eliminate the onions when I make liver.

[nolcjunk]

Originally Posted by Leo41

According to the sites I've checked, beef liver is NOT zero carbs at all.

A 6 oz portion of beef liver would have about 10g of carbs, certainly something to 'count' in one's daily menu.

Over the years, I've seen low carbers frequently warned that beef and calves liver is higher in carbs than steak or hamburger and to use caution.

A dinner of liver and onions would easily take me over my carb limit for the day, which is why I've had to eliminate the onions when I make liver.

I agree. I think this is also what causes problems for some - it's easy to assume that meat has zero carbs so the carbs in things like beef liver, cold cuts, sausages, etc don't get counted and can make someone go over their daily limit and cause stalling.

One definitely has to know their own personal carb limit for the day and you definitely have that covered being at goal for a while now. I'm glad I can handle more carbs- liver and onions is one of my favorite meals and I like it with a ton of onions, but I keep my carbs low the rest of the day.

[catne]

Originally Posted by nolcjunk

I agree. I think this is also what causes problems for some - it's easy to assume that meat has zero carbs so the carbs in things like beef liver, cold cuts, sausages, etc don't get counted and can make someone go over their daily limit and cause stalling....
.

This has been my downfall too many times to count...until I started checking EVERYTHING.

My tracker logs 6 oz. beef liver, braised (cooked) at 8.5 carbs...8 oz serving shows as 11.5 carbs.

Nutritiondata self.com says cooked/braised beef liver is 1 carb per ounce.

Either number is not zero...and significant for those of us who do better with very low carb meals. Add one medium onion, cooked...@ about 10 carbs, and that meal is too high for now, for me. Like I said before...someday, in maintenance, I'll be able to eat that type of meal but for now, won't work.

Both nutrition info sources I checked did most definitely list chicken livers as having far less carbs than beef liver, so that's probably where people are getting the idea that beef liver is nearly zero carbs...if you just assume a liver is a liver is a liver. But apparently, all livers are not created equal. I know mine is sometimes pickled.

[Janknitz]

Im surprised to hear that beef liver is high in carbs. Are the carbs from stored glycogen in the grain eating cow's liver? Would the count be the same in liver from a grass fed animal?

Even if there is one gram of carb per ounce in beef liver, I can't imagine it having much blood glucose/ insulin impact compared to an equivalent carb count in a piece of fruit, because of the nutrient density and especially if cooked with plenty of fat.

[avid]

the Atkins carb counter lists 4.9 carbs for six ounces of calve's liver.
Not "high" in carbs by any definition.
Maybe it's just me, but I consider nutritional value as well as carbs when selecting food to eat.
approx 5 ounces of carb for one of the most nutrient dense meat selections available is pretty healthy in my book.
And just to add....it took me three days to eat the entire pound of liver w/onions...and I did not gain a single ounce of weight.....
All that delicious nutrition at low cost (for meat) and no weight gain?????
Man, that sounds like a win win to me.

[DiamondDeb]

Originally Posted by Maumie

My friend used to serve liver and onions to her children weekly and call it "beef". It was their favorite meal. But if you asked them if they liked liver they would scrunch their noses up and tell you it was nasty!

lol... That is one smart mom!

[taokeema]

Avid, you're making my mouth water. I just put liver on my shopping list.

[nolcjunk]

Originally Posted by avid

the Atkins carb counter lists 4.9 carbs for six ounces of calve's liver.
Not "high" in carbs by any definition.
Maybe it's just me, but I consider nutritional value as well as carbs when selecting food to eat.
approx 5 ounces of carb for one of the most nutrient dense meat selections available is pretty healthy in my book.
And just to add....it took me three days to eat the entire pound of liver w/onions...and I did not gain a single ounce of weight.....
All that delicious nutrition at low cost (for meat) and no weight gain?????
Man, that sounds like a win win to me.

It's not super high, but some up above were saying that it's a zero carb food which is a big difference and can mislead people into counting beef liver as zero when it is definitely not, and some are very sensitive to carbs and must carefully count their grams not to go above a certain level.

I don't do magical carbs, I count all, no matter whether they are in beef liver, vegetables, or cheese, so I just think people should be aware what the actual carb value is.

[clackley]

Originally Posted by avid

the Atkins carb counter lists 4.9 carbs for six ounces of calve's liver.
Not "high" in carbs by any definition.
Maybe it's just me, but I consider nutritional value as well as carbs when selecting food to eat.
approx 5 ounces of carb for one of the most nutrient dense meat selections available is pretty healthy in my book.
And just to add....it took me three days to eat the entire pound of liver w/onions...and I did not gain a single ounce of weight.....
All that delicious nutrition at low cost (for meat) and no weight gain?????
Man, that sounds like a win win to me.

Couldn't agree more. It is a bargain all ways round!