Salads are quick and easy to throw together.  I like to make the bulk of them with mixed leafy greens which are the lowest in carbs and just sprinkle in a smattering of colourful vegetables that tend to be higher in carbs such as capsicum, cucumber, tomato, mushrooms and radish.   You can also jazz them up by adding different cheeses, nuts and seeds.  

I like to use green beans, courgette/zucchini (spiralized), cabbage (cut into strips) and asparagus spears as pasta alternatives to go underneath pasta sauces like bolognese , alfredo or carbonara, but I would recommend measuring out the quantity as the carbs in these vegetables can add up.

Cauliflower can be used as an alternative for rice, mash potato, couscous, in flat breads and as an ingredient in an array of low carb recipes.

Celery is an excellent high fibre, crunchy snack that you can dunk in creamy dips, fill with cream cheese or peanut butter.

I use onions, tomatoes, garlic and capsicum regularly but these really do have higher carb counts so I tend to use them sparingly.  Luckily though, they pack a lot of flavour in small quantities so a little goes a long way. 

The list of fruits that I keep in my pantry tend to be restricted almost solely to berries.  The carbs in these adds really quickly so I recommend being careful with our quantities.  The great thing about berries is that you can keep them in the freezer and bring them out for desserts (e.g. cheesecake) or making a low carb jam any time that you like.  On special occasions I might add a few thin slices of rock melon or watermelon to a cheese platter.  You’ll also see avocado and olives featuring on the fruits list.  These are great on a low carb diet.