CONCORD, N.H. -- Counting carbs just annoys me.

Perhaps it is because I have spent a lifetime watching my weight (and all too often watching it go in the wrong direction) by counting one thing or another -- first calories, then fat, always cholesterol, sometimes salt.

I don't want to count; I just want to eat.

Or if I must count, at least let it be fun. How many chocolate truffles can I eat in a sitting? How many pieces of sushi make a meal? How many servings does a half-gallon if ice cream make?

Then the low-carb craze hit and amid swimsuit figure-ready promises we were inundated by products and recipes to help us count yet another food molecule.

Trouble is, carbohydrates seem to be in everything. Especially for vegetarians, cutting carbs can mean eliminating vital food groups, not the least of which include ice cream, pasta and chocolate covered fruit.

Hence, my annoyance.

I dallied with a low-carb diet about a year ago. I lasted a week and -- much to my surprise -- lost several pounds. But in short order I found myself craving carbs and making up for it by eating my weight in cheese.

Convinced that couldn't be good, I stopped counting and quit. Of course, by then the bad habits were set and for months I continued eating pounds of cheese. I guess I am still counting, but gained weight wasn't what I'd hoped for.

So perhaps the source of my angst isn't counting carbs per se, but that I failed so miserably at it.

It doesn't help that I have been mostly unimpressed by the low-carb products and recipes I have tried. Bagels that taste like putty. Pasta with all the tooth of oatmeal. Bread better suited as a sponge.

And don't get me going on the cauliflower ''mashed potatoes." Let's utter a collective ''Please!" about that foolishness.

So it was with some trepidation that I looked at Robin Robertson's ''Carb-conscious Vegetarian" (Rodale, 2005, $18.95). And I noted with dismay it does have a recipe for the dreaded mashed cauliflower.

Ultimately, I found myself able to forgive Robertson that sin.

She managed what many low-carb food writers have not -- a cookbook that doesn't feel low-carb. And it is blissfully light on anti-carb philosophy, just eight pages that are easily ignored.

Regardless of your stance on carbohydrates, Robertson's recipes are appealing. Jalapeno hummus with jicama, mushrooms stuffed with spinach and pine nuts, a salad of roasted Japanese eggplant and walnuts.

Most of the recipes contain under 30 grams of carbohydrates per serving and, thankfully, don't compensate by piling on the fat. Most have 10 grams or fewer.

Ultimately, this reads like a vegetarian cookbook that just happens to leave out the bread and pasta.

I tried Robertson's sloppy Josephines, a quick and easy variant of sloppy Joes. These were great. She suggests serving them on a bed of shredded lettuce, as a topping to spaghetti squash, in pita pockets or on whole grain bread.

As further testament that Robertson succeeded in avoiding that low-carb feel, during testing I forgot the recipe was low-carb and served it on a bulky roll with bread and butter pickles. Try forgetting mashed cauliflower is low-carb.

Robertson's recipe replaces meat with a package of vegetarian burgers thawed and finely chopped. As she notes, ground ''beef" substitute can be used instead. I found this easier and to have a more authentic texture.

A food processor is the easiest way to grind portobello mushrooms. Don't worry too much about getting exactly two cups worth; this recipe is quite forgiving. Plan three or four medium to large mushroom caps for about two cups.

Also, the recipe calls for a low-carb sweetener, which I left out entirely with no noticeable effect on taste.

Sloppy Josephines

(Start to finish 20 minutes)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 cups ground portobello mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

12-ounce package frozen vegetarian burgers, thawed and chopped, or equal amount vegetarian ''ground beef"

3/4 cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon yellow or Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon agave syrup or a pinch of stevia (sweetener)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over a medium-high flame. Add the onion and bell pepper, cover and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the vegetarian burgers, tomato sauce, mustard and sweetener. Simmer 10 minutes, or until hot.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 182 cal., 14 g pro., 18 g carbo., 7 g total fat, 8 g dietary fiber.