Tuna salad

OK, so this might look like the tricolour salad I made yesterday, but it's completely different!

Mostly, it tastes very different because instead of fresh herbs and lemon I made a Chinese inspired dressing. I used almost 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sweet chilli dipping sauce. Mix well, and pour over the salad. The dressing makes enough for two or 3 - I'll keep what's left for later in the week.

Salad days again

At last! The sun has come out and it's begining to feel like summer is here. And the things I love most about summer are fresh fruit and salad.

So here's tonight healthy dinner - tricolour salad. Not intentional, but most of the things in my salad drawer turned out to be red, white and green. If only there was more blue food, I could be more patriotic in time for the Olympics.

Tomatoes, red and green pepper, lettuce, cucumber, radish, spring onion, avocado and some fresh herbs made the bulk of the salad, with a little lemon juice and some chicken breast. Again, no carbs tonight - I think having carbs at luchtime rather than the evening is working, I'm certainly not hungry and don't feel full or bloated at bedtime.

Now I'm off to find some water - I'm sure I'm not drining enough anymore, ever since I stopped measuring my water intake it's been getting less and less, and I'm now probably having less than 1 ltr a day, so that has to be increased again!

Enjoy!

Back on the regime

Back on the regime and it's more Chinese inspired food for me.

I decided to go for a swim tonight, with an Adult's only swim session from 6-7. As it was about 5pm when I decided to go, I thought I'd prep dinner before I left so that I wouldn't be tempted to have a sandwich when I got back.

So this is what I left for myself - tuna steak (fresh from Bury market today, yum!) with lots of fresh veg and asian condiments.

I swam for about 30 mins - but much harder and faster than I used to. In one way, it's a bit more difficult than it used to be as I don't float as well now that I don't have an inbuilt lifejacket - but on the other hand I have much more energy.

I felt very virtuous when I got back home, and very glad that my dinner was almost ready - it took me about 5 mins to stir fry the veg and sear the tuna, which I rolled in 5 spice powder first for an extra kick.

The veg was bolstered by some fresh garlic and ginger, and then some oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and some fish sauce (1 Tbsp of each). No carbs, but with the protein of the fish it's very filling!

Eating Healthily

Inspired by Gok Wan's new TV cookery programme, I've decided to make more Chinese food. It's tasty and healthy, and provided you get organised, it can be very quick.

Tonight I made Super Speedy Noodles with Pork. It took about 10 mins to prep (see photo of all the ingredients) and about 5 mins to cook - and it was very tasty! I made an extra dish of brocolli and beans, to boost up the green content.

I worked this out to be about 450 calories.

And this is the finished dish - it did look just like the picture in the book!

Company for Dinner

My niece came for diiner tonight, before we went to a comedy gig. She's also watching her weight, so low cal all the way tonight.

This is homemade pea and mint soup, with some crispy pancetta on top (which is where all the calories are!)

I made it with shallots, sweated off with 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, then added a veg stock pot cube, some fresh peas and some boiling water - then cooking it until the peas were done. I added a big handful of chopped mint and blitzed with a stick blender until smooth.

In the meantime, I crisped the panchetta between two baking sheets (to keep it flat) in a hot oven for about 7 mins. You could skip the pancetta if you want to reduce the calories even more.

Spicy Soup

Thought I haven't posted a recipe for a while, and just made this soup for lunch. I'm home from work today, so had a bit more time than normal. It's lovely and thick (which is how I like it, but you could water it down) and very filling.

Chop up a butternut squash into about 1" cubes, and spray with a little oil, then roast in the oven for about 40 mins at 200 degrees.

When the squash is almost ready, add 1/2 Tbsp oil to a pan, and gently fry 2 shallots with about 1" of root ginger and a garlic clove (both grated or very finely chopped). Add a little chilli (I used 1/2 tsp lazy red chilli) and once its all cooked add a vegetable stock pot. Stir it in, then add in the butternut squash. Add just enough boiling water to almost cover the squash and then cook for a couple of mins to let the flavours blend.

Tip everything into a blender (or use a stick blender in the pan) and blitz until smooth. Add more boiling water to get the consistency you like - being careful not to splash yourself with boiling hot soup.

Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

Depending on the size of your squash and how thick or thin you like it, it will serve 1 hungry person or up to 3.

I worked out the calories at about 300 (but it depends on the size of your squash, I based this on about 1 lb of squash weighed raw).

Pasty anyone?

Last week, I made a pasty for my husband, having some leftover pastry in my fridge. I don't often have pasty in the house, but I'd made a chicken pie for the in-laws at the weekend.

Anyway, there wasn't a lot of pastry, so I made a turkey, bacon and mushroom pasty, with some creme fraiche to make it more moist. I had the pie filling on its own, followed by some fruit salad.

It was very tasty, and I didn't miss the pastry at all!

Starter for 10

Had company for dinner on Thursday, so made this as a starter. It's quite heavy, at 240 calories, but lovely.

Toast a crumpet, then top with slices of beetroot and goat's cheese, then melt under the grill until the goat's cheese browns. Serve on a bed of leaves, with some chopped beetroot and a little balsamic vinegar.

It also makes a nice warm lunch if you fancy something different.
We followed this with chicken in a tomato sauce and some pasta, making dinner 680 calories in total.

Enjoy!

Perfect Poached Egg

This was my breakfast today - poached egg on toast. I used a duck egg, and 2 pieces of toast (without butter).

I've found a new way of poaching eggs - which works perfectly. Get a small bowl and a piece of cling film. Put the cling film into the bowl, with the edges all hanging over the edge. Put some salt and pepper in the bottom, and then break in the egg.

Now gather up the ends of the cling film, and twist so that you make a ball with your egg in it. Secure it close to the egg with one of those bag clips or a twist tie.

Drop the egg into a pan of gently simmering water, and leave it for 4 mins. When it's ready, lift it out and open up the cling film. For prettiest results, turn it over onto your toast, so the smooth, rounded part of the egg with the seasoning is on the top. Break open and enjoy!

Using a duck egg made this recipe 270 Cals, with 2 slices of warburtons small toastie.

600 Calorie Dinner - Mustard Mackerel

I've set a limit of 600 calories for my dinner (I'm finding it easier to plan calories per meal than for a whole day - it's a bit more flexible).

This is a picture of tonight's dinner - mustard mackerel.

It's a fillet of mackerel with dijon mustard in slits made in the skin and then grilled (skin side up only) for about 7 minutes. I had it on a bed of Mushroom Bulgar Wheat (Ainsley Harriot) with rocket, tomato and cucumber salad. I also made a bit of dressing with some of the left over mustard, 1 Tbsp of fat free yoghurt and 2 tsp of sweetener.

Really tasty - and about 18 minutes from start to finish - and that was the bulgar wheat!

Another quick dinner

Another quick dinner tonight, but lovely and healthy. Cod loin with brocolli, green beans and a hot salsa of fennel, red onion and tomato.

Put the green in a pan of boiling water, then gently fry the fennel. Add the red onion when the fennel starts to soften, then add the tomatoes when the onion starts to soften (cut them up small so it doesn't take too long). Season it all with salt and pepper. Make a space in the frying pan then add the cod (or any fish). Turn the fish over after about 3 mins and then drain the greens.

Deglaze the frying pan with vinegar (I used sherry vinegar because I like the strong, sweet taste). Put the greens on your plate, then add the fish and spoon the salsa over the top.

Takes about 10 mins in total, and it's quite filling and very tasty.
Enjoy

Pastrami Salad

So, salad for lunch, but fancied something with some bite. I made this salad based on a new york deli style pastrami sandwich.

Green salad with lettuce, spinach, green pepper, chopped gherkins and spring onions. And a dressing of natural 0% fat yoghurt, mixed with wholegrain mustard and some sweetener (makes a passable honey-mustard dressing).

Then topped off with my lunchtime allowance of 80g of protein - today it was 65g Pastrami and 15g low fat cheese.

So, appetite for something crunchy and tasty satisfied. Now for another cup of tea.

Steak and tatties

Tonight's dinner - a bit bigger than I usually make, but I've been feeling hungry recently and wanted to make sure I didn't have a snack attack later.

So, 100g green beans and 100g red onions - with brocolli and griddled aubergine to bulk it up. And of course potatoes - 3 small ones, boiled and then sauteed with the onion in my tablespoon of oil.

All topped off with a small sirloin steak - served blue, just the way I like it.

Lovely and very filling. And about 25 mins from start to plate.

Fishy treat

I'm having a phase 7 day today, which means I can have carbs - and tonight it was potatoes. So, 3 small boiled potatoes with 100g french beans, 50g tomatoes (seeded and chopped) and a lovely piece of cod loin, grilled with a parsley and lemon crust.

I dressed the potatoes, beans and tomatoes with olive oil and lemon juice and just plonked the fish on top.

It was lovely and very quick to make (boiling the potatoes took the longest) about 20 mins in all.

Thai inspired Tuna

Gone all oriental tonight, with a Thai inspired dish. Seared tuna, coated in thai spices and chilli, served on a bed of peppers and onions which had been fried and then deglazed with sherry vinegar.

All on top of some spinach.

Lovely and colourful, tasted great and only took about 12 mins to make - what's not to love? Fast food at its best - quicker than driving to the takeaway in fact!

Marinated Tuna

This is a really tasty tuna steak, marinated in herbs and chilly and then seared on the griddle pan.

I had it on a bed of spinach with a veg medly of pan fried corguettes, shallots and tomatoes (200g) with green pepper. Nice, easy quick dinner and very, very tasty!

I think seared tuna is one of my favourites, after scallops of course!

Fresh Tuna - Lovely

Tonight's dinner - fresh tuna, seared and served with thai spiced veg (carrots, leeks, red onion, green pepper, corguette).

I briefly marinated the tuna in sherry vinegar and the thai 7 spice, just to give it a bit of extra bite on the outside. Pan fried for a bit less than 2 mins each side, just to sear it.

It was lovely, melt in the mouth stuff, and made a nice change.

Toffee Buns

Made these at the weekend for a toffee fix - it being near to bonfire night and all.

They don't look great, but tasted lovely, like eating a huge Toffo (who remembers Toffoes? Just me then?).

Pancake mix and caramel drink together and baked, yum!

Scallops again

Went to Bury Market with mum today and bought some more lovely scallops for my tea. Had them with french beans, tomatoes and red onion. Made a nice quick tea before going out (again!).

If you've never tried scallops but like prawns, give them a try - they have a similar texture to prawns, but a sweeter flavour - slightly nutty when pan fried. They only take 2 mins each side - don't overcook them or they go rubbery!

Griddled Chicken

There have been complaints dear reader, complaints! And conflicting ones at that!

Apparently not enough food pictures according to mum, and missing outfit pictures according to sis. It's so hard to guess what you all want, so I'll add as much as poss, and you just skip the bits you're not interested in. OK? Right! Food then first...

This is (was) tonight's tea, griddled veg and chicken. I know you've seen it before, but it's one of my favourites especially for a quick, easy tea. It only involves one pan, chopping up some veg, slicing a chicken breast in half (to make it thinner and quicker to cook), chopping some herbs and measuring some oil.

I usually cook one pan of veg first and then keep this warm in the oven (in the dish I'm using to serve) and then cook the rest of the veg and chicken. I don't use any oil at this stage, and put the extractor fan on!

When it's all ready, sprinkle the herbs on top (today I used sage, oregano, mint, basil and thyme) pour on some lovely extra virgin olive oil (1 Tbsp or whatever of your allowance is left) and for me, some crunchy flakes of cornish sea salt (well, I'm not spending any money on wine, so I have these little treats instead!).

Of course you can just eat yours - you don't have to photograph it first!