52 Cookbooks #20: Cod Saltimbocca

Yes, we're still on a bit of a health kick here ahead of our trip to Portugal, so I'm using the second of the Cook Yourself Thin books for this week's recipe.

So are we noticing a difference to our waistlines - a little, I think.  And that's the way it's supposed to go right, slowly but surely...

This week I've chosen Cod Saltimbocca which is served with cannellini beans - and in the book - all this is just 259 calories. I say in the book as I'm pretty certain mine will be a bit higher as I don't seem to have the phrase "a spritz of olive oil" in my vocabulary.  I didn't go mad with it, but I definitely couldn't say it was a spritz!

Once again it's a relatively simple recipe. For the beans you fry quite a lot of garlic with some anchovies until the anchovies melt, tip in the beans and add a tablespoon of white wine (I substituted Noilly Prat here, as we're not a white wine household) and some thyme.

And that's it. 

For the fish, you sprinkle it with freshly ground black pepper, top it with a sage leaf then wrap it in the prosciutto and add another sage leaf to the top before frying it in that spritz of olive oil. 

It really was that easy. Who'd have thought.

The verdict:

• This was easy to prep and easy to cook. 
• Both the fish and the beans were tasty, and I'd cook both again.  
• More importantly it didn't feel like we were restricting our calorie intake with this meal. 
• I really enjoyed this fish dish, much more than other fish dishes I've eaten for a while. And I think that was down to its taste rather than because it was wrapped with a thin layer of meat!
• This would make an easy but impressive and healthy(ish) meal for friends. 
• But beware, MOH has already warned about the consequences of serving up so many beans... 

Mary at Keynko has also

cooked fish this week, pop

over there and see her

fish & chips!

52 Cookbooks #19: Yogurt-marinated chicken and spiced green lentils

This week's recipe is from a diet cookbook with a difference. It's called Fat Girl Slim which is a great title and is by Ruth Watson. It's an entertaining read and doesn't have the same format as other cookbooks I have; it doesn't have the same kind of recipes either for that matter. 

In fact the last recipe in the book - in the chapter titled Sod it - is a hot bitter chocolate mousse and thick Jersey cream in case it all gets too much.  The theory is if you're going to blow your diet you should at least do it with some style!

I like that kind of style...

There's also chapters titled Working woman's reality (with a sub-section devoted to "the packet queen"),  Eating with your darling and Beyond baked beans.  The other gem of advice in this book is "if you toss enough interesting vegetables with masses of Asian flavourings, I defy even the most raven carnivore to notice the absence of meat."

I'd agree with that. Anyway back to this recipe...

I like lentils but am not very adventurous with them, or actually any dried pulse. I think that goes back to having to boil them for three weeks or so before you can eat them (perhaps an exaggeration there), or the hippy references in The Young Ones. Or that some need soaking overnight, which I forget to plan for. 

I've mastered red lentils, am ok with puy lentils and the lentils that come in a can are great to add to meals such as bolognaise or moussaka to bulk them out. But other sorts, less so. This recipe called for puy or umbrian lentils - well I had green lentils, which I had to double check the pack to make sure they didn't need soaking (they didn't).

The thing I almost forgot having remembered the lentils, was to marinate the chicken - doh! But the recipe said to leave for 2-6 hours, so I think I just about scraped into the lower end of that time bracket. The marinade was natural yogurt, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder. 

For the lentils you needed a red onion (for some reason I used a white onion, despite buying a red one especially for this recipe), more garlic and a small red chilli. Then there's more spices - turmeric, star anise, a cinnamon stick and some cardamom pods, the lentils and stock and they're left to simmer until they're soft. Then add in some roughly chopped tomatoes and coriander, stir and season. 

The recipe said to fry the chicken but as I'd used my frying pan for the lentils I popped the chicken in the oven to cook, which seemed an easier option (I still haven't built up my saucepan 'reserves' since switching to induction last year). The chicken was really tender and would be good cold in salads or sandwiches for lunch too. Or as I had recently on top of a pizza, along with cucumber raita (the raita was added after cooking, in case you're wondering).

The verdict

• Our chicken breasts (from the butchers) were on the large side so in the end I only used one and the fillet from the second and we still had plenty of protein on our plate

• We had lentils left over (and I'd dished up a fair-sized portion having still not mastered portion control!)

• Neither of us were hungry after eating this, which is remarkable really as we ate this on one of our 5:2 fast days. 

• I'd definitely cook it again, but perhaps wouldn't pair asparagus with it (that was my addition) 

• I really must try harder to use dried pulses more often!

52 Cookbooks #18: Ho Fan beef noodles

My word of the week was healthy, and that's influenced the cookbook I've used this week.  So this week's recipe is from the Cook Yourself Thin book which accompanied the TV series of the same name.

It promises this is the delicious way to drop a dress size - I'm sure lower-calories meals will help but I'm not convinced just switching to this cookbook will do it (unfortunately)

There's more vegetables than normal in this recipe - spring onions, mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli, two peppers as well as garlic and ginger, and less noodles and steak than a less conscientious recipe would have. 

So the theory behind this recipe (and no doubt others in the book) isn't rocket science and follows the principle of eating more healthy/lower calorie foods. 

That didn't mean comprising on taste either.  Win win. 

The sauce was a simple mix of oyster sauce, soy sauce and a splash of water. The recipe calls for rice noodles which I know aren't MOH's favourite but I thought I'd give them a go. 

As with all stir fries, the trick is to have everything prepared before starting and then it becomes easy. The beauty of the rice noodles is that you just pour boiling water over them, cover with cling film and leave for five minutes before draining and rinsing under cold water.

All this means it's ready very quickly!

The verdict:

• Tasty and enough vegetable texture and tastes that the lower meat content wasn't a problem

• MOH thought the noodles were a "bit slimy" - yeap he spotted those rice noodles!

• The dish is topped with (raw) sliced chilli, ours was quite hot but we got used to it!