The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight (6 page)

1 slice of ciabatta bread (about 25g), cut into 1cm chunks

3 sun-dried tomato pieces in oil, drained well

2 garlic cloves, peeled

15g pine nuts (preferably Italian)

handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

handful of fresh basil, roughly shredded

1 whole sea bass, gutted and scaled (about 550g once prepared)

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

flaked sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

417 calories per portion

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7. Put the sliced onion, pepper and new potatoes on a large baking tray and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Season with a little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Toss the veg together well and spread them out on the tray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly browned and beginning to soften.

While the vegetables are cooking, make the stuffing for the fish. Put the ciabatta pieces in a large non-stick frying pan and place it over a medium heat. Cook for 4–5 minutes, turning regularly until the chunks of bread are lightly toasted.

Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into thin strips and finely slice the garlic. Add the pine nuts, garlic and tomatoes to the frying pan and toss together over a low heat for 2 minutes more until the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes. Add the parsley and basil leaves and toss together.

Working carefully as some sea bass fins are very spiky, slash the fish diagonally with a knife 4 times down each side. Sprinkle with half the lemon juice, making sure plenty goes into each cut and season with black pepper. Take the tray with the vegetables out of the oven and turn them with a spatula. Push the veg into a heap down the centre of the tin and place the fish on top.

Open the fish and spoon the bread, tomato and herb filling inside. Don’t worry if a few pieces fall on to the tray but try to keep them close to the fish or they could burn. And remember that the baking tray will be hot, so watch your fingers. Close the fish and drizzle with the remaining lemon juice and the rest of the oil.

Bake for 20–25 minutes or until the fish is just cooked and the filling is hot. Check by sliding a knife into the thickest part of the fish and peering inside – the fish should look white and a little flaky rather than translucent. Serve right away – nothing else needed.

SI AND DAVE’S WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS

Fine to cook your meat with skin but don’t eat it. Much of the fat – containing lots of calories – lies under the skin.

Roasting can be done with very little fat. Put the meat on a rack so fat drips off and you can throw it away.

We are not big fans of aerosol spray oils, but if you’re lucky enough to find pure mild olive oil or virgin olive oil in a spritz-style container, go ahead and use it. Saves brushing the pan with oil. We’ve tried filling our own spritz-style oil containers but the nozzles always seem to get clogged after a couple of squirts.

Bulk out your meals with vegetables so you don’t overdo the meat portions. In our beefburger recipe we add some veg to the mixture so the meat goes further.

Gammon with parsley sauce is one of our favourites. If you thicken the sauce with cornflour instead of butter and flour it dramatically reduces the calorie count but the sauce still tastes good.

Buy yourself a griddle pan. It cooks meat well and the result looks as good as it tastes. The fat runs into the channels on the pan and can be chucked out. Barbecuing is great too.

SALMON WITH CHILLI GINGER SAUCE

Oily fish, such as salmon, is a great choice when you’re watching your weight, but bear in mind that it contains more calories than white fish. It’s a high-quality protein, so fills you up, and it is delicious – especially when teamed with this sticky, tangy sauce. You need to allow time for the fish to marinate for 30 minutes but once that is done, this is quick and easy to prepare.

SERVES 4

2 balls of stem ginger in syrup (and 2 tablespoons of the syrup)

3 garlic cloves

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

finely grated zest of ½ well-scrubbed orange

freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange (about 125ml)

½ long red chilli, thinly sliced

4 x 125–150g salmon fillets, skin on

freshly ground black pepper

254 calories per portion

Put the ginger balls on a board and slice them thinly. Pile up the slices from each ball and cut through them to make thin matchstick strips. Put these in a bowl that’s large enough to hold the salmon and add 2 tablespoons of the stem ginger syrup from the jar. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them thinly, then add them to the bowl with the ginger. Stir in the soy sauce, orange zest, orange juice and red chilli.

Put the salmon in the bowl with the marinade. Season with lots of ground black pepper and turn a couple of times, ending with the fish skin side up. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment. Take the salmon fillets out of the marinade, scraping off any bits and pieces, and place them on the tray, skin side down. Season with more ground black pepper. Bake for 12–15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon.

While the salmon is cooking, prepare the sauce. Pour the marinade into a small non-stick saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for 6 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the garlic is softened. You need enough of the marinade to pour over the salmon but not swamp it completely.

Put the salmon fillets on warmed plates, carefully lifting off the skin as you go. Spoon the hot sauce over the salmon and serve with a small portion of rice or new potatoes and some steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

MASALA-MARINATED CHICKEN WITH MINTED YOGHURT SAUCE

Dieting or not, this is one of our favourite recipes. It’s mouth-wateringly good – the spicy marinade makes the meat really tender and full of flavour, while the yoghurt sauce sets it off a treat. Serve with our cumin-crusted vegetables (see page 108) for a proper spicy feast.

SERVES 4–5

1.65kg chicken

1 lime, quartered

freshly ground black pepper

fresh watercress or baby leaf salad, to serve

Marinade

6 cardamom pods

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds

4 whole cloves

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp ground fenugreek

2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp paprika

1–2 tsp hot chilli powder (the more you use, the spicier the dish)

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp flaked sea salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

40g chunk of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated

100g low-fat natural yoghurt

For the minted yoghurt sauce

200g low-fat natural yoghurt

1 tsp ready-made mint sauce

320 calories per portion (if serving 4)256 calories per portion (if serving 5)

To make the marinade, split the cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Put the cardamom seeds in a dry non-stick frying pan and discard the husks. Add the cumin and coriander seeds, cloves and black peppercorns and place the pan over a medium heat. Cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring regularly until the spices are lightly toasted – you know they’re ready when you can smell the spicy aroma.

Tip the toasted spices into a pestle and mortar, or an electric spice grinder, and pound to a fine powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the fenugreek, turmeric, paprika, chilli powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the garlic, ginger and yoghurt, then mix well and leave to stand while you prepare the chicken.

Place the chicken on its breast on a sturdy chopping board and cut carefully either side of the backbone with good scissors or poultry shears. Chuck out the bone and cut off the foot joints and wing tips.

Strip all the skin off the bird apart from the ends of the wings (which are easier to remove after cooking). You’ll find this simpler to do if you snip the membrane between the skin and the chicken flesh as you go. Cut off and discard any obvious fat – it will be a creamy white colour. Open out the chicken and place it on the board so the breast side is facing upwards.

Press down heavily with the palms of your hands to break the breastbone and flatten the chicken as evenly as possible. This will help it cook more quickly. Slash the meat with a knife through the thickest parts of the legs and breasts. Place the chicken in a shallow non-metallic dish – a lasagne dish is ideal – and tuck in the legs and wings.

Spoon over the marinade and really massage it into the chicken on both sides, ensuring that every bit of the bird is well coated – get your hands in there and really go for it. Cover the dish with cling film and put the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Preheat the oven to 210°C/Fan 190°C/Gas 6½ . Take the chicken out of the dish and place it on a rack inside a large baking tray, breast-side up. Squeeze over some juice from the lime and season with ground black pepper.

Roast for 45–50 minutes until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked throughout, tossing the lime quarters on to the rack for the last 20 minutes to cook alongside the chicken. They’ll be good for squeezing over the meat later. The juices should run clear when the thickest part of 1 of the thighs is pierced with a skewer. Cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

While the chicken is resting, make the sauce. Spoon the yoghurt into a serving bowl and stir in the mint sauce until thoroughly combined. Transfer the chicken to a plate or wooden board and carve into slices, discarding any skin. Serve with the sauce and some watercress or salad and enjoy!