Mushroom and Blue Cheese Omelette

Recipe for Mushroom and blue cheese omelette (serves 2)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
1 tsp butter	54
75g mushrooms, sliced	8
5 eggs, beaten	157
50g blue cheese (I used Castello), diced or crumbled	116
freshly ground pepper	0

Total calories per serving: 335

Method: Heat a frying pan on medium and melt the butter. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for a minute or two. Add the beaten egg and sprinkle the pieces of cheese over the egg. Grind pepper over the omelette. Cook over a medium heat for about five minutes, or until the egg is cooked and the cheese is melting. Fold the omelette in half, then cut into two pieces and serve.

White Bean, Corn and Jalapeño Salad

White bean, corn and jalapeño salad (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
125g cooked navy/haricot beans	175
50g canned or frozen sweetcorn kernels	66
1 red jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and sliced	4
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil	40
1 tbsp cider vinegar	3

Total calories per serving: 288

Method: Combine all the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pearl Barley, Chard and Blue Cheese Salad

Pearl barley, chard and blue cheese salad (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
¼cup uncooked pearl barley	176
1tsp oil	40
3 leaves Swiss chard (with stalks), roughly chopped	28
2 cloves garlic, chopped	9
1 small hot wax pepper, deseeded and diced	4
15g blue cheese, crumbled	53
110g tomatoes, chopped	20

Total calories per serving: 326

Method: Cook the pearl barley – it will take 20 minutes in a pressure cooker or 50 minutes in a regular pan. Heat the oil and cook the chopped chard stalks, garlic and diced pepper for a few minutes, then stir in the chopped leaves of the chard until they are wilted and take the pan off the heat. Allow the barley to cool and combine it with the cooled chard mixture. Stir in the tomatoes and cheese and refrigerate until you are ready to eat it.

Shrimp, Asparagus and Bok Choi Noodles

Yes, more asparagus!

Shrimp, asparagus and bok choi noodles (serves 4)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
210g dry egg noodles	72
145g asparagus	7
120g bok choi	4
1 tbsp sesame oil	30
1 tbsp sunflower oil	31
400g raw, peeled shrimp	119
1 tbsp soy sauce	2
1 tsp fish sauce	1
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar	3
1 tsp ground ginger	2
1 tbsp cornflour	7
1 clove garlic, finely chopped	1

Total calories per serving: 280

Method: Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions and set aside. Slice the asparagus spears into 1cm lengths and separate the tips. Slice the bok choi into similar sized pieces and separate out the more stalky parts from the more leafy ones. Place the shrimp into a small bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients.

Now put a wok or large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the sesame and sunflower oils. When the oil is good and hot, stir in the shrimp and all of the asparagus except the tips. Stir fry for about three minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through. Then add the asparagus tips and the stalkier parts of the bok choi. Cook for another minute or so, then finally stir in the leafy parts of the bok choi and the reserved noodles. Continue to stir over a highish heat until the noodles are warmed through.

Serve immediately, with a little more soy sauce to taste.

Asparagus Mimosa

It’s that time of year when my lunches often contain some combination of asparagus and egg. I’ve had asparagus with poached egg and asparagus omelette of late, so was looking for something different. This dish makes an interesting change from my standard asparagus-and-egg combos. I had some hard-boiled eggs to use up, so used two in this. If you just use one, you can bring the calorie count down to 215.

Asparagus mimosa (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
110g asparagus	22
2 hard-boiled eggs	126
1½ tsp lemon juice	2
1 tbsp olive oil	120
1 tsp wholegrain Dijon mustard	5
Chopped herbs to taste	2

Total calories per serving: 275 (215 with one egg)

Method: Steam the asparagus for about 8 minutes, or until tender. Dice the egg(s) or grate finely. Beat the oil, mustard and lemon juice together and stir in the herbs (I used garlic chives). Rinse the asparagus under cold water to stop the spears from cooking, then pat dry and arrange on a plate. Pour the vinaigrette over the asparagus and then sprinkle the egg over the top.

Spring Omelette

The first vegetable I get from my garden in the Spring is the intriguingly-named Egyptian Walking Onion. This plant was given to me by a neighbour about six years ago and it (or its offspring) has been a permanent feature of my front garden bed ever since. (Indeed, I think it is one of those plants that is quite difficult to get rid of, once established – but I’m not complaining!)

Here I’ve used my first harvest of the year to make a very easy omelette. I had two leftover egg whites to use up, so this one has two eggs and two whites, bringing it to 220 calories in all. If I’d just used two eggs it would have been 185 calories. I suppose I could have just used the egg whites and brought the whole dish down to under 100 calories – but there’s something a bit too Hollywood about egg white omelettes, somehow!

Spring omelette (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
5g butter	36
5 spring onions/scallions, trimmed of roots and sliced into short lengths	24
2 eggs, beaten	126
2 egg whites (optional)	34
salt and pepper to taste	0

Total calories per serving: 220 (185 without the egg whites)

Method: Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the sliced onions. Cook for a minute, then pour over the eggs. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste and continue cooking until the top of the omelette is set. Fold in half and serve.

Green Lentil and Tomato Salad

I had an over-indulgent day yesterday which resulted in me waking up with indigestion at 4am. Not nice, so I resolved to have a fasting day today to give my system a break. This salad is about as simple a meal as you can get, but it was an easy, filling lunch and soothed my guilty conscience about abusing my body yesterday!

Green lentil and tomato salad (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
100g/½ cup cooked green lentils	116
40g (5) cherry tomatoes, halved	7
60g iceberg lettuce leaves	8
1 tsp olive oil	40
2 tsp balsamic vinegar	2
salt & pepper	0

Total calories per serving: 175

Method: Arrange lettuce leaves on a plate, then mix the remaining ingredients together and pile on top. If you have some fresh herbs available, it would be good to add some to this dish. Still winter here, so unfortunately not an option for me!

Pork and Pinto Curry

I had some leftover pork from a Sunday roast to use up, so it went into this curry with some pinto beans, carrot and onions to make a filling meal for a fasting day. You could easily replace the pork with more beans or with another vegetable to make this a vegetarian or vegan dish. I served it with a cup of brown rice, which adds 140 calories per portion. I also served naan bread for the non-fasters. This is a very mild, child-friendly curry – for a bit more kick you could add chilli powder or a fresh red chilli pepper.

Pork and pinto curry (serves 5)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
1 cup uncooked pinto beans	134
200g cold roast pork, diced	117
1 tbsp oil	25
1 onion, diced	9
1 tsp ground ginger	1
1 tsp ground cumin	2
1 tsp smoked paprika	1
1 tsp turmeric	2
200g carrot, diced	16
100ml coconut milk	47
salt & pepper	0
1 tbsp cornflour	5

Total calories per serving: 355

Method: Soak the pinto beans in cold water for at least five hours (or cover the beans with just-boiled water to speed up the soaking time to one hour). I cooked mine in the pressure cooker with the diced pork for ten minutes in three cups of water. You’d have to simmer them for an hour if you’re not using a pressure cooker (and I probably wouldn’t put them in with the pork if I was doing it that way). Reserve the cooking water.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, cooking until it is translucent. Add the spices and then the carrot and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, the beans and the pork, adding as much of the beans’ cooking water as needed to make the sauce. Cover and simmer for half an hour, or until the carrots are tender. Stir the cornflour into a few tablespoons of cold water and then add it to the curry, stirring until the sauce thickens up.

Cottage Cheese, Corn and Black Bean Salad

Cottage cheese, corn and black bean salad (serves 1)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
½ cup cottage cheese	102
½ cup cooked black beans	114
½ cup cooked sweetcorn kernels	62
1 red chilli, sliced	8
salt & pepper	0

Total calories per serving: 285

A very simple but filling salad. If you don’t fancy eating a whole raw chilli, you could replace it with some cayenne pepper or chilli flakes to sprinkle over the top. It would be a bit bland without anything else, I think. And according to a 2011 study, “consuming red pepper can help manage appetite and burn more calories after a meal” – which is an added incentive on a fasting day!

Salmon with Spiced Cauliflower Rice

I served this with noodles for the non-fasting members of the family.

Salmon with spiced cauliflower rice (serves 4)

Ingredient	Calories per serving
4 112g/quarter pound fillets of salmon	149
1 medium head of cauliflower	36
2 tbsps oil	60
1 onion, diced	11
1 tbsp turmeric	2
1 tbsp ground cumin	2
1 tbsp allspice	1
salt & pepper	0

Total calories per serving: 260

Method: Use a food processor to blitz the cauliflower into tiny pieces. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan and cook the onion until translucent. Stir in the cauliflower, spices and seasoning and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, cook the salmon separately in the remaining tablespoon of oil.