The Fast Diet: Bang Bang Prawns

I have been dieting my whole life. I was first brought to Weight Watchers when I was ten years old.  I have tried every diet under the sun multiple times. I've lost weight and gained it back plus more. None of them are long term for me. I can count calories and eat rabbit food for a few weeks but I inevitably give up or get frustrated and go back to page one.  Recently someone told me about the fast diet, a diet where you have a light fast twice a week and eat whatever you want on the other days.  I thought it sounded intriguing but left it at that knowing it was another diet and as such destined to fail.

Then I was placing an order on Amazon when it popped up with the book being on sale for three quid, so I thought why not and bought it.  I read it cover the cover and was waiting for the part that said, yes you fast those two days, but you have to only eat wholewheat and low fat the rest of the week, but it never did.  You really can eat anything on the other five days.  I figured it couldn't be that hard and gave it a try.  I am on week three and have lost ten pounds.  I cannot believe it.  It is the easiest thing in the world and so workable into your daily schedule.  You are allowed 500 calories on fasting days (600 for men) which is not a lot, but totally doable when you know you can eat a doughnut for breakfast the next day!  Being a good cook helps too as you can really make the most of those calories.  It's just gone twelve now and I've just had my first meal of a fasting day, I'll eat my second with the kids tonight.  I schedule my fast days on my busiest days, days when I have to run the kids places and barely think about eating, that way I won't get focused on any hunger I may feel.  I've found I tend to get hungry after they go to bed, but just sip herbal tea and do some crochet and it keeps my mind of it.  Going to bed early helps too!

The strange thing though is that you're not hungry the next morning and you are generally less interested in food as a whole.  Hubby brought me my favourite-sit-down-eat-an-entire-box-at-once chocolates on Valentine's day and they literally just sat there.  I had one or two, but had no interest in the rest. SO WEIRD!  I'm down ten pounds and really loving this plan, it's the type of thing I can do easily, without fretting and fit it into my life as it is now. No special shopping, expensive light foods, hell I haven't even done much exercise!  And did I mention how much more clear my mind is? It's insane, I'm on fire these days, the house has never been cleaner, I'm more cheerful, energetic, even the kids have noticed. I LOVE IT!

Anyways... enough proselytizing, fast diet or not, this particular recipe is bloody delicious for anyone!  It's 250 calories according to myfitnesspal which makes it a perfect fit for the fast diet fasting days.

Bang Bang Shrimp
(serves 1)
Adapted from: Skinny Taste

Ingredients:

• 120g peeled and de-veined raw prawns
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• Cooking spray
• 1.25 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1 cup shredded ice berg lettuce
• 1/4 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced

Coat raw prawns in cornstarch and fry over a high heat about 1.5 minutes each side until cooked through.

Meanwhile make sauce by mixing mayonnaise, sweet chilli and sriracha.

Toss prawns in sauce and serve over the cabbage and lettuce mix.  Sprinkle with scallions to serve. 

Salmon Ramen For One

I've been on a bit of an Asian kick lately it seems and here is another one. This is such a warming healthy soup that really is a perfectly balanced meal. I make this for myself if I happen to get a few moments for lunch without the kids.  You can spice it up as much as you like and change the vegetables to cater to your own tastes.

If you don't have ramen noodles, udon or soba will work fine, so will just plain old spaghetti!  It's very flexible! :)

• 1 skinned fillet of salmon
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp chilli sauce (like sriracha)
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
• 1 small red onion, thinkly slived
• 1 small carrot, julienned
• 1-2 cups chicken stock or dashi
• Handful mange tout, julienned
• 1 cup of cooked ramen noodles
• handful bean sprouts
• handful coriander, chopped

Marinate the salmon in the mirin, soy sauce, honey, chilli sauce, garlic and ginger for half an hour or so. 

Stir-fry the carrot and onion for a minute or two until just softened. Remove from pan. Add stock and bring to a boil.  Add salmon and marinade and cook 3-5 minutes until fish is cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.  

Add noodles and vegetables to a bowl, ladle stock over them.  Top with salmon and sprinkle with coriander. 

Cheater's Sushi Stacks

I had the girls around on Friday night for Wine and hors d'oeuvres and had a terrible hankering for sushi.  Living in the Midlands, that's generally impossible to satisfy without driving to Dublin.  Even to make my own I would have to be extremely confident in the freshness of the fish and being so far inland and having only access to one fishmonger who I don't particularly care for means I won't be making sashimi at home any time soon.  I decided to use some gorgeous Irish smoked salmon instead. I was slightly pressed for time, so didn't want to mess with vegetables and rolls, so I made stacks!  This is super easy and very appealing to sushi newbies with all the ingredients available at Tesco!

Smoked Salmon Sushi Stacks

• 1½ cups sushi rice 
• 2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons sugar 
• 2 teaspoons mirin 
• 2 teaspoons sake (can use water)
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt 
• 4 sheets toasted nori 
• 1 tsp wasabi 
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 8 ounces smoked salmon
• Pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi to garnish and serve

Bring rice and water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin and sake in a small saucepan and cook until salt and sugar are dissolved. 

When rice is cooked, mix in vinegar mixture and spread out on a clean surface to cool.

Mix mayonnaise with wasabi until combined and light green.

Lay one sheet of nori on a clean surface and spoon 1/3 of the rice on top. Spread out over the nori using wet hands and press down to seal.  Top with a layer of smoked salmon. Using a pastry brush, brush with a thin layer of mayonnaise. Top with another sheet of nori and press down frimly to seal. Repeat twice more finishing with the fourth sheet of nori, shiny side up.

Wrap the square in plastic film and refrigerate for a few hours.

When ready to serve, get a very sharp knife and run the hot water.  Wipe and run the knife under the water before each slice using the wet blade to cut the stack into one inch pieces.  

Serve topped with pickled ginger and leave out soy sauce, wasabi and some extra wasabi mayonnaise for people to add as desired.

Submit to: Recipe Sharing Monday