The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight (15 page)

SERVES 4

2 medium beetroot, each about 200g

20g blanched hazelnuts

½ tsp cumin seeds (optional)

2 chicory heads, trimmed

1 red eating apple

½ small red onion

small handful of fresh mint leaves

small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley

Dressing

150g low-fat natural yoghurt

juice and finely grated zest of ½ lime

2 tsp runny honey

122 calories per portion

Wash the beetroots well and trim off any stalks. Put them in a saucepan, cover with cold water and place over a high heat. Bring the water to the boil, then turn down the heat slightly, cover loosely with a lid and simmer for 50–60 minutes or until the beetroots are just tender. Check by testing them with the tip of a knife. Keep an eye on the water level and top up with extra water if necessary.

Drain the beetroots and leave them until cool enough to handle. Holding the beetroots under cold running water, gently slip off the skins, then cut them into wedges.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts on a board. Tip them into a colander and give it a good shake – all the tiny bits of nut should fall through the holes, leaving good chunky pieces for your salad.

Scatter the nuts into a non-stick frying pan and toast over a medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning them as they cook. Add the cumin seeds, if using, and toast together for 1–2 minutes, then set aside to cool. Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.

Cut each head of chicory lengthways into 6 thin wedges and put these in a shallow serving bowl. If your chicory are particularly large, you may want to separate some of the leaves. Cut the apple into quarters, remove the core and slice the apple quarters fairly thinly. Peel and finely slice the onion. Roughly chop the mint and parsley leaves.

Toss the chicory, apple, onion, hazelnuts, cumin seeds and herbs together lightly. Scatter the beetroot on top of the salad and tumble gently through the salad. Spoon over a little of the dressing. Serve the rest of the dressing separately or cover and keep for other salads. It should last for a couple of days in the fridge.

WARM GRIDDLED VEGETABLES

Salads don’t have to be cold and in this simple dish charring the veg gives extra flavour without extra calories. For a main meal for two, serve with 125g sliced halloumi cheese – just pop it on to the griddle for a couple of minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. Adding the halloumi to your meal will increase the calories per person by about 200 calories.

SERVES 2

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

3 medium courgettes

1 medium red onion

2 tsp olive oil

freshly ground pepper

Chilli dressing

1 plump red chilli, finely diced

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

bunch of fresh coriander (about 10g), roughly chopped

1½ tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

148 calories per portion (without halloumi)348 calories per portion (with halloumi)

Place a large heavy-based griddle pan over a medium-high heat. Cut the peppers in half from top to bottom and remove the green stalk end and seeds. Cut peppers in half again to make 4 long quarters from each and put them in a large bowl.

Trim the courgettes and cut them into long, diagonal slices, about 1cm thick. Peel the red onion, leaving the root intact, and then cut into 8 wedges. Put the courgettes and onion in the bowl with the peppers and pour over the 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Season with lots of ground black pepper and toss the veg together well.

Scatter the vegetables on to the hot griddle and cook for 6–8 minutes, pressing with a spatula to flatten them on to the griddle. Turn once. The onions and courgettes will be ready before the peppers, so they can be transferred to a shallow serving dish as soon as they are tender and lightly charred. Continue cooking the peppers until they are softened. If your griddle isn’t very big, cook the vegetables in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.

While the vegetables are cooking, mix all the dressing ingredients until thoroughly combined. Add the cooked peppers to the serving dish with the onion and courgettes and toss lightly. Season with lots of ground black pepper, then spoon the dressing over the vegetables and tumble them gently until they are all coated. Serve warm.

Top tip:

If you don’t fancy making the chilli dressing, this is also good served just with a dribble of good balsamic vinegar.

FRUITY RICE SALAD

This happy mix of sweet and savoury is spicy, satisfying and delivers every flavour combination you could want. You could even add a little chilli if you like a touch more heat. Lovely with grilled or barbecued meat or fish – or even some lamb chops when your diet is over.

SERVES 4 AS A LUNCH OR 6 AS AN ACCOMPANIMENT

125g easy-cook wholegrain rice

2 tsp olive oil

½ medium red onion, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp cold water

freshly squeezed juice and finely grated zest of 1 small unwaxed lemon

1 small pineapple or half a medium pineapple, roughly 500g

½ cucumber

100g bunch of seedless red grapes

large handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

202 calories per portion (if serving 4) 135 calories per portion (if serving 6)

Half fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Add the rice, stir well and bring it back to the boil, then cook for 10 minutes or until tender. If you prefer to use a wholegrain rice that isn’t the easy-cook kind, follow the packet instructions.

While the rice is cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Heat the oil in a small non-stick frying pan and fry the onion for 3–4 minutes until it’s starting to soften, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook together for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the water and cook for 2 minutes more or until the water has evaporated, stirring constantly. Take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice and zest, then stir well.

Put the pineapple on a board and cut off the leaves and skin. Cut it in half and then quarters lengthways and remove the tough central core. Cut the pineapple flesh into rough 2cm chunks – you should end up with about 200g of prepared pineapple. Cut the cucumber into 1.5cm cubes and halve the grapes. Put the pineapple and grapes in a large serving bowl.

Drain the cooked rice and rinse in a sieve under running water until cold. Drain again, tip it into the pan with onion and spices and stir well until the rice is coated in the spices. Stir into the bowl with the fruit, add the chopped coriander and mix thoroughly.

FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD WITH HARISSA DRESSING

We’ve come to love our salads and this is a particularly tasty one – just right with a piece of grilled fish. The danger with salads can be that you drench your lovely healthy veg in oil, which is high in calories, so we’re getting very clever with dressings. We’ve found ways of adding lots of flavour without too much oil, and this harissa dressing is one of our favourites.

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE AND 4 AS AN ACCOMPANIMENT

1 medium fennel bulb

2 large oranges

½ small red onion, cut into thin wedges

50g bag of rocket leaves

25g roasted salted almonds, roughly chopped

25g sultanas

Harissa dressing

1 tsp harissa paste (preferably rose harissa)

1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed

good pinch of ground coriander

1½ tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp runny honey

1 tbsp olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

253 calories per portion (if serving 2)124 calories per portion (if serving 4)

Trim the fennel and cut off any damaged parts. Place the fennel on its side and cut it into very thin slices from top to bottom. Put the fennel in a large serving bowl.

Cut a thin slice off the top of each orange so they sit flat. Stand each orange on a board and cut away the peel and pith with a sharp knife. Carefully cut between the segments and flip out the orange pieces into the same bowl as the fennel. Add the onion, then sprinkle the rocket, almonds and sultanas on top and toss everything together.

To make the dressing, put the harissa paste, garlic, coriander, vinegar, honey and a couple of twists of freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

Slowly add the oil, just a few drops at a time, stirring vigorously with a spoon or a fork between each addition. The dressing will thicken a little as you mix it. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss lightly together and serve immediately.

SI AND DAVE’S WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS

We all love a takeaway once in a while, but they can be real diet busters as they are often laden with fat, not to mention the rice, bread and so on.