Fast Diet recipes – Day 4
Breakfast: Rhubarb breakfast pots (187 calories)
Lunch: Flageolet hummus (176 calories)
Dinner: Broccoli and cauliflower with chilli and anchovy (140 calories)
= 503 calories
I was a little worried about day 4 as it was the first fast day to coincide with a food styling shoot, but I actually felt less hunger pangs than I would have done on a normal day. Considering it’s the first fast day that I’ve managed to get the calories right down to the recommended ladies’ amount, I think that’s pretty good going!
For breakfast we went back to the lovely rhubarb breakfast pots – porridge just feels all wrong on such a sunny day, plus I had an early start and this is my quickest 5:2 breakfast recipe.
Flageolet hummus
At 76 calories per 100 g, flageolet are less calorific than chickpeas (82 cal), butterbeans (85 cal) or cannellini beans (89 cal), making them a useful substitute in fast-day hummus. This is a handy packed lunch recipe and won’t suffer at all from being made the day before.
Serves 2
176 calories per portion
400 g tin flageolet beans, rinsed & drained (204 cal)
2 tsp tahini paste (57 cal)
1 garlic clove, crushed (8 cal)
a pinch of ground cumin
1 lemon, juiced (12 cal)
To serve:
140 g / 3 sticks celery, cut into batons (20 cal)
150 g /1 medium carrot, cut into batons (42 cal)
75 g / ¼ cucumber, cut into batons (8 cal)
- Put the beans, tahini, garlic, cumin and half of the lemon juice in a food processor with a pinch of salt and pepper and blend until smooth, adding a little water if necessary.
- Taste the hummus for seasoning, adding more lemon juice, salt or pepper until you get the perfect balance.
- Divide the hummus between 2 bowls and serve with the celery, carrot and cucumber batons.
Broccoli and Cauliflower with chilli and anchovy
This is a lovely side dish on a feast day, but on a fast day it takes centre stage. The combination of anchovy, chilli and garlic is completely addictive and I love the crunchy texture of calabrese cooked in this way.
Serves 2
140 calories per portion
225 g (1 trimmed head) broccoli florets (70 cal)
165 g (1/2 a trimmed head) cauliflower florets (51 cal)
1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
6 salted anchovy fillets in oil, drained (20 cal)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (16 cal)
1 red chilli, finely chopped (4 cal)
- Preheat the oven to 190c / gas 5.
- Dry roast the broccoli and cauliflower for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the anchovy, garlic and chilli for a minute or two.
- Spoon the mixture over the broccoli and cauliflower pieces and season with black pepper, then return the tin to the oven for 4 more minutes.