Fast Diet recipes – Day 11

Breakfast: Gooseberry breakfast pots (196 calories)

Lunch: Broad bean, pea and parmesan salad (200 calories)

Dinner: Szechuan pork in lettuce wraps (182 calories)

= 578 calories

Fasting on a Friday can make you feel a bit hard-done-by, so it’s all the more important to make sure you get maximum flavour out of each calorie.

Gooseberry Breakfast Pots

The latest breakfast pot to come into season is one of my all-time favourites: gooseberries. These were from our first picking, thinning out the fruit to allow the others to fatten, so they were still a tiny bit under-ripe. As the season goes on, the sugar-to-gooseberry ratio below should result in a less challengingly sharp compote!

196 calories per portion

For the gooseberry compote (makes 6 portions)

750 g gooseberries, trimmed (330 cal)

2 tbsp caster sugar (120 cal)

1 tbsp elderflower cordial (42 cal)

To make each portion:

125 g gooseberry compote (82 cal)

85 g fat-free natural yoghurt (46 cal)

15 g granola (68 cal)

• Make the gooseberry compote in advance.
• Put the gooseberries in a saucepan with the sugar, cordial and a splash of water.
• Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat for 8 minutes or until the gooseberries start to burst and soften.
• Leave to cool completely then store in a jar in the fridge until ready to use.
• Spoon 125 g of the compote into a small bowl and top with an 85 g layer of yoghurt.
• Sprinkle with granola before serving.

Broad bean, pea and Old Winchester salad

This was one of Justin’s suggestions. Broad beans and peas are in the height of their season right now, but they are also supplies that we keep in the freezer all year round, making this a super quick and super convenient lunch recipe. I love using Lyburn Cheese’s Old Winchester, but if you’re not able to find a supplier near you, Parmesan will do.

Serves 1

200 calories per serving

100 g baby broad beans (72 cal)

100 g peas (64 cal)

5 g Old Winchester cheese, shaved (19 cal*)

1 tsp garden mint, chopped (< 1 cal)

1 tbsp basil, chopped (< 1 cal)

20 g rocket (5 cal)

1 tsp sherry vinegar (< 1 cal)

1 tsp olive oil (40 cal)

* calories based on same weight of Parmesan

• Cook the beans and peas in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes, then drain well and plunge into cold water.
• When they’re cold, drain them through a sieve, then toss with the rest of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Szechuan pork in lettuce wraps

This is one of those recipes that I would happily cook on a non-fast day or even incorporate into a dinner party. The mushrooms are a great way of bulking out the more calorific pork and give the dish a more tender texture than just mince alone. I must apologise for the quality of the photo – by the time we’d finished at the allotment it was pretty late and the light was fading fast.

Serves 2

182 calories per serving

200 g lean pork mince (256 cal)

200 g mushrooms, finely chopped (44 cal)

2 garlic cloves, crushed (16 cal)

1 tsp root ginger, finely grated (2 cal)

1 red chilli, finely chopped (4 cal)

½ tsp Szechuan pepper corns, crushed (< 1 cal)

1 tsp garden mint, finely chopped (< 1 cal)

2 tsp oyster sauce (5 cal)

2 tsp soy sauce (8 cal)

2 little gem lettuces (24 cal)

• Fry the mince and mushrooms together in a hot pan for 10 minutes or until the liquid that comes out of the mushrooms has almost all evaporated.
• Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, pepper and mint to the pan and fry for 2 more minutes, then add the soy sauce and cook until any liquid has reduced to a thick glaze.
• Separate the lettuces into individual leaves and arrange on 2 plates. Divide the pork mixture between 2 bowls and serve with the little gems.
• To eat, spoon some of the spicy pork mixture into a lettuce leaf cup, then fold up the edges and eat with your hands.