Fast Diet recipes – Day 7

Breakfast: Poached eggs with chilli and soy (175 calories)

Lunch: Smoked salmon and dill cream cheese crispbreads (199 calories)

Dinner: Lamb and lentil koftas with tzatziki (196 calories)

= 570 calories

Although this wasn’t the most nutritionally balanced day, being rather higher in protein and with fewer vegetables than previous days, it was definitely the menu that kept away hunger the most impressively. It also incorporated enough treats that it didn’t actually feel like a fast day!

For breakfast we had the poached eggs with chilli and soy from day 3 – one of my favourite 5:2 diet recipes and my most popular pin on pinterest.

Smoked salmon and dill cream cheese crispbreads

This made a very luxurious fast day lunch, especially as I treated us to top quality smoked salmon from the River Test Smokery and proper sourdough crispbreads from Peter’s Yard.

Serves 2

199 calories per portion

60 g very low fat cream cheese (59 cal)

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (1 cal)

2 tsp lemon juice (3 cal)

4 x Artisan Swedish Crispbreads (136 cal)

100 g smoked salmon, sliced (198 cal)

• Mix the cream cheese with the dill and lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Spread the cream cheese over the crispbreads and arrange the smoked salmon on top.

Lamb and lentil koftas with chunky tzatziki

The kofta recipe from day 2 makes 6 portions, so I froze the rest ready for an occasion such as this. We had a busy evening working in the garden, but with the tzatziki made in the morning and the koftas defrosted and ready to go, dinner was ready in less than 10 minutes.

Serves 2

196 calories per serving

1 cucumber (32 cal)

100 ml fat-free natural yoghurt (54 cal)

1 garlic clove, crushed (8 cal)

2 tsp lemon juice (2 cal)

1 tbsp mint, chopped (1 cal)

1 tbsp dill, chopped (1 cal)

2 spring onions, finely chopped (8 cal)

4 lamb and lentil koftas (286 cal)

• Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Slice the flesh and put it in a sieve, then sprinkle with salt and leave to drip for 15 minutes.
• Mix the yoghurt with the garlic, lemon juice, mint, dill and spring onions. Blot the cucumber with kitchen paper, then fold it into the yoghurt dressing.
• Preheat the grill to its highest setting and season the koftas with salt and pepper.
• Grill the koftas for 6 – 8 minutes, turning regularly, until cooked through and golden brown.
• Serve 2 koftas per person with half of the tzatziki each.