Many people find themselves uninspired by the prospect of embarking on a weight-loss diet. Visions of endless limp salads, tiny portions, breadless, meatless, sugarless, tasteless unfamiliar green things, grainy things and I-don't-even-know-what-that-is-but-it's-healthy-apparently.
But eating to lose weight really doesn't have to be boring or leave you permanently hungry. It's just a case of learning which foods are satiating, and how to make your healthy food taste amazing. I guess many of our cultures have squeezed out the need for culinary knowledge, as everything is ready prepared and flavoured, and so when we try to abandon our existing eating habits for something healthier, we can find ourselves at a loss. We buy some iceberg lettuce and a packet of lentils and have no idea what to do with them, and the next day we're so hungry it's back to KFC. But the good news is we can lose weight and at the same time have satisfied stomachs and happy taste buds. Believe me, I have been overweight and unhappy myself, addicted to sugar and loving salad-cream with everything. The key is nutritionally-rich satiating foods, with plenty of variety and flavours.
This weight-loss salad I've prepared today is sweet-chilli veg & fruit medley, with apple and hemp seed wholewheat couscous, and peppery free-range egg. Couscous can be a little bland on its own, but with the apple and cumin the taste is sensational. Cumin is a lovely spice in couscous, and the nutty-crunchiness of the hemp seeds really brings it to life. The beauty of salads is they're so versatile you never need have the same salad twice. Although the fruits and vegetables in this salad have beautiful flavours themselves, I like to add another level of flavour, and so today chose sweet chilli. This is simply a sprinkle of chilli flakes, black pepper, and a drizzle of honey, which is way healthier than ready-made salad dressings, but equally tasty. Not only is it really important to have a good assortment of flavours in your salads, but they need to be filling as well, so it's a good idea to have some lean protein and complex carbs (such as grains and legumes) to accompany them. Yes, you can eat carbs and still lose weight, as long as you eat the good carbs! Eggs are wonderfully nutritional and satiating, low in calories, high in protein and boost metabolism. Hemp seeds too are extremely nutritional, as I've highlighted in a previous entry, and are another great satiating food.
As you can see it's no tiny portion on my plate there, but I kid you not when I say I was eating meals just like this and managed to lose 3 stone in 5 months last year. Of course this was in conjunction with plenty of exercise and determination, but I am proof you don't have to starve yourself or feel dismal about dinner! (For photos of 'before' and 'after' see my post here!)
What you will need:
2 medium free-range eggs
100g wholemeal couscous
100ml boiling water
1 apple
20g hemp seeds
1/2 tsp cumin
25g baby spinach
8 slices courgette
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Handful of blueberries
1/4 red pepper
1/4 green pepper
1/2 red onion
1/8 red cabbage
1 large carrot
2 large florets of broccoli
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Drizzle honey
1/2 tsp black pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon (about 1 tsp)
Method
Hard boil the eggs in a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Pour away the water and cool the eggs in cold water. Peel the shell off the eggs and pop into the fridge.
Peel, core and finely dice the apple. Saute in a pan with 1 tblsp water for about 5 minutes until the apple softens.
Add 100ml of boiling water to the pan, then add the couscous and hemp seeds. Remove from the heat and stir well. Pop the lid on the pan and leave for 5 minutes.
The couscous will have absorbed all the water and will be fairly dry and fluffy.
Stir in the cumin and black pepper and set aside to cool.
Wash all the vegetables and fruit, and prepare:
Finely shred the cabbage; chop the slices of courgette into quarters; cut the cherry tomatoes in half; finely chop the broccoli (including the stems); slice the onion and peppers; grate the carrot; finely chop the garlic. I always pat my spinach dry after washing as it's surprising how wet the salad can become if you don't!
Put the prepared vegetables and fruit into a large bowl. Add the lemon, chilli flakes, honey and black pepper, and toss the salad (I use a spoon and my hand) so the flavours are evenly distributed throughout.
Carefully slice the eggs, and then arrange everything nicely on a dinner plate. I like to sprinkle black pepper on my eggs (this is a good alternative to salt if you're trying to avoid it) as eggs really do taste better with a little seasoning.
You can also throw everything together in a lunch box to take to work (or wherever), as it doesn't matter if it gets mixed and messed up!
As usual, much gratitude to @englishtchrivy for hosting this challenge and giving us all a good reason to get creative!
Many thanks also to this week's judge @kevinwong, and to the sponsors @smooth and @sirwinchester, and not forgetting everyone else involved in this challenge. Thank you all very much for giving this housewife/mama something exciting to get stuck into each week!!!
For more healthy vegetarian, sugar-free, additive-free recipes for meals and snacks, please follow me! Thank you!
Logo kindly created for me by @papa-pepper