I’m just about at the stage of enjoying fast days now – I look forward to them the day before, I have fun planning interesting menus, and I know enough strategies to help me cope with the hunger pangs. These are rare now – the odd rumbly tum, but it soon passes.
I’m having a “clear out the cupboards” kind of month, and some of the items I found lurking at the back of the freezer and fridge were a tin of light coconut milk, and half a bag of frozen scallops. I also had some scallions, some zero/ miracle noodles, asparagus, mushrooms, and a jar of tom-yum paste.
Rinse the noodles well.
Dry fry them in a frying pan. Move them to one side of the pan and add 3 sliced mushrooms, a few asparagus spears chopped into pieces, and 2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal. (50 cals for the veg) Squeeze half a lime over them and cook for a few minutes until the veg are soft. Add half a pack of defrosted scallops (80 cals)to another part of the pan, and sear them on all sides for a couple of minutes.
Bring everything together and add 100 ml (about 1/4 can) of light coconut milk (70 cals), and a good blob of tom-yum paste (50 cals). Stir well until everything is coated in the sauce, and serve in bowls with a sprinkle of sesame seeds (15 cals)
Should be around 280 cals for one very generous portion, done quickly in one pan. I’d definitely try this again – I forgot I had some lemongrass in a jar, which would have gone really well with those Thai inspired flavours.
On Thursday, my husband was cooking, and he made the little vegetable rissotto kieves from Sainsburys. I experimented with baking aubergine slices without any oil. I sliced them into thick rounds, and laid them on a piece of kitchen roll. I rubbed some smoked paprika and some sea salt into each slice, and then arranged them on a baking sheet, lined with tinfoil. I cooked them at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes, turning the slices half way through cooking.
Aubergine is 26 calories for 100g, and a whole aubergine is around 300g. So say 75 cals for 7 or 8 good slices, which would do 2 as an accompaniement, or one hungry person on a Fast Day!
I’ll be experimenting with these further too, very simple, the spongy flesh absorbs the spices, so it’ll be fun trying different flavour combinations.
Filed under: Food, recipes | Tagged: 5:2 fast. diet, frozen scallops |
Dancing At Lunacy 
That scallop one sounds excellent…
I’m trying to overcome my aversion to Thai food. There’s something that’s often used in it which to my palette tastes a bit soapy. I’m trying to find out by elimination what it is…
Could be lemon-grass – my husband finds the taste of it very off-putting.
Very nicely photographed. I will look for those vegetable risotto kievs in Sainsburys.