Lunch

Smoked Salmon Lemon Alfredo

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I think it’s a bit obvious that I’m a fan of Shirataki noodles, but as so far I always do them Asian style, I wanted to see how well they’d hold up in something a little more ‘Western’.

This was a quick, comforting dinner and definitely one I’ll do again as it was amazing!

ingredients

  • 170 g Shirataki Noodles
  • 60 g Smoked Salmon (cut into strips)
  • 40 g Grated Parmesan
  • 100 ml Creme Fraiche
  • 1 medium Egg
  • 0.5 clove Garlic (minced)
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • Zest of 0.5 Lemon
  • Fresh lemon & Parsley to serve

Servings: 1

6 g carbs/serving *
35 g protein/serving *

* always remember to calculate based on your own values / ingredient brands where possible!

instructions

  1. Open your noodles, drain in a sieve and rinse well in cold water.
  2. Tip the rinsed noodles into a saucepan of salted water, bring to the boil for 2-3 minutes, drain and rinse again in cold water. Set to one side in the sieve.
  3. Beat the egg and mix together with the Parmesan.
  4. In the same saucepan you used for the noodles, fry the garlic in the butter.
  5. Add the noodles and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  6. Stir through the creme fraiche and egg mixture until well mixed. Continue to cook on a gentle heat for 3-4 minutes. The egg will thicken the sauce, but be careful not to use too high a heat or the egg will scramble!
  7. Stir the salmon and lemon zest through the pasta before turning into a serving bowl.
  8. Finish with a little lemon juice and some fresh parsley or chives.

Cheeseburger & Egg Salad

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This is another ‘recipe’ that really comes under the Meal Ideas category, because there’s just so many ways you can play with it to customise to your preferences/macros and whatever you have in the cupboard to chuck in with it.

I’d bought some lovely burgers from the supermarket, but as I’ve never really been a fan of having them served in a bun or similar, I thought I’d just add the components of a burger to a salad bowl. Again, another really simple idea that takes literally 10-15 minutes to prepare!

I chucked my burgers onto the George Foreman grill (of course you can fry, grill or BBQ yours) and whilst they were cooking, I layered up a bowl with lettuce, sauerkraut (in the absence of cucumber pickles), olives, mustard and sugar-free ketchup.

When the burgers were just about done, I broke them into bite-sized pices in an ovenproof dish, topped with cheddar and stuck under the grill until the cheese had melted, whilst also quickly frying an egg to go on top.

After sticking the burger, cheese and egg on top of the leaves, just finish with salt and pepper, and you’re done!

Simple Salmon and Scrambled Eggs

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I’m hesitant to put this down as a ‘recipe’, because I feel it’s more of a meal assembly, so I’ve created a new category of posts for ‘Meal Ideas’, which for my lifestyle, tend to be meals I can throw together relatively quickly and/or with minimal cooking of convenience ingredients.

Salmon and scrambled eggs comes under that category; there’s so many variations, combinations and permutations that you can come up with that one single set of instructions can’t cover it. Suffice to say that they are an awesome combination – scramble your eggs with a ton of butter, serve with a good helping of smoked salmon and whatever sides you want. Personally I love raw watercress and spinach but go with what you feel!

I’ve included a couple of examples in this post – the first is topped with sunflower seeds, capers, olive oil and lemon juice.

The second is with a quick sauce made from full-fat creme fraiche, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

Remember to weigh and track your ingredients to check the carb content, but overall this should be a pretty low count meal – mine will generally come in at around 5-6g.

Anything-Spiced Chicken

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I’ve called this Anything-Spiced Chicken because I use exactly the same process for a variety of flavoured chicken. It’s one of my very easy ‘go-to’ dishes when I can’t be bothered to think of something else and you can tweak the meal carb content by careful choice of side dishes. Marinate your chicken beforehand (if you remember) for the best taste, but it’s not essential if you forget or it’s a last-minute dinner choice!

I feel I should probably issue a word of warning about many main-brand, pre-made spice mixtures which contain a lot of sugar (I’m looking at you Schwartz), so do check your blends before using! At some point I’ll add a list of some of my favourite blends under the recipe, but as a few examples, Jerk seasoning, Chinese 5-spice, Lebanese 7-spice and Tandoori spice blends are  cupboard staples for me.

Jerk chicken with pineapple slaw/salad

ingredients

  • 4 Chicken Thighs (skin on) – approx 500g
  • 1 tsp of your preferred spice blend
  • 0.5 tsp Salt
  • 1tsp Oil

Servings: 2

0g carbs/serving *
51g protein/serving *

* always remember to calculate based on your own values / ingredient brands where possible!

instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix your spice blend and salt with the oil. Add the chicken thighs and turn until they are evenly coated. Either cover and set to one side until the oven is heated, or refrigerate until required.
  2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
  3. In a frying pan, cook the chicken skin-side down on medium heat until it is crispy and golden (about 5 mins). Turn and cook the other side for 3-4 mins until golden.
  4. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and roast in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.
  5. Remove for the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Remember to keep all the meat juices to pour over your meat and/or side dishes!
Lebanese 7-spice chicken with stir-fried veggies

Watercress, Spinach & Courgette Soup

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My mum makes a cracking watercress soup which is amazing to have hot in winter or cold in summer. I’ve switched out the usual potatoes for courgette to give it some bulk and drop the carb count. I love mine topped with soured cream, crumbled feta and sunflower seeds, but it’s worth experimenting (and equally nice just by itself). This recipe does 2 bowls’ worth, of which I eat one and freeze the second to have at a later date.

ingredients

  • 170g Watercress
  • 80g Spinach
  • 125g Courgette (chopped)
  • 50g White Onion (chopped)
  • 0.5 Garlic Clove (minced)
  • 1 Chicken Stock Cube
  • 15g Butter
  • 60ml Full Fat Creme Fraiche
  • 600ml Boiling Water

Servings: 2

8g carbs/serving *
5g protein/serving *

* always remember to calculate based on your own values / ingredient brands where possible!

instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently fry the garlic and onion until softened.
  2. Add the courgette and fry until tender.
  3. Add the watercress and spinach, water and chicken stock cube.
  4. Simmer until the leaves have wilted and remove from the heat.
  5. CAREFULLY blitz the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth and return to the saucepan.
  6. Stir through the creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add additional water if required to make up to your desired consistency.