Breakfast: Strawberry breakfast pots (170 calories)
Lunch: Spiced parsnip soup (151 calories)
Dinner: Garlic and herb roasted tomatoes (178 calories)
= 499 calories
For a man’s 600 calorie day, add:
Snack: 12 g (about 27) wasabi peas (48 calories)
Dessert: Strawberry, ginger and lime sorbet (50 calories)
Well, despite the absence of posts and a busy week of wine-tasting, parties and restaurant trips, we did manage to sneak 1 fast day into our week in France, opting for the poached eggs with chilli and soy for breakfast; tomato, butterbean and parsley salad for lunch and the Asian omelette rolls for dinner.
We’re back on the wagon this week and to make the fasting a little easier, we arrived back to a bumper crop of strawberries at the allotment. The parsnip soup may look a little out of place in mid-summer, but we also came back to a temperature of 14c and grey skies so it seemed quite fitting!
Strawberry Breakfast Pots
I do love these yoghurt breakfast pots in the morning and you can’t beat the strawberry version for speed. I’ve used Total 0% fat Greek yoghurt here as the texture is so much more luxurious than regular fat-free natural yoghurt.
170 calories per portion
Serves 1
100 g strawberries, hulled (33 cal)
1 tsp runny honey (21 cal)
85 g Total 0% fat Greek yoghurt (48 cal)
15 g Rude Health granola (68 cal)
- Slice the strawberries and transfer to a bowl or tumbler.
- Stir the honey into the yoghurt and spoon it over the strawberries, then sprinkle over the granola.
Spiced parsnip soup
I like to balance the sweetness of parsnips with more savoury spices. The combination of cumin, coriander and smoked paprika give a Middle Eastern edge to a soup that might otherwise seem quite wintery.
151 calories per serving (approx. 300 ml)
Serves 4
465 g parsnips, peeled and chopped (339 cal)
500 ml Waitrose fresh chicken or vegetable stock (255 cal)
1 garlic clove, crushed (8 cal)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped (2 cal)
- Boil the parsnips in salted water for 25 minutes or until tender to the point of a knife.
- Drain well, then transfer to a food processor with the stock and garlic and blend until smooth, adding water until you reach your preferred consistency (I added about 300ml).
- Dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant, then process to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
- Stir the spice mixture and smoked paprika into the soup, then transfer it back into the saucepan and simmer for a few minutes to cook out the garlic.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the coriander leaves just before serving.
Garlic and herb roasted tomatoes
We made the full-fat, olive oil slicked version of this dish while we were in France which is amazing with loads of crusty baguette to mop up the juices. This more restrained incarnation is still packed full of flavour and the savoury juices make a great dressing for a big filling portion of fresh rocket leaves.
178 calories per serving
Serves 1
520 g (8 – 10 medium) tomatoes (94 cal)
1 garlic clove, crushed (8 cal)
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (1 cal)
½ tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped (1 cal)
½ tbsp rosemary, finely chopped (1 cal)
5 g dry breadcrumbs (20 cal)
1 tsp olive oil (40 cal)
50 g rocket (13 cal)
- Preheat the oven to 200 c / gas 4.
- Cut a shallow cone out of the top of each tomato and arrange them cut-side-up in a roasting tin.
- Mix the garlic with the herbs and pack it onto the cut side of the tomatoes, then season well with salt and pepper.
- Scatter over the breadcrumbs and drip over the olive oil, then transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until the tops are golden and the tomatoes have started to wrinkle and collapse.
- Serve hot or leave to cool to room temperature.
Strawberry, lime and ginger sorbet
This is probably the most intensely flavoured strawberry sorbet you will ever taste! Most recipes water down the strawberry flavour with sugar syrup, but when English strawberries are in season and perfectly ripe, they don’t need any help.
Serves 6
50 calories per portion
500 g strawberries, hulled (165 cal)
2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped (92 cal)
2 limes, juiced (40 cal)
- Put the strawberries, ginger and lime juice in a food processor and process to a very smooth puree.
- Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Alternatively, freeze the mixture in ice cube trays (mine filled 2 ½ trays), then transfer the cubes to a food processor and process to a smooth sorbet, scraping down the sides when necessary.
- Each portion is 2 scoops or just under 100 g.
