| Mikey, have you read the montignac method? It didn't work for me as I wasn't in the right frame of mind, its quite (I think wrongly) critical of low calorie diets and if you're looking for one, that can be a great excuse to overeat. But in terms of glycemia its got a lot of science and glycemic index and stuff is explained very clearly, so I'm tempted to think that carbs are explained very scientifically too (though I can't remember).
Anyway I thought I'd contribute a couple of balanced recipes in case they'd help.
The first I adapted from an observer food monthly recipe. I substituted the Lamb for a small grilled chicken breast, and used just a tblsp of oil which seemed to be fine. Obviously its the seeds and bulghar make it so great, but the sauce is just AMAZING. Gorgeous!
Supper for 2
1 lamb chump, just under half a kilo
a few stray fresh chillies, if you have them around, for grilling
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
50g bulgar
2 carrots, peeled, grated on the big holes
a couple of big handfuls of flat leaf parsley, mint or coriander in any combination, roughly chopped
small handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted
small handful of flaked almonds, toasted
small handful of sultanas, plumped in a little boiling water
juice of an orange
salt and pepper
For the sauce:
1 tbs harissa
juice of ½ lemon
1/2 clove of garlic, finely mashed
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper
Heat your griddle to get properly hot. Meanwhile, in a pan, gently heat half the olive oil, then stir in the bulgar and roll and coat. Pour on 100ml or so of hot water, season, cover and simmer for five minutes with a lid, then turn the heat off and leave to sit for 10 minutes for the grain to absorb all the liquid.
Meanwhile, season the lamb well, then lay fat-side down on the heat. Ideally you'll have a metal bowl or failing that some foil to closely cover it with. After five minutes turn it over onto a new side, and keep turning it every five minutes so that all sides get a good grilling for about 20-25 minutes in total. If you have any spare chillies then chuck a couple of these on to grill, too, for any fire-eaters that happen to be passing.
In a bowl mix together the carrot, herbs, seeds, nuts, sultanas and bulgar. Douse with orange juice and a splash of olive oil, then add some salt and stir well.
Leave the salad to sit for a minute, and as the lamb finishes cooking/resting (it'll need a good few minutes once it's had its time) knock up the kicker sauce to finish it off. Just whisk all the ingredients in that section together lightly with the last of the olive oil.
There's enough meat there for two, backed up by a salad that's very easy munching and finished off with a good bit of Berber fire.
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Chickpea curry is also an old favourite and gives good protein for veggies. Lots of peppers (green and red give lots of colour) and some onions fried in spray (though I often add a spoon of oil if I've had no fat the rest of the day), tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, ground cumin coriander chilli powder and turmeric, bubble away cook out the spices warm through the chickpeas. Fresh coriander through at the end is nice too. Because of the chickpeas I can eat it with no rice, steaming hot in a bowl, but with a bit of brown rice thats not much worse.
Good luck! I really hope its works out, the proof is in the pudding but I think it's good that you're putting efforts to making plans just in case you make mistakes in the future and I think its great that you're looking at making those plans healthy and balanced.
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First Week - 8lb! Second Week - 5lb |