Weight Loss Box Set: More Than 70 Delicious Cookie and Fast Making Recipes for Weight Loss + Good Gut Diet for Improving Your Health (5 2 Diet, Slow Cooker Meals, Slow Cooker Recipes) (3 page)

10. Celeriac, Apple and Walnut Salad

Celeriac is a really undervalued vegetable in a lot of cooking. It has a really strong flavor and can make a refreshing alternative to a lot of other salad options. This salad is very refreshing and would make a great side dish for a pot luck, barbecue or picnic. You do need to be careful once you have prepared celeriac as it can brown rather quickly but it is still good to eat.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 celeriac
  
• 1 medium apple
  
• 1 handful walnuts (chopped)
  
• 3 tbs. low-fat Greek yoghurt
  
• Splash of lemon juice
  
• 1 stick of celery (stalk chopped and leaves discarded)
  
• Sprinkle of salt
  

Method:

• Prepare the celeriac by cutting away the rough brown outer skin. Then use either a big grater or a mandolin to get long strips of celeriac.
  
• Combine all the ingredients, making sure the yoghurt is evenly spread.
  
• Serve.
  

•                
  Chapter 3 - Main Meals
  

11. Vegetable French Fries

French fries are the ultimate side dish for just about everything or even as a treat on their own. Potatoes themselves are quite high in calories and when deep fried in oil they become nightmarish and delicious. This recipe is not so much for French fries as baked root vegetables but they'll still work the same on a plate. The real magic comes from playing around with different flavor combinations such as rosemary and rock salt. Remember not to give yourself too many

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots
  
• 2 large turnips
  
• 1 large potato
  
• Low-fat cooking spray
  
• Salt
  

Method:

• Wash, peel and cut your vegetables into French fry size chips (using a knife or French fry cutter if you have one).
  
• B. Place the vegetables in a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil for 10 minutes and then drain.
  
• C. Spray a large oven tray with cooking spray and lay the fries out and spray with a little bit of cooking spray. Place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees and cook until they are browning.
  
• D. Season and serve.
  

12. Cauliflower Pizza Base

Pizza is another favorite that can be done much healthier than it usually is by simply replacing the traditional flour base with one made with cauliflower. You can use whichever topping you like but try to avoid too much cheese or fatty meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 cauliflower
  
• 3.5 oz ground almonds
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
  

Method:

• Prepare the cauliflower by removing the end of the stalk and any leaves then blitz the cauliflower in batches until it is fine like rice.
  
• Microwave the cauliflower in a bowl on high for 5-6 minutes and then leave to cool.
  
• Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the cauliflower with paper towels
  
• Beats the eggs and stir the other ingredients into the mixture.
  
• E. Spread the mixture onto a greased baking tray so that it takes the shape of a pizza with a mound for the crust.
  
• F. Place tray into an oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.
  

13. Fried Chicken

We've got healthy pizza and fries so why not take on the biggest fast food junk food there is? The problem with fried chicken is that it takes one of the healthiest and best sources of protein then coats it in flour and then fries it - a lot. This recipe, much like the French fries, is not actually fried but you won't care once you've tried it.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 skinless chicken thighs or 1 chicken breast
  
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
  
• 1 tsp black pepper
  
• 1 cup egg whites
  
• 2 cups plain corn flakes (crushed in a Ziploc bag)
  
• Salt
  

Method:

• In a bowl or Ziploc bag but the chicken garlic, salt and pepper.
  
• Putt egg whites into a bowl and coat chicken in it.
  
• Put chicken in Ziploc bag with cornflakes and evenly coat.
  
• Place the chicken on a greased oven tray into an oven preheated to 350 degrees then bake it for 40 minutes or well browned.
  

14. Pepper and Chicken Fajita Stir-Fry

Stir-fry is always a good option and it is always filling and tasty. This is a recipe that can be used in many different ways but is best enjoyed with some rice or a low-fat tortilla.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. lime juice
  
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
  
• 1 tbsp. reduced salt soy sauce
  
• 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
  
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  
• 1 pound boneless chicken breast (chopped)
  
• 2 large peppers (sliced)
  
• 1 large onion (sliced)
  
• Salt
  

Method:

• Combine the lime, spices, herbs and soy sauce then marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes.
  
• Place a large pan over a medium heat and pour in some low-fat cooking oil or spray. Cook the onion for a few minutes until softened and then add the chicken, pepper and garlic (reserve some marinade).
  
• Once the chicken has browned add the rest of the marinade and cook until the sauce has thickened. Serve with a side.
  

15. Salmon Burger

Fish is kind to those looking lose weight and become healthy. It's delicious and filled with so many nutrients. Burgers don't need to be served with bread all of the time and sometimes they are even better without. This burger is best enjoyed with some rice and one of the earlier salads.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 Boneless, skinless salmon fillets
  
• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
  
• Pinch of dried ginger
  
• 1 tsp say sauce
  
• Small bunch of fresh cilantro
  

Method:

• Blitz the salmon, curry paste, ginger, cilantro and soy sauce together. Shape into 4 burger sized patties.
  

• Fry the burgers in an oiled pan over a medium heat for 4 minutes on either side.
  

•                
  Chapter 4 - Desserts and Snacks
  

16. Banana Ice Cream

This is a really fantastic recipe that makes a healthy ice cream. A mind-bending concept and what's more mind-bending is that it tastes fantastic. You might be worried from the sound of the recipe that you could end up with cold baby food but the resulting ingredients are more like a banana flavored soft serve ice cream.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 3 large bananas (cut up into half an inch medallions)
  

Method:

• Place the slices of banana in a container in the freeze and leave until they are solidly frozen (they must be frozen in slices not pre-blended).
  
• Blend the frozen slices until they are creamy and thick but not until they heat up and become runny
  
• Serve straight away or place in freezer for later.
  

17. Apple Chips

Snacking is a habit that is hard to break and if we try too hard to stop it we might eat more at dinner or end up losing concentration during the day. There is no need to stop though if you can replace those snacks with something light and healthy. This recipe takes advantage of an apples natural sweetness and adds a little cinnamon for good measure.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 large apples of your choice
  
• Cinnamon
  

Method:

• Core the apple and slice it across the belly into very thin slices (as small as you can get with a knife)
  
• Sprinkle with cinnamon and place in an oven preheated to 300 degrees on baking paper.
  
• Bake for 1 hour and make sure to turn the apple chips over halfway through. Make sure they are dried out then cool and enjoy.
  

18. Chili Popcorn

Popcorn has been painted with a bad brush by cinemas and supermarkets. When air popped your popcorn is very light in calories and can still be delicious without any of the fat. You can try lots of different things once you are able to make healthy popcorn with different combinations of salt, spices or sweeteners. This particular recipe is tangy and zesty and great for a film night in.

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz. popcorn kernels
  
• 1 tsp. chili flakes
  
• 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
  
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  

Method:

• Air pop the popcorn with a machine or in a special pouch in the oven or microwave.
  
• Mix together the spices and then place the finished popcorn onto a baking tray and cover with the spices. Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
  
• Eat warm or cool it and place in a container and save it for a few days.
  

19. Desert Smoothie

A smoothie makes a good alternative to a regular desert without tricking your body. This smoothie is very tasty without being too sweet and thick enough that you can enjoy it with a spoon and savor it for longer.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. nonfat yogurt
  
• 1 banana
  
• 1/2 cup orange juice
  
• 6 frozen strawberries
  

Method:

A. Simply blend the ingredients and make sure not to leave any of it on the sides of the blender. Enjoy immediately.

20. Lemon and Cilantro Humus

Humus is a really fantastic and healthy snack as well as being fast and easy to make. This recipes is much better than anything you can purchase at the store and it can be used as a dip for celery, carrots or put inside a wrap or eaten with some brown bread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas
  
• 2 large garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
  
• 3 tbsp. Greek yogurt
  
• 3 tbsp tahini paste
  
• 3 tbsp olive oil
  
• Zest and juice 2 lemons
  
• A good handful of cilantro
  

Method:

• Blitz all of the ingredients until it makes a smooth mixture.
  
• Season and add cilantro. Serve or place in a container for a few days.
  

Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed making these recipes and that they may have inspired you to look at your food differently and allowed you to re-evaluate what goes into some of your favorite dishes and see new ways of making them. If you take these recipes and use them wisely along with, as well as cooking other healthy standards, and keep the portion sizes to what they should be then you should find losing weight not to be too difficult and hopefully an enhancing experience. By experiencing new flavors and meals you can start seeing a diet as the freedom to try out a entire new range of foods rather than a constriction on what you can eat.

Slow Cooker Meals

22 Fast, Easy to Make, and Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes