Fast night chicken satays, and a duck and sweet potato hash

So as mentioned, I’m at the stage of some clothes not starting to fit properly so last weekend was probably not the best time to go shopping for a dress for a wedding which is at the end of May. 

I don’t really like clothes shopping at the best of times to be honest, I normally stir myself about once a year on a dedicated excursion to buy work clothes, top up underwear supplies, tops and shorts/jeans a bit before I go on holiday and fall in love with various items when I’m not meant to be clothes shopping at all. This method (together with the fact I don’t consider tidy cupboards a necessity, but have a cleaner who gets frustrated with this and reorganises my wardrobe a couple of times a year) provides me with a wardrobe bursting at the seams whilst simultaneously giving me ‘nothing to wear’; though I suspect I have loads to wear but I just can’t find it.

Whilst I make an exception for weddings and special occasions and go out to buy ‘an outfit’ it’s not something I madly look forward to, so I was delighted when I found not one but two dresses in Ted Baker (aka the-first-shop-I-tried). Of course the issue is that I can’t decide between the dresses, I love them both but definitely don’t need two, especially not at Mr. Baker’s prices. The other issue is that with both of them the fit of the size two isn’t quite right but I tried a size one (for another style which I didn’t eventually like) and that wasn’t quite right either. So I’m going to have to wait, probably until about the end of April, to see if I’ve either lost enough weight to fit comfortably in the size one (I feel that my Ted Baker size zero days are firmly behind me!) or to commit to buying the size two and having alterations made. I am, of course, terrified that the dresses I like will no longer be in the shops by then.

All this pales into insignificance when compared with the dress for the other wedding, my sister-in-law’s wedding – the bridesmaid’s dress. Being measured for this over the Christmas break and realising that I needed a US size 10 (a UK 14!) by the David’s bridal sizing chart is what made me cast around for a weight loss solution and settle, at my father in law’s recommendation, on the fast diet. 

I should mention that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a size 14. My problem was that I was a 14 on the sole basis of my waist (at 80 cm), my bust and hips were both smaller sizes. Recent research seems to be showing that gaining weight around your middle is an indicator of potential health consequences (as well as making you look rubbish in skinny jeans). Crucially my waist to height ratio (thought more accurate than BMI by some doctors) was 0.5 (80/160), the very upper limit of what can be considered healthy. I was a text book example of what I’ve seen referred to as skinny fat.

 

I have been on the fast diet for two months now and my waist is 76 cm, bringing my waist to height ratio down to 0.475 which is much better (though I’m never sure if I’m measuring accurately). The dress that started it all arrived earlier this week, courtesy of my mother in law, and I tried it on. Bearing in mind that I already knew the top would be massive as I’ve never had a size 14 bust, the waist was also pleasingly loose and I’ve made a note in my diary to get it tailored at the start of May – thank God the dressmakers in Dubai are good!

All this is a long way round of saying that the 5:2 diet is working for me. I’m enjoying the weight loss, and, according to the numbers am improving my health, but I’m also enjoying not having to be careful every day. Here are my ‘let’s-lose-more-weight’ and ‘look-at-me-I-don’t-care’ recipes for the week: chicken satays with Thai-style salad and duck and sweet potato hash.

Duck and sweet potato hash

(serves 4, 454 calories per serving)

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 confit duck legs
• 100ml sherry
• 4 eggs
• Ketchup (and champagne!) to serve

1. Preheat the oven
2. Peel and dice the sweet potato into 1cm cubes
3. Toss the dices sweet potato in a baking tray with 2tbsp of the coconut oil
4. Roast for an hour, stirring and turning half way through*
5. Dice the onion
6. Remove the skin from the duck legs and shred the duck meat
7. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large frying or sauté pan, add the onion and cook until softened
8. Add the roast sweet potato cubes, the duck meant and the sherry, stir to combine
9. Press the mixture down so it evenly coves the bottom of the pan and break an egg into each quarter of the pan (if you’re cooking for two or three and storing the leftovers to have at a later date, then only put eggs on the portions you’re eating now)
10. Cover, and cook for seven minutes or until the egg white is cooked, but the yolk is still yellow and, preferably, runny
11. Serve with ketchup and a glass of champagne (not really, but we were celebrating my husband’s new job!)

* I often do stage 1-4 in advance, for example over the weekend which then makes this a quick weeknight supper

Chicken satays with a Thai-style salad (Satay’s recipe found here, quantities adjusted)

(Serves 3, 388 calories per serving)

 Chicken satay

• 1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. garlic powder, or more to taste
• 300 g chicken breast
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (light)
• 6 to 9 bamboo skewers

Peanut sauce

• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. red curry paste
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (light)
• 2 Tbsp. chunky peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. sugar, or more to taste

Salad

• 100g carrots
• 80g mango
• 1 cucumber (or less)
• 1tsp sesame oil
• 1tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Fresh lime

Chicken satay

1. Slice chicken breast into thin strips.
2. Add curry powder, pepper, salt, and sugar and garlic powder and coconut milk and sliced chicken to medium bowl or a Ziploc bag and shake/stir to coat chicken in marinade. Marinate for 4 hours (up to overnight).
3. Thread chicken onto skewers.
4. Grill chicken on a barbeque or in a George Foreman type press grill until cooked through.

Peanut sauce

1. Heat oil in small saucepan and stir-fry curry paste for 15-30 seconds
2. Stir in coconut milk and bring to boil, boil for two minutes.
3. Add peanut butter, stir constantly until the sauce begins to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer, and add fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Cook sauce, stirring for 1 minute.*

Salad

1. Mandolin the carrot, cucumber and mango into thin strips and toss to combine.
2. Mix the oil, vinegar and fish sauce together to make the dressing.
3. Toss the salad in the dressing and serve with a squeeze of lime juice.

* These are the instructions, but yesterday (because I wasn’t paying attention!) I mixed all the ingredients and cooked (stirring to break up the curry paste and peanut butter) until it thickened and it tasted okay, it’s a definite option if you’re feeling lazy, but following the instructions does make the marginally better sauce!