Spicy Celeriac & Black Onion Seed Fritter

So many women fall down - or taking a flying leap - off the healthy eating wagon in the evening. More often than not it's because you come home late from work or you're exhausted from looking after the kids and assume you haven't got time to cook. Solution? Fast food or a takeaway.
The truth is though if you're prepared to experiment with cooking you can always rustle something up in less than 30mins. And it tastes damn good by that time. This was my post yoga meal using leftovers in the frige (shoot me if I sound like Nigella - agh!)

Ingredients (makes five)
Celeriac, 2 inch thick grated
1 carrot, grated
Tin of chick peas, mashed
1/2 onion chopped thinly
1 tomato, diced
1/2 slice of rye bread, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
1 chilli finely chopped
1tsp of black onion seed
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley
Polenta/cornmeal for coating
Combine all the dry ingredients and then add the egg until it is moist enough to pick up and mould. gently mould into thin patties - it will be delicate so don't worry about this. Coat on a plate covered in cornmeal and then place in a hot - oil free - pan. It will crisp up lovely. Serve with salad
Admittedly, pic is not good!

Why no olive oil?

When most people start on the Fitbitch Stage One eating plan, they always ask why they can't cook or use oil in dressings. Or rather they don't ask, they just ignore it and carry on regardless.
That is totally up to you as Fitbitch Boot Camp is not about being prescriptive, making you feel guilty or ordering you to do something. You have to make your own conscious decisions about the way you eat and exercise. But it's worth being informed and many people don't realise just how calorific olive oil is - or how much we use.
Have you ever tested how much olive oil you pour into a pan? Try it. It's quite shocking as a small, innocent little slick in a pan when you pour it out can amount to around 2 desert spoons. And that's not to mention how much you glug over a salad.
Of course, nutritionally olive oil is fantastic but that doesn't mean it is good for your waistline if your aim is weight loss.
And now here's the sums...in two teaspoons there are around 84 calories. Have olive oil for breakfast with your eggs, for salad at lunch and to make your dinner and that's 252 calories right there.
Olive oil is delicious though and who would want to cut it out forever? It is worth eliminating it for at least four weeks and finding alternatives though and then you may find you don't need to use it as often.
Scan down the archives for the Fitbitch healthy dressing and sauce alternatives.

Cod with spicy celariac & carrot salad

Ingredients
cod fillet
Juice of 1 lime, 1/2 lemon
2inch piece of celeriac
1 carrot
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1 chilli
Nam pla fish sauce
Rice wine vinegar
tamari

Wrap the cod fillet in tin foil after squeezing with the lemon juice and seasoning with salt and pepper. As it is roasting in the oven start cooking the quinoa and add the broad beans in the last five minutes of cooking.
Meanwhile grate the carrot and celeriac. In a separate bowl make the dressing by finely chopping the chilli and garlic, then adding the fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and tamari. Finally add the lime juice. Taste and adjust accordingly.
Add the poppy seeds, dressing and mint and combine. Serve with the quinoa and fish when ready.

Add the poppy seeds to the salad and pour over the dressing.

Sweet potato & Spinach soup

Here at Fitbitch Boot Camp, we love a soup. They're delicious, low calorie and blimmin' filling! This is the perfect lunch time soup - or top with a poached egg for something more substantial.
Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
1 birds eye chili
bunch of broccoli
3 large tomatoes chopped and diced
big handful of baby spinach leaves
1 sweet potato, chopped
dsp fenugreek
2 dsp ground coriander
sea salt
pepper
Yoghurt to serve

Bung the garlic, chilli, broccoli and sweet potato in a pan, cover with water. Season with the spices and salt and pepper and leave to simmer. Once the potato has cooked through, add the spinach and stir in. (add water at any stage when it becomes too thick or looks as if it's going dry). The spinach will take seconds to cook through. Whizz with a handheld processor (make sure it's under the level of the soup!) Check for seasoning and serve with a spoonful of yoghurt. Delicious!
Sorry, no pic as it wouldn't upload!

Mussels in chilli tomato broth

Most people are petrified of cooking mussels themselves but they are so simple to do. And best of all, they're perfect food if you're on either Stage One or what I'll call the 'Fitbitch Relax' eating plan.
To prepare them do the following:
1. If any of the mussels are already open, give them a sharp flick of the a fingernail. If they don't close, throw them away.
2. Scrub the shells with a wire pan scrubber. Any hairy beard bits, grasp firmly and pull out. And that is it!
Now, on to the cooking...
Ingredients
Bowl full of mussels
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 hot chili, or to taste
handful of tomatoes, diced
Squeeze of lemon
Coriander, parsley, basil or any other fresh herb

Saute the chili, garlic and tomatoes on a low heat in lots of fresh lemon juice. Add some water to prevent it drying but just enough to cover. The tomatoes should begin to reduce down helping to form a thick, stewy broth. This should take around five - ten mins.
Next, tip in the mussels,(add a few tbsp of water - you don't want the sauce too thick) leave on a low heat with the pan lid on for three to five mins. Give the pan a rattle or stir around and they're ready to serve. Any mussels that haven't opened (or that you have to prise apart) don't eat. Top with chopped chives, coriander or whatever else you have.
The best thing about this is that a huge bowlful only contains around 150 calories and around 20gs of protein.
If you want to eat it with something, have it with quinoa if you're on the Stage One of the eating plan. If you are now maintaining you can use a tiny bit of linguine if you wish. Be careful though - I usually tell people to avoid pasta because most people habitually eat it with cheese, olive oil and red wine and the trick is to avoid anything that triggers these kinds of things!

The Eat as Much as You Like Soup!

When the cold, dark nights draw in, soup is the perfect thing to eat. And if you make it yourself, you can make delicious concoctions that are fat free. Don't ever be scared to experiment when you're making stuff either - for some cooking comes naturally, others not so much. But at the end of the day, you're not going to kill yourself by making a mistake with a veggie soup. It just might taste a bit bland. Here's a Butternut Squash and Chickpea soup.

Ingredients
2 Birds eye chillies
3 cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cumin
Turmeric
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
Bunch of celery
1/2 butternut squash
6 tomatoes, chopped

Chop everything up and chuck in a sauce pan. Cover with water, add the seasoning and simmer until the veggie's are soft but not completely mushy! Whizz in a food processor or with a hand blender. I like to leave mine a little bit chunky.
Then adjust the seasoning to taste and add the chickpeas and serve. This is so healthy, you can eat as much as you like!

Trout with horseradish dressing on Rye

This makes a fab tasty lunch or light dinner. Roast a whole trout in foil in the oven with the juice of one lemon and salt and pepper for seasoning. It should take around 20mins but you will know when it is ready as the skin should just peel away easily and the flesh will fall from the bones.
Take the fish off the the bones and mix in a bowl with a dressing made of 2 dsp of low fat yoghurt with 1tsp of horseradish, fresh lemon, salt and pepper and chopped spring onions or chives. Toast one thin slice of rye bread and layer with fresh spinach, tomatoes and the fish. Delicious!