Baked cod and chana masala

Another diet day and another low calorie meal, this time baked cod with chana masala (a chickpea curry type thing).

This is such an easy thing to make on a weeknight, only takes a maximum of half an hour to whip up and is under 350 calories.

The ingredients are as follows

• White fish fillets
• A small onion - chopped
• A garlic clove About a thumbs worth of finely chopped ginger
• A tin of chickpeas
• A tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 green chilli - chopped
• Chopped coriander 

To make it...

1. Fry the ginger, onion and garlic for a couple of minutes
2. Add the spices and chilli and fry for another minute
3. Drain the chickpeas and add them along with the tomatoes
4. Simmer for 15 mins
5. Meanwhile you can either fry or bake the fish - I baked it so it was healthier.
6. Place fish into foil parcel and season with salt, pepper, garam masala and chilli
7. Bake for 10-15 mins
8. Serve chana masala on plate with fish on top and chopped coriander leaves scattered over it.

Delicious with a naan too. 

Healthy fish, chips and mushy peas

I am such a January cliché this year and have decided to do the 5:2.

This therefore means that twice a week I can only have 500 calories a day and have been searching for low calorie dinners that I can jazz up a little bit for my boyf without too much hassle.

As one of my New Year's resolutions was to start my diet and also to start updating my blog more regularly I thought I could tie the two in together nicely and update you all on healthy treats I've been having.

White fish has been a great thing on this diet as it is so low in calories, yet filling, tasty and very versatile.

So I decided to make a healthy fish, chips and mushy peas complete with homemade tartar sauce (although my healthy under 300 calorie version did not include any sauce and instead of being bread crumbed my fish was baked in foil with capers).

To start I pre-heated the oven to around 180 degrees. Peeled and chopped a butternut squash into chip shaped pieces and places in a baking tray with a few squirts of a 1 calorie spray, salt, pepper and smoked paprika and placed in the oven for around 40 mins.

Twenty mins into the cooking time I took the fish (river cobbler) and patted it dry with some kitchen roll before seasoning it on both sides. I prepared three plates, one with plain flour, the second with a beaten egg and the final with breadcrumbs lemon zest and chopped parsley. I coated the fish in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs before placing it in the oven for about 20 mins, turning once during cooking.

While these were both cooking I boiled some frozen peas for five minutes and then mashed them with several teaspoons of natural low fat yoghurt and lemon juice until they had the consistency of mushy peas.

To finish I created a tartar sauce using a tablespoon of mayo, a tablespoon on yoghurt, a chopped gherkin, a spoon of capers and a squeeze of lemon juice.

A thoroughly tasty and pretty healthy substitute for a greasy chippy.