Thai Salmon Patties with Pickled Vegetable Ribbons <250kcal

Thai Salmon Patties with Pickled Vegetable RibbonsI was reminded of these when a member of the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet group on Facebook asked for a fishcake recipe that didn’t require the use of breadcrumbs or mashed potato. I can’t wait for our next 5:2 fast day to do them again! Pickled vegetables are quite a thing now, turning up regularly on Masterchef as an accompaniment. It’s a great way of adding some zingy flavour without a lot of calories.

Thai Salmon Patties with Pickled Vegetable Ribbons

I had always thought that fish cakes needed potato or something to hold them together, but not so, these work beautifully. I like to make them small so that they cook quickly and the centre stays moist and pink. 

I’ve usually done the fish patties with salmon, but they would work equally well with any firm white fish or tuna or swordfish.

As an alternative to rice wine vinegar, try apple cider vinegar. I use maple syrup as it mixes in easily, but you could use coconut sugar or raw brown sugar instead. A little sweetness adds to the complexity of flavours.

Cucumber and carrots are obvious candidates for pickle, but you could use courgettes, beetroot, cauliflower or fennel as alternatives and slices of red onion instead of spring onion.

Serves 2

  • 250g salmon fillets 244 kcals
  • 2 tsp grated root ginger 4 kcals
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaf
  • 1 tsp Thai red curry paste 10 kcals
  • 1 tbsp Tamari soy sauce 16 kcals
  • 1 tsp maple syrup 12 kcals
  • 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 6 kcals
  • 1 carrot 26 kcals
  • 1/2 cucumber 18 kcals
  • 2 spring onions 10 kcals
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil 120 kcals

Put the salmon, ginger, coriander, Thai curry paste and Tamari into a food processor and whizz until the fish is minced. With damp hands, form into 6 patties. Keep them cool while you prepare the vegetables.

Mix the vinegar and maple syrup in a bowl.

Peel the carrot and cucumber into long strips or ribbons and cut the spring onion into long slivers. Add to the bowl and toss together well.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the patties for a couple of minutes on each side, until just cooked through.

Serve immediately with the vegetable pickle.

Per serving: kcals 228
Carbs 12g Fat 11g 7g

For a main meal, also serve some steamed broccoli and wilted spinach.

Thai Salmon Patties with Pickled Vegetable Ribbons

This recipe is in my book 5:2 Healthy Eating for Life, available on Amazon in kindle or print format.

Courgette Bruscetta with crispy Jambon Cru

Ok, I’m guilty of an Italian/French fusion in my title,  but hey, I’m embracing being a European and thoroughly enjoying being under the influence of a bit of Mediterranean panache when creating delicious vegetable-based dishes. My inspiration came many years ago, from a one of the River Café books – hence the use of bruscetta rather than tartine. Don’t be put off if you are a veggie – this is fab without the meat and I have further suggestions below.

Sauteed Courgettes with Herbs, Garlic and Lemon

Courgettes with Herbs and Lemon

If you grow courgettes, it is almost inevitable that you will have a glut at some point, even if you do try to keep picking them when they are small. This is one way of making them so tasty that even a veteran courgette-disliker can be won over. For other suggestions, do look at my Tuscan Zucchini soup and also my Seasonal Specials board on Pinterest, where you will find links to recipes for Zucchini chips, Kolokothikeftedes (Greek courgette fritters), Curry Marinated Squash Salad and more besides.

When I first created this recipe for my elderly mother, who loved ‘things on toast’, I grilled the jambon cru because she found it hard to manage raw. It worked beautifully. Now, I tend to cook the ham quickly on a fairly high heat in the frying pan, before sauteeing the courgettes and garlic, then it can drain on kitchen paper while the vegetables are cooking – you may get a crisper result baking in the oven at about 220c, but it seems a shame to turn it on just for that.

If you are a vegetarian, I suggest a topping of parmesan shavings or fried halloumi. If you are a vegan, perhaps some crispy fried onions, or some toasted chopped pine-nuts or walnuts. 

Courgette with herbs and lemon

You could equally use this over a pile of tagliatelle or orecchiette, or maybe crozets, the little squares of buckwheat pasta. In which case, I would probably toss the pasta in some basil oil and parmesan cheese, or pesto. Or it would pair wonderfully with Aligot (mashed potato with garlic and cheese).  If you you stick with toast, then choose from wholewheat, or a substantial pain de campagne or ciabatta, that can stand up to being rubbed with garlic….

I find that every so often I really appreciate some starchy carbs and this makes a good way of using them, but if you wish to avoid them, then a big pile of dressed green salad, or perhaps a white bean puree would make a great base.

Courgette Bruscetta with Crispy Jambon Cru

Courgette Bruscetta with Crispy Jambon Cru

This can make a delicious starter or a light lunch.

Per person:

  • 2 slices of Jambon Cru (Bayonne, Serrano or Parma ham) (91 kcal)

for the courgettes:

  • 1 tsp olive oil (40 kcal)
  • 1 medium courgette (about 100g), sliced into thin round or diagonal slices (16 kcal)
  • 1/2 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced or chopped (2 kcal)
  • A sprig or two each of parsley, basil / marjoram and mint, finely chopped 
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • some finely pared zest of lemon

for the bruscetta:

  • 2 slices of bread (138 kcal)
  • 1/2 clove of garlic, peeled (2 kcal)

Heat a frying pan over fairly high heat and fry the ham on both sides until nicely browned. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Lower the heat to medium, then add the courgettes, garlic and a spray or drizzle of olive oil to the hot pan, along with about half of the herbs and season lightly. Smaller, fresh courgettes merely need to be sautéed for about 5 minutes, until lightly golden. For older courgettes, sauté for 5 mins, then cover with a lid and cook for up to 10 minutes more, until tender.

Meanwhile, toast the bread on both sides, then rub with the clove of garlic. 

Add the remaining herbs and lemon zest to the courgettes, spoon over the toast, and top with the crispy ham.

Per serving: 290 kcals
Carbs 29.6g, Fat 11.6g, Protein 18g,

Serving suggestion ; a little basil oil and a side salad of tomatoes in olive oil on some green leaves.

Tomato Tales – Sundried Tomatoes

A lot of people know that I love to grow tomatoes. A lot of tomatoes. Lots of different varieties. This year I think I have about 60 plants of 20 or so different sorts. Not only do I love to eat a simple tomato salad, I like to have enough tomatoes so that I can avoid buying canned tomatoes or pizza or pasta sauce altogether. I also generally find that those you buy from the supermarket are pretty tasteless, especially out of season, so I prefer to use my own frozen or sundried tomatoes instead throughout the winter and spring.

Tomatoes Galore

With the smaller tomatoes, I generally sundry them and then store them in olive oil. I find they only need 2 or 3 days in the sunshine. Cut them in half, lay them cut side up on a tray, sprinkle with sea salt. I usually put a wire rack over the top which keeps flies off successfully. Leave them in a sunny spot, but bring them in overnight or if there is any hint of rain.

Tomatoes drying in the sun

If it looks like they aren’t going to get fully dry because of poor weather, they risk going mouldy, so then I finish them off in the oven – at about 80c until they are the texture I like, which is still kind of soft, but crinkled, what the French would call mi-cuit. If you don’t have sunny weather at all, you can do the whole thing in the oven, or you could use a dehydrator. But I think the sunshine gives the most flavourful results and the best texture.

Sundried tomatoes

Once they are dried to your liking, you can store them in a jar of olive oil. I push in as many as I can fit in the jar and then pour in good quality virgin olive oil to completely cover them. Use a chopstick or spoon to ensure there are no air bubbles. I can get at least a whole tray full in one jar, so it is a good space-saving method of storing them. Keep them in a cool, dark place and I find they last at least a year and even two (on the occasions when I have made more than we get through).

Sundried Tomatoes

Another way of storing them that I am trying this year, is putting them in a ziploc bag and freezing them. I think this could be an excellent way of saving them to make a paste with later, or just to add them in to all sort of savoury dishes.

Sundried tomatoes for the freezer

So to finish with, here is one of my favourite ways of using sun dried tomatoes

Melon, Cucumber, Goats Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes

Quercy Melon, Cucumber, Goat’s Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes

Per person

  • ¼ of a Quercy (charentais) melon, peeled, deseeded and cut into 3 wedges (41 kcal)
  • 40g of soft goat’s cheese (77 kcal)
  • a chunk of cucumber, halved, peeled, deseeded and sliced into thick chunks (8 kcal)
  • 6 small sundried tomatoes, or slices of 2 large ones (18 kcal)

Dress with a drizzle of vinaigrette made with olive oil, walnut vinegar, balsamic vinegar, grainy mustard, garlic, sea salt and pepper and scatter with some fresh basil or finely chopped mint.  Add about 40 kcals for a tbsp of dressing (ratio of olive oil to vinegar 1:2).

Per serving: kcals184
Carbs 18g Fat 10g Protein 7g

This makes a fabulous starter, or a light lunch. I really like it best with the soft goats cheese, like a buche fraiche (fresh log) that I can buy in the market, or the Petit Billy type of chèvre frais; but you could also use cabecou, or perhaps some sheep’s cheese like feta or buffalo mozzarella.

Melon, Cucumber, Goats Cheese, Sundried Tomato

This recipe first appeared in my book Focus on Flavour: Recipes inspired by living in South West France.

Bon Appetit!

Upside Down Fish Pie

This is dish I have made lots of times now. It is very forgiving of quantities, of the type of fish, of the herbs in the gremolata. You can peel the potatoes or not, use big or small ones, use red, white or spring onions, use whole small or larger halved tomatoes, or even some tinned or frozen tomatoes… It’s a great dish for preparing ahead, up to the stage where you add the fish for the final cooking time; so it works well for a dinner party with friends, all you need to serve alongside is perhaps a fresh green salad or lightly steamed green veg. I have served it on a fast day by using smaller pieces of fish and being mean with the olive oil and potatoes! It is quite substantial and satisfying. For a lower-carb version, you could swap potatoes for slices of summer squash.

Tip: I keep a bag of frozen breadcrumbs in a ziploc bag in the freezer, which makes it really easy just to grab a couple of handfuls to sprinkle over the top of a dish like this – it adds a great texture and saves the fish from drying out.

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Upside Down Fish Pie with Gremolata

This recipe has evolved from a recipe that I spotted in “delicious” magazine, where the potatoes are on the bottom and there are breadcrumbs sprinkled on the top. I particularly like it with salmon, but it works brilliantly with cod, haddock or for a real treat try it with sea bass.

Serves 4

  • 500g red skinned potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 352 kcals
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced 44 kcals
  • 2 tsp olive oil 80 kcals
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved 16 kcals
  • 25g sundried tomatoes, sliced 64 kcals
  • 4 fish fillets 844 kcals
  • 1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely sliced 4 kcals
  • 8 slices of lemon 16 kcals
  • 60g wholewheat breadcrumbs 144 kcals
  • 1 tbsp olive oil 120 kcals

For the Gremolata

  • 6 marinaded anchovy fillets, chopped 24 kcals
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped 8 kcals
  • 1 tbsp olive oil 120 kcals
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • A bunch of parsley leaves, chopped 4 kcals
  • Preheat the oven to 180c (fan).

Brush a roasting tin with oil, then add the potatoes, onions into a roasting tray, drizzle with the remaining oil, season with salt and pepper and then mix together.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and dried tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, by which time the potatoes should be nearly cooked through.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the olive oil in a plastic bag and shake to mix.

Put the fish fillets on top, decorate with lemon and chilli slices and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top.

Bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the Gremolata by whizzing all the ingredients in a food processor to make a sauce.

Serve with the Gremolata drizzled over.

Per serving: kcals 460
Carbs 51g Fat 21g Protein 20g

If you have started the meal with a salad or a vegetable dish, there is no need to serve anything else with this, but a crisp green salad, some wilted spinach or steamed broccoli make a good visual contrast.

This recipe can be found in my book 5:2 Healthy Eating for Life, available from Amazon in print or kindle format.