The sun has finally got his hat on and come out to play! This makes Gillies a very happy girl; and with a change in the weather comes a change in dinner.
There are two main periods in the year in which people try and lose weight. New Year and Spring (the get fit for summer drive), one of them is a total nightmare, the other one surprisingly within your grasp; just work with the weather!
Winter is a time for hunkering down with thick stews and wedges of bread, for covering up in layers and for (in my case) ditching running for snuggling on the sofa. The summer is a time for shedding all of that. Shedding the heavy layers and the hearty food for lightweight clothing and lightweight food. Trying to do this in January, when it is still freezing, still dark and even more depressing when there’s not even Christmas to look forward to isn’t the best time to think about this. The summer time when all you want to do is be outside and because it’s hot you’re appetite is less as your body needs less fuel, is.
My hint for getting in shape for summer? Don’t eat like it’s winter!
The following is what I made for dinner tonight; light, fresh and super easy, it’s filling and very good for you.
I got home super late and was about to eat my own arm, the following takes 6 minutes and is just wonderful.
Asparagus with Parma Ham
Ingredients: Asaparagus, Parma Ham, Black pepper
Method: Grind black pepper over the asparagus and grill it for three minutes, then turn it and grill for another three.
Take out from under the grill and wrap in parma ham.
EAT.
Then the main attraction:
Roast stuffed tomatoes with feta. (feeds 2)
Ingredients: 4 large tomatoes, 100g couscous, 1 stock cube in 150ml , 4 medium spring onions finely diced, half a green pepper, 75g feta.
Method: Heat oven to 170
slice up the pepper and roast it for about 20 minutes in the oven
put the couscous in a bowl and cover with the stock for about 5-10 minutes so it swells and then fluff it up with a fork.
meanwhile cut the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the middle cutting with a sharp knife and a spoon chop up the squishy bits and then leave the middles in a bowl.
Heat your frying pan with a little oil and cook the spring onions for 3-4 minutes and then add the tomato middles and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the peppers straight from the oven.
Then add the feta and the couscous and mix all together.
Fill the tomato shells and put the tops of the tomatoes back on.
Then put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. I served with salad. You can have these as a meal on their own or as a side for something else, whatever, they’re proper delish.
Keep tuned in for some summer soup recipes, and enjoy the long evenings and the truly marvelous weather!
hungrygillies 