Salmon Burgers with Fake Mayonnaise – Not Just for Dukan!

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burgers, diet, dukan, mayonnaise, oat bran, salmon

I’ve now reached the next phase of the Dukan Diet. Yesteday The Mister and I went out for a casual souvlaki dinner, and I literally kissed the mini whole weat pitta bread that came with my kebabs. I am happy. I can eat cheese. I can eat pasta (ok, once a week, but I can!!) and I can eat bread.
In all honesty though the past month hasn’t been that hard. Although I am a bit worried about the amounts of meat I’ve been eating, and how it might be affecting my kidneys (there’s a bit of controversy surrounding this diet), I can’t say it has been particularly difficult. I’ve not felt hungry, and I never felt any faintness or lack of energy. In fact, I’ve been feeling better than I have in ages. It must be that I’ve cut out all the junk food!
During this whole time I’ve been keeping an eye on a few of the food blogs I normally follow. Not all of them mind you, the ones with the cookies and cupcakes I’ve chosen to ignore for the sake of my sanity. One blog in particular saved me from the boredom of plain turkey and cottage cheese dinners, and gave me a number of ideas for some more exciting options. The Perfect Pantry has a whole load of recipes that can easily be adapted for the Dukan Diet. One of these is a gorgeous Salmon Burger recipe. Yum. These are really good, whether you’re on a diet or not. They are delicious, healthy, and not at all fattening! Can’t really go wrong can you? These can easily be prepared to suit the Pure Protein + Vegetables days on the Cruise or Consolidation phases, just by substituting panko with oat bran.
The Fake Mayo was an experiment I undertook a few days before seeing the burger recipe. I threw together some ingredients in order to make a sauce to accompany some slow cooked turkey breast, or some smoked salmon – I don’t remember which. It’s a yogurt sauce, but for some reason it tastes like a kind of mayonnaise to me. Maybe it’s the vinegar from the capers, or the mustard? I’m not sure. But I do know that it’s yummy. Then I saw the Green Yogurt Sauce in this recipe and had to laugh at how similar they are! I thought, no one’s going to believe I didn’t copy this! But I didn’t, promise.

Salmon Burgers (adapted from The Perfect Pantry)
Serves 2 hungry people if eaten with salad or veggies, 4 if eaten in a bun with fries (*sigh*)

What you need:
400g skinned salmon fillet, cut into pieces
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Greek yogurt (0% for Dukan)
2 tsp chopped chives
2 Tbsp chopped red bell pepper
1-1/2 tsp capers, drained
2 Tbs oat bran
1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper
a tiny bit of low calorie spray oil for the frying pan

What you do:
1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times. Mix it up a bit with a spoon so some of the bigger salmon pieces move to the bottom of the processor and get chopped up. Pulse again till the mixture is sort of like a lumpy paste.
2. Shape the mixture into 4 burgers and put on a plate. Cover with cling film and put the plate in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will help the burgers stay together in the pan.
3. Spray a frying pan with the oil and heat on medium. Place the burgers on the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the burgers.

Note: Lydia’s instructions involve processing some of the ingredients into a paste first, then adding the rest. I used a stick blender that you put on a sort of jug thing with a metal blade, and it made the paste stick to the bottom and didn’t really chop the ingredients on the top. If you have a decent blender however, you might want to follow that method instead, just click here.

Frying ’em up!

Fake Mayonnaise
Serves 2

What you need:
3 Tbs plain yogurt (0% for Dukan)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp chopped parsley
2 tsp capers
Salt & freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of sweet paprika

What you do:
1. Throw everything into a clean jam jar and shake it all up! Tastes better after a couple of hours in the fridge.

Note: You could also try adding some fresh coriander. Just chop and add to taste! Chopped gherkins also work nicely. And, this can be used as a salad dressing as well. Versatile, no?

Light Slow Cooker Meatloaf and My Dukan Progress

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crockpot, dukan, ground beef, meatloaf, minced beef, oat bran, slow cooker

I’m really happy today. I’m only 600 grams away from the target weight I set for myself only 2.5 weeks ago, which means I’ve lost 3 kilos (about 6 pounds)! That’s pretty amazing if you ask me. It hasn’t been particularly hard, apart from the one day I wanted sushi and could only have sashimi, and the evening The Mister and I went out for dinner and his plate of chips (French fries) was sitting under my nose while I was eating plain grilled chicken. Hopefully the next phase which for me will last just over a month, will be as easy. I think that’s where most people give in to temptation!

Last week I was feeling adventurous, and fancied something different for dinner. The Dukan book has a recipe for meatloaf in it, so that gave me the idea to try my own version of this classic dish. The book version seemed ok, but I wanted to add my required daily dose of oat bran to the mix, since meatloaf normally includes bread. I also wanted to make it in the slow cooker, as my oven is currently on holiday. Temperatures here these days are crazy high, or at least the feels-like factor is, so the heat from the slow cooker is about as much as I can handle. I looked up a few recipes, and in the end decided to follow this one from the Betty Crocker site as a guide but with a couple of changes.

The result made me very happy indeed! I really love it when I experiment and get good results, it makes me feel very creative. The meatloaf was just right, but because this is a light (diet) version it’s not overly moist. In terms of the Dukan Diet, this can be eaten in all phases. Just make sure you calculate how much extra oat bran you need to eat on that day, so you reach the required 1 ½ or 2 Tbs. This recipe uses 2 Tbs for the whole thing, so if you eat half of it, you’ll want another ½ or 1 Tbs depending on which phase you are on.

Before moving on to the recipe, I have to also mention the fab idea I got from Stephanie O’Dea’s website, in the comment section. A reader sent her an email suggesting she uses an upside-down aluminium pan with holes punched in, to put the meatloaf on inside the slow cooker so the fat drains away from the meat. I used throw away aluminium muffin cups, placed upside down! Even better than a pan, because they fit in the insert easier. I made some holes, but I think next time I won’t bother, as most of the fat will drain away down the sides of the cups.

I should also mention that The Mister ate this happily, with mashed potatoes (*sigh*) and gravy (which I made from granules – it can’t all be from scratch!). So it’s definitely good enough for non-dieters!

So, here is my
Light Slow Cooker Meatloaf aka Dukan Slow Cooker Meatloaf
Serves 2 hungry people, or 3 less so

What you need:
500g minced/ground beef (as lean as possible)
1 small onion, minced or finely chopped
1 egg
¾ Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1/3 tsp mustard powder
2 Tbs oat bran soaked in 3 Tbs milk (0% for Dukan dieters) for a couple of minutes

What you do:

1. In a large bowl mix beef, onion, egg, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, mustard and oat bran (spooned out of milk). Knead with your hands until just incorporated. Don’t over knead because apparently this makes the meatloaf denser.
2. Check how moist the mixture is. If it’s not too wet, add a tablespoon or 2 of the milk which had the oat bran in.
3. Put a meatloaf insert or upside down aluminium muffin cups into the slow cooker.
4. Shape the meat mixture into a loaf and place on top of the insert/muffin cups. You can pop it directly into the slow cooker but there will be fatty juices accumulating around it during cooking. If you’re on a diet I suggest you elevate the meat so it’s drier.
5. Cook it on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked it for 1 hour on high then switched to low for another 5. The meat will brown a little but not too much; it won’t look like it does in the oven! Check doneness with a food thermometer, which should read at least 160F.
6. Let it rest for about half an hour before slicing.

Note: Most recipes I came across have ketchup or BBQ sauce spread on top during cooking. This wouldn’t be Dukan friendly so I didn’t do it. If you try it I’d love to know how it works out!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken & Summer Vegetables – Starting the Dukan

Tags

balsamic, chicken, crockpot, diet, dukan, slow cooker, vegetables

Last week I finally made a decision – to lose some weight. For a while now I’ve been complaining about how over the past 5 years of so my weight has crept up and how yucky it’s making me feel. I’m not overweight, but at the moment I’m suffering from a seriously challenging wardrobe. I’ve also felt the difference in my horse-riding, with low energy levels and too tight jodhpurs. So the moment came when I felt strong enough to step away from the chocolate cookie and do something other than whine. In the past I’d heard about the Dukan Diet, but thought it was a bit too drastic for my few extra pounds. However, it’s summer (shorts, bikinis etc… you know) and generally I’m much better at following exact instructions than just “watching what I eat”, so I read his book. It makes so much sense! I found myself really interested in the theory and actually quite excited to start.

Well, I’m now 6 days into it. The initial excitement has somewhat evaporated, but my resolve has not. For those of you who know a bit about it, I’m now on the Cruise phase, so I’m eating pure protein one day, and protein plus vegetables the next. This is how it goes on now, with alternating days, until I reach my desired weight. I’ve no idea how long it’s going to take but I’m hoping it won’t be too long.

To be honest when I started last Monday, I was a bit worried that my blog was going to suffer. But looking into it a bit more has eased my mind, as there seem to be many interesting recipes that have been designed especially for this diet, as well as others that by chance suit it perfectly. Like this one! Chicken is one of the main foods of this diet, as it is a lean meat and has plenty of protein. Ok, ideally you should eat it grilled, so any fat drains away, but I think I can get away with cooking it in the slow cooker since you don’t need any oil to do so. In this recipe by Stephanie O’Dea (the CrockPot Queen in my opinion), the chicken and veg are cooked in balsamic vinegar and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. So simple and yet so flavourful. Vinegar is allowed, as are certain condiments in small quantities. So this seemed an ideal choice. I made a few adjustments to suit our taste and the result was really good, especially the vegetables which were absolutely gorgeous. The chicken was good too, and the vinegar even gave it a slight brown colour which was quite appealing. It was very tender and tasty. The remaining sauce was a bit bland, but that’s because vegetables release a lot of water so the stock was largely diluted. I didn’t have any of it because the meat and veggies were juicy enough and I was worried it might have a higher fat content since the chicken had cooked in it. For The Mister however I saved some of the liquid, brought it to a boil in the microwave, and stuck a teaspoon of gravy granules in. That did the trick and voila… a lovely sauce to go over his chicken and rice. I really enjoyed this dinner, even though I was eyeing The Mister’s rice with envy the whole time!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken with Summer Vegetables
Serves 3

What you need:
3 chicken legs, bone in (skin on or off, it’s up to you. I think the skin keeps the outer layer from drying out, but a lot of people don’t like the idea of the skin cooking in the slow cooker)
2 red peppers (I use a Greek type that’s a bit longer than bell pepper, but bell would be great)
1 green bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 large courgette (zucchini)
1 onion
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

1. Rinse the chicken pieces, pat dry with kitchen paper, and put in the slow cooker.
2. Chop the veggies into large pieces and put them in a bowl.
3. Mix the balsamic vinegar with the Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and pour over the veggies.
4. Toss vegetables in the vinegar mix till they are well coated.
5. Place the veggies on top of the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the vinegar mix over it all.
6. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.
7. Serve with rice, quinoa or mashed potatoes, or eat as is if you’re on the Dukan Diet.

Note: Feel free to experiment with the vegetables. You could also try aubergines (eggplant) or summer squash. Carrots would be nice but I’m not sure if they’d soften in time. If you try them maybe put them under the chicken and let me know how it turns out!