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Spicy Salmon Steaks with Pepper Noodles

by makeupandmirtazapine on March 28, 2013 in Food, Cooking & Recipes

“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.” ~ Cesar Chavez

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how following this GI style diet plan, with plenty of fish, had in the past helped me to get a handle on my depression. And I said that I would start to post some for my favourite recipe ideas for meals that work within the plan.

So today I’ve gone for a salmon recipe.

Spicy Salmon Steaks with Pepper Noodles

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salmon steaks

4 salmon steaks, approx 175kg each
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of grated lime zest
1 tablespoon of lime juice
freshly ground black pepper

For the pepper noodles

4 portions of soba noodles
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 thinly sliced red pepper
1 thinly sliced yellow pepper
2 tablespoons of lime juice

Optional

1 tablespoon of Thai sweet chili
1 tablespoon of chopped lemon grass

Method:

1. Put the garlic, cumin, coriander, lime zest, lime juice, olive oil and black pepper into a small bowl and mix them together to form a paste.

2. Spread the marinade over both sides of the salmon steaks, try to use all the paste.

3. Then leave the steaks to marinate for 20-30 minutes.

4. Heat frying pan until hot and then press the salmon steaks into the pan to seal them.

5. Turn the fish over and cook for a further 3-5 minutes on each side, or until cooked. You should end up with salmon that is crisp on the outside, and nice, and soft, and tender on the inside.

6. To make the pepper noodles, add the soba noodles to a pan of boiling water and cook as per the instruction on the packet.

7. While the noodles are cooking heat the olive oil in a small pan, then add the crushed garlic, the peppers, and the lemon grass if you are using it.

8. Sauté the vegetables until the garlic browns and the peppers begin to soften.

9. Next, drain the cooked noodles and add them to pan along with the lime juice, and sweet chili if you are using it. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until warmed through.

10. Transfer the noodles and peppers to the plates and top with the salmon steaks. A wedge of lime makes a nice garnish.

11. Serve.

Bon appétit!

Mackerel and Mirtazapine

by makeupandmirtazapine on March 12, 2013 in Food, Cooking & Recipes, Health & Fitness, Mental Health & Wellbeing

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well” ~ Virginia Woolf

I explained before that when I first started working I went through a period of a major depression. This was self diagnosed, but since the symptoms were near enough exactly the same as the major depression that I had diagnosed by my psychiatrist, I feel pretty confident in making that assertion.

Anyway, during this time I was unable to get registered with a doctor, and wasn’t really ready to look the extent of my problem head on, so I spent a lot of time looking for anything and everything that I could do by myself to try to feel better.

And one thing that did seem to help me to feel a lot more stable was this diet. I don’t know whether it was the diet itself, or the fact that having something to be OCD about sticking to made me feel somehow more in control of things, but it helped, so I thought I’d share it with you. As this was seven years ago I’m afraid I can’t remember or find the information that I originally looked at that suggested it might help.

This isn’t anything ground breaking, it’s essentially the GI diet plus a few extra details. The idea is that you:

Eat at least seven portions of fruit and/or vegetables a day,
Eat three serving of fish per week, ideally fish that contains high concentrations of omega three,
Eat two portions of red meat each week,
Don’t eat any processed food, at all,
Also cut out wheat as far as is practicable; meaning that for the carbohydrate portion of meals you’re looking at eating rice, or jacket potatoes, rather than pasta or bread,
Aim to choose foods that fall as low on the glycemic index as possible,
And also cut out sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.

After following this diet for a few months I felt physically and mentally healthier. It was by no means a total panacea, I still had health problems and I still had depression, but they weren’t as bad as they had previously been.

I also found that being on this diet taught me a lot about food and cooking, which I started to enjoy. And after a while stodgier foods like burgers or fish and chips became completely unappetising to me. I could even take or leave chocolate.

If this sounds like it might be of interest to you I’m going to post some of my favourite recipes that work with this plan over the next few weeks. I’ll start off with a mackerel recipe for a main meal, and a snack replacement for one of my junk food favourites.

If you want to learn more about the GI diet in particular I recommend grabbing a copy of the GI High-Energy Cookbook: Low-GI recipes for weight loss, health and vitality, by Rachael Anne Hill, from your local independent bookshop. Or Amazon. It has a great explanation of the glycemic index and how the diet works, as well as some fantastic recipes.

Or, if you’d prefer an app, I’ve found lots of recipes that I like on Low Fat Recipes – Diet, Lose Fat, Lose Weight, which I downloaded to my iPad through the App Store. It has a section devoted to Lower GI recipes, as well as ideas for people who need a diet that is lactose free, gluten free, diabetes friendly, or low in cholesterol. It’s also has budget, vegetarian, and kid friendly sections, and, my particular favourite, a section devoted to comfort food recipes.

Mackerel with Mustard and Lemon Butter

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 fresh mackerel, gutted and cleaned
200kg/6-8oz spinach leaves
115kg/4oz of melted butter
30ml/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
grated rind of one lemon
30ml/2 tablespoons lemon juice
45ml/3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. To make the mustard and lemon butter mix together the melted butter, mustard, lemon rind and juice, parsley, and seasoning.

I’ve actually used English mustard here, and the lemon juice is from a bottle, so there is no rind. But, baby, it’s cold outside. Snowing in fact; so I didn’t fancy venturing out just to buy a lemon and a different mustard for the sake of making an authentic picture.

2. Next scour the skin of each mackerel four or five times.

3. Place the mackerel on a grilling rack and brush the mustard and lemon butter equally over each of the mackerel.

4. Grill the mackerel for five minutes on each side, or until cooked through, basting where appropriate.

5. Serve the mackerel with the spinach as an accompaniment.

6. If you have any mustard and lemon butter remaining heat this in a small pan until sizzling and pour over the mackerel, on the plates.

Chicken and Pepper Noodles

Serves 1

Now, before I started on this diet/fad/meal-plan/whatever, I was an avid fan of Super Noodles. They were quick, comforting, and filling; just what I thought I needed. Here I’ve devised a much healthier alternative that’s just as quick to prepare.

Ingredients

One portion of rice stick noodles
One chicken stock cube
One red pepper
One yellow pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Place rice stick noodles to boil, in water, in a pan.

2. Dissolve the chicken stock cube into the pan along with the noodles.

3. While the noodles are cooking take the peppers and slice them in half.

4. Dice one half of the red pepper into very small pieces, then do the same with one half of the yellow pepper.

5. When the rice stick noodles are cooked drain them and place them into a bowl.

6. Sprinkle the diced peppers on top of the noodles along with some ground black pepper.

7. Serve.

How to Trim Your Waistline AND Your Carbon Footprint, Without Even Thinking About It

by makeupandmirtazapine on December 22, 2012 in Body Image, Food, Cooking & Recipes, Health & Fitness

“We kindly remind you that calories are for eating not counting.” ~ from the bottom of a restaurant menu in Oslo.

Dieting doesn’t work. The entire existence of the dieting industry is a testament to that. Take Weight Watchers for example. Weight Watchers has built a multi-million dollar business on the understanding that while you follow their programs you will lose weight, but once you stop with the strict points counting, and the weekly weigh-ins, and the meetings, you will be unable to sustain your ideal weight. So, soon you’ll be back once again, paying them once again, because, well, it worked for you last time didn’t it?

Well, actually, no, it didn’t.

If it had worked you’d never need to go on another diet again.

Dieting the way most people do it is just a money-making scam. This is because the entire mindset of ‘being on a diet’ is counterproductive to maintaining your desired weight.

This is because while they’re ‘on a diet’ the only thing that most people are able to think about for any length of time is food.

They think about the food they can have, and planning their meals to make sure they’re in keeping with the diet plan. They think of all the foods that they’d like to eat but can’t because they’re dieting.

They feel guilty about the brownie that they ate because someone at work baked it for them. It would have but rude not to eat it, but at the same time they feel weak for not sticking to the programme.

They think about how much they really want to be able to eat the thing that their friend is having but can’t because they’re dieting.

And so on.

You might as well admit to it, I know I’m not the only one.

When I listen to the women at work, who spend most of their lives on diet plans, I notice that it also dominates their conversation. They’re always talking about what food they’ve been eating, comparing notes on different dieting regimes, considering what adjustments they should make in their eating patterns for having ‘slipped up’ and eaten a cupcake over the weekend.

And all the while they’re talking about food, they’re thinking about food.

And all the time they’re thinking about food, they’re making their bodies want more food.

Food, food, glorious food.

They’re just setting themselves up for failure.

There’s only one sure-fire way that I’ve found to stick to an eating pattern that allows you to either lose weight or maintain your figure at a size 6, 8, 10, 12* or whatever your ideal is. And that’s to stop thinking about food.

That’s it. That’s all there is too it.

Just don’t think about food.

Just go out and get on with doing something else instead.

And make sure you walk there if it’s at all possible. That’s where reducing your carbon footprint comes in.

For most of my twenties I ate like a horse and a pig combined. I didn’t give a second’s thought to calories or nutritional values. I lived on a diet composed mainly of pasta and pancakes. And I was tiny.

I was also incredibly active. I spent most of my time studying or working. And when I wasn’t doing that I was out and about socialising, travelling, partying, shopping, campaigning, volunteering. I always had something else to be doing.

And while I was absorbed in being busy it never occurred to me to start thinking about cake. Which would only have led to me wanting cake, and then eating cake, and then wanting more cake.

Mmmm, cake….

This all changed early last year when I suffered a back injury. I couldn’t stand up to be able cook, so I relied on Domino’s to feed me. At the same time I had to cut down on my activities, and started taking taxis everywhere instead of walking as I would usually have done.

Having all this spare time on my hands didn’t suit me. I need to be doing something. I annoy even myself when I’m bored. But there isn’t really anything to do when you’re immobilised but eat.

So that’s what I did.

And I gained a lot of weight that I’ve been trying to get rid of ever since.

Not because I’m particularly bothered by it, I just thought it would be a whole lot cheaper than having to having to replace all the clothes I no longer fit into.

Now, in my defence, my failure in this endeavour does owe a lot to the mirtazapine that I’ve been taking for most of this year, which has the annoying side effect of making me incredibly hungry most of the time.

But dieting just made me spend even more time thinking about food. It’s completely counter productive.

So if you’re looking to lose some weight my advice instead is this – get busy.

Find yourself a cause, or a hobby, or an interest.

Take a class or offer to coach a kids sports team. Join a book club, take up wine tasting, or teach yourself to play a musical instrument. Start a campaign to raise money for a local cause, start working on your novel, or learn about quantum physics. Go out running, go travelling, or go and sit with some old people in hospital.Visit some art galleries, watch a football match, catch up with some friends. Sign up to a ballroom dancing class, or one on sign language, or painting. Become a part time cake decorator, furniture restorer, or graphic designer.

Do anything that doesn’t have to do with dieting.

And then walk everywhere that isn’t going to take you more than 30-35 minutes to get to.

And, that’s it. You’ll never need go on another diet again.

Probably.

If you take my advice, you’ll be able to eat this…probably…unless you’re a vegetarian, I suppose…

*I’ve been all of them, also a size 4, and sizes 14 and 16.