Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Dieting in style - this chicken salad is tangy and delicious but gentle on the hips. For an even gentler recipe, it's also very nice if you steam or poach the chicken instead of frying it.

Serves 6: 190 calories per serve

1 small Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
500g (1lb) chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and cut into strips
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2/3 cup chopped mint
2/3 cup chopped coriander (cilantro)

Cook the chicken and onion in the oil at high heat in a wok in two batches. Cool. Combine the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt and mix well until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Toss together the cabbage, chicken and onion, dressing, mint and coriander.

This is nice with some cashews tossed through as well.

Moroccan Lentil Stew

This is part of my new effort to cut down on calories (ha!). This stew is delicious and hearty - perfect for the winter months, and low calorie to boot.

Serves 4, 1 cup per serving: 254 calories per serve

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Large can crushed tomatoes
8 oz potatoes, cubed
1 cup stock
½ cup lentils (red lentils cook the fastest)
1 medium carrot, chopped
½ cup green peas
¼ cup parsley, chopped

Cook the onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes, until translucent.
Increase heat to medium high and stir in spices, cooking for 30 seconds to release flavour. Stir in tomatoes, potatoes, stock, lentils and carrots. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30-40 min, or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more stock or water if needed. Stir in the peas, simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

I like to add a small can of chickpeas (garbanzos) at the same time as the lentils and serve with couscous.