Breakfast for 2

Day 1
Yoghurt-soaked oats with fresh fruit, seeds and honey
serves 4
1 cup raw oats
1 cup low-fat Bulgarian yoghurt
1 cup apple juice
freshly cut fruit: any mix of strawberries, bananas, pawpaw, apple, etc
4 T mixed pumpkin, linseed and sesame seeds (look out for ready mixed jars in supermarkets or health stores)
4 T honey
dried cranberries

• Stir the oats, yoghurt and apple juice together and refrigerate covered, overnight.
  
• Toast the seeds in a pan, add the honey, and stir until it becomes runny and bubbles.
  
• Spoon some oats into a bowl and top with the fresh fruit.
  
• Drizzle on the warm seeded honey and sprinkle with dried cranberries.
  
• A batch of oats can be made and stored in the fridge for up to a week.
  
• To soften the honey mixture, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds or over a bowl of hot water.
  

Day 2
Fruit, almond and yoghurt breakfast smoothie
serves 1–2
2 cups papaya chunks
1 banana
2 T ground almonds
a big pinch of ground cinnamon
½ cup cranberry juice
½ cup plain, low-fat yoghurt
1 T honey

for serving

• Rye toast buttered and spread with Marmite or Bovril
  
• Blend all the ingredients together until smooth, thinning if desired, with more juice.
  
• Substitute the papaya with defrosted frozen berries for a variation. If you like it icy, don’t defrost them.
  

Lunch for 2

Day 1
Grilled salmon with citrus, walnut and sweet potato
serves 2
500 g sweet potato chunks
1–2 T olive oil
salt and milled pepper
1 orange
1 T chopped walnuts
1 T chopped coriander
1 tiny clove garlic, crushed
2 salmon or salmon-trout fillets, about 180 g each
baby spinach, watercress and rocket leaves

• Tip the sweet potato onto a baking tray and toss with the olive oil and some seasoning.
• Roast at 200ºC for 30 minutes or until tender and browned on the edges.
  
• Finely grate ½ tsp zest from the orange. Combine with the walnuts, coriander and garlic. Season to taste.
  
• Season the salmon and place skin-side down in a non-stick pan over a low- to medium-heat. When the skin has crisped (about 5 minutes), flip and cook the other side for a minute or two until cooked through, but still moist.
  
• To serve, pile greens onto plates and top with the potatoes and salmon.
  
• Squeeze on some orange juice and sprinkle with the walnut mixture.
  

Day 2
Chicken salad pittas with hummus and sesame
serves 3
1 T olive oil
400 g chicken mini fillets
salt and pepper
3 wholewheat pitta breads
hummus
a handful of rocket
2–3 baby cucumbers, sliced lengthways
100 g rosa tomatoes, halved
a lemon for squeezing
1 T toasted sesame seeds

• Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Gently toast the pittas, then halve across and split to create a pocket in each half.
  
• Spread the inner sides thickly with hummus, then fill with rocket, chicken, cucumber and tomatoes.
  
• Squeeze on some lemon juice and top with toasted sesame seeds.
  

Supper for 2

Day 1
Spring vegetable steam-fry with tofu, ginger and ponzu sauce
serves 3-4
297 g firm tofu
cornflour
olive oil
salt
1–2 t crushed garlic
1 T crushed ginger
½–1 t crushed chilli
1 punnet salad onions, halved lengthways
1–2 baby cabbages, thinly sliced
140 g sugar snap peas
135 g asparagus tips
130 g baby corn
3 T ponzu sauce
sprouts (optional)

for serving

• Steamed brown and wild rice with lentils (see ready-mixed selection from supermarkets)
  
• Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into cubes. Tip some cornflour into a wide bowl, then add a third of the tofu, turning it to coat.
  
• Heat 1–2 T olive oil in a non-stick pan. Gently fry the coated tofu until golden. Remove to a plate and sprinkle with a little salt.
  
• Repeat with the remaining tofu.
  
• For the steam-fry, heat 1–2 T olive oil in a wok. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chilli and spring onion. Add the remaining vegetables. Stir-fry for a minute, then add 3 T water.
  
• Lower the heat, cover and steam for 5–10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp.
  
• Stir in the ponzu sauce and tip into a serving bowl.
  
• Top with tufts of sprouts if using and serve with the rice and lentils.
  

Day 2
Ostrich stew
serves 3–4
1–2 T olive oil
500 g ostrich cubes
salt and pepper
230 g baby roasting leeks, halved across
6 celery fingers, halved across
1 fat clove garlic, crushed
400 g chopped tomatoes
a few sprigs of thyme
1 cup orange juice
350 g baby carrots, trimmed and peeled
160 g fresh or frozen peas

for serving
1 T chopped parsley
1 t finely grated orange zest
1½ cups instant polenta cooked according to the packet instructions

• Pat the ostrich cubes dry with paper towel. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan.
  
• Brown half the meat, then remove to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Repeat.
  
• Return the meat to the saucepan together with the leeks, celery, garlic, tomato, orange juice and thyme. Bring to a bubble, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
  
• Sprinkle the carrots on top of the stew, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes or until both meat and vegetables are tender.
  
• Add the peas five minutes before serving.
  
• Adjust seasoning and top with the parsley and orange zest.
  
• Serve in wide bowls with soft polenta.