Quick, Fabulous Mushroom Soup for the 5:2 / Fast Diet

Well, having been under the weather for the last month hasn't exactly helped my waistline any. I haven't really gained, but having had shingles has greatly reduced my ability to exercise. Feeling flabby. What it has done, though, is given me a little time to think up ways to make my fast days tastier. Since I am a firm believer in the Fast Diet (aka 5:2) which allows me the eat nicely on the 5 days I don't fast for my health, I'm always looking for tasty and filling foods to have on the 2 days I eat less. Usually this is Meaty Monday, but since it is a Fast Day for me, you're getting what I'm having today...

I love this mushroom soup. I love mushrooms, actually. I wouldn't make this with plain white button mushrooms as they are a little too bland. If they're all you can find, I recommend making it much more highly seasoned to make up for it. It's delicious, nutritious and quick. You need a pot, and a blender.  And a microwave if you want to garnish with a few mushroom slices...You can use a regular or immersion blender, although I prefer the totally smooth consistency you'll get with a regular container blender. Makes 4 good servings at less than 50 calories each.

Quick, Easy, Fabulous Mushroom Soup for the 5:2 / Fast Diet

Note: for a vegetarian version of this soup, replace the chicken bouillon with vegetable or mushroom bouillon, and the Worcestershire with either vegetarian Worcestershire or Pickapeppa sauce. All of the products I used are gluten free, but please read the labels if you are eating gluten free.

Creamy Mushroom Soup for the 5:2 Diet

Serves 4

1 lb. cremini mushrooms, 2 sliced, the rest chopped coarsely
4 cups water
1 packet chicken bouillon (I like Trader Joe's)
2 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley or basil for garnish (optional)

1. Place the sliced mushroom in a small microwaveable dish, with a teaspoon of water, cover and microwave for 1 minute at high. Set aside. (you can omit this entirely if you don't want to pretty-up your bowl of soup.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine all the remaining ingredients through the Worcestershire, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook , covered until the mushrooms are softened, about 10 minutes.

3. Carefully puree the cooked soup in batches, or with an immersion blender. Taste for seasoning, and  add salt and pepper as desired. Serve garnished with the microwaved mushroom slices on top and a sprinkle of fresh herbs.

Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil: Another 5:2 Soup

Sorry for not having been posting for a few days. I do have an excuse; I have had shingles. While I am on the mend now, the last couple of weeks have been spent attempting to get some  sleep (highly unsuccessful) and smearing various goos all over the sore parts of me. Even considering cooking was more work than I could handle, although I did go in to my regular job more often than not. At home we ate from the freezer and takeout. Try to avoid getting shingles if you can. Painful, to say the least. Okay, VERY painful.


So this first post back isn't a Meaty Monday post, but a Fast Diet, or a 5:2 recipe for a soup I am planning to have today, and share with Donna at work. Takeout isn't good for my figure. Ahem.


This soup is deeply flavorful, but fresh tasting, quick to make, and partly stolen from a Rachael Rae recipe. It uses things you can still find in the farm markets and grocery stores in late September. It is also under 50 calories per serving, plus it is gluten free and vegan, unless you use a meat stock.

Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil

Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil

With a nod to Rachael Ray, as I saw a good-looking recipe in her magazine for a zucchini - fennel soup recently. My version still tastes rich, but will fit easily into your Fast Diet or 5:2 Plan.

1 lb. zucchini , diced (about 2 medium)
8 oz. fennel bulb , cored and sliced (about 1 small- medium)
2 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups baby spinach (85g)
2-4 Tablespoons sliced basil leaves
(optional: 1 tsp. chicken stock base)
few grinds of nutmeg and white pepper
sea salt

Place the zucchini, fennel, shallots and garlic in a large saucepan, and cover with water.  Add the stock base if you are using it. Salt lightly. Bring to a boil, cut back to a simmer, and cook about 10 to 12 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Add the spinach, basil, nutmeg and pepper, and cook an additional 2 minutes or so until the spinach has wilted and is bright green. Taste for salt  and pepper and add if needed. Puree with an immersion blender, or a regular blender and serve hot. Makes 4 hearty servings under 50 calories each.

Meaty Monday, Again: Quick Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Balsamic Glaze

This is a command performance. It's required by unnamed members of my household that we have this instead of the leftover chicken, so you all will have to have it again, too.


Some Mondays, its about all I can do to get myself out the door, fully dressed and caffeinated.  Not always, but on some of them, I am impressively organized and have dinner prepped and even some laundry done before I jump in the car to commute. Unfortunately,  my zombie-like Monday mornings probably outnumber the organized Mondays three to one. You too?

Those frazzled days are also the ones I'm most likely to need a good fast dinner that's both totally delicious and totally idiot proof. This succulent pork tenderloin is one of those meals. While I'm on the subject of pork tenderloin I want to complain about how they come packed from most supermarkets. Why the heck, when  they almost always pack unflavored pork tenderloins in pairs, are they so different in size and weight? Most of us will usually cook them both, and one is usually at least double the size of the other, thus letting most of us, drastically over or undercook at least one of the tenderloins? Remember, this cut is comparatively the same as a beef tenderloin. A pork tenderloin is not the same thing as a pork loin. It makes me livid when I see slow cooker recipes for pork tenderloin --after all, you wouldn't toss a filet mignon into the crock, would you?

Anyway, this couldn't be a simpler, more toothsome dish to make quickly at the end of a busy day.
This grilling technique called "7-6-5" is featured in Fine Cooking Magazine; it really is pretty much idiot proof, and I suggest you take a look at the original. It really does prevent overcooking this lovely, tender cut of pork.  We prefer ours a little less done, more of a pinkish medium rare, at just over 140ºF so we cook ours 6-5-5. The original timing should bring it to above 145º after the cooking is completed. Oh, and pork is safe to eat and juicy at 140º, even if your Mom, like mine, tended to cook it to death.

The balsamic glaze is wonderful, and you need very little per serving --just a tablespoon or two, but if you are eating paleo or primal, or counting carbs, you may want to limit how much sauce you use, or choose something else like a bit of mayonnaise mixed with a bit of Dijon mustard.

Quick Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Balsamic Glaze

Quick Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Balsamic Glaze

Serves 2-3

A 1-1/4 to 1-1/3 lb. pork tenderloin (NOT pork loin)
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

For the Sweet Balsamic Glaze:

1/2 cup all-fruit apricot or seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of salt

1. Preheat your grill to high. Unwrap tenderloin, and liberally coat with pepper and salt.

2. Place all the balsamic glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring. As soon as the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, in about a minute, set it aside and keep warm.

3. Oil the grill, and then place the tenderloin on the grill and close the cover. Cook on one side for 7 minutes for medium cooked pork, just 6 minutes for medium rare. Open the lid and turn the meat over, and recover the grill. Cook on the second side for 6 minutes for medium meat, and 5 for medium rare. next, shut off the heat and do NOT open the grill for 5 minutes. If you really like well-done (and dry!) pork, leave  the tenderloin in the closed grill for 7 minutes after turning off the heat. Test with an instant read thermometer for doneness if desired.

4. Place the meat on a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes before slicoing. Serve with the balsamic glaze drizzled over each serving.

The 5:2 Feast: Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

The 5:2 Feast: Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

I really wasn't going to post today. For two years now I've been posting three days or more a week,  with a full time job and ...a life, and just for August I was trying to cut myself some slack. Turns out I'm harder on myself than anyone else has ever been. I just "guilted" myself into writing this as I made my approx. 300 calorie dinner to take to work for the late shift. Today is one of my fast days. If you are on to the Fast Diet from England, you'll understand. These recipes  are both quick and easy to make, have great flavor, and are quite filling.


I made the creamy shirataki noodle part a few years ago, and it's based on some recipes written by Hungry Girl, aka, Lisa Lillien.  Back when I first joined Weight Watchers, her recipes were all the rage, but I was not a huge fan because of all the processed, fat free foods she uses in her recipes. If you don't mind that stuff, get your hands on a copy of her book "Hungry Girl 200 under 200". Sorry, Lisa, I didn't mean to damn you with faint praise, you filled a need for many of us, and helped a lot of people find good things to eat while dieting. Even if you don't make the recipes exactly the way she wrote them, the book will give you great ideas for dishes to fix on your fast days. Of course I've doodled with her recipe  a lot, with ingredients and technique, so it's the same in spirit... It tastes good, but doesn't include additive-filled things like fat free sour cream or fat free parmesan cheese. The chicken dish couldn't be easier too,  basically a "dump and run" recipe that anyone would be happy eating, dieting or not.

Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

Serves 1

For the noodles:

1 8 oz. package of Shirataki noodles, drained, rinsed and cut in pieces with a scissors
2 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Original cheese wedges, cut in smaller bits
2T minced basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
water as needed

For the chicken:

1 4oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite sized strips
1 cup of sliced zucchini
1/2 cup  canned diced tomatoes
1 minced garlic clove
1 teaspoon of dried basil or oregano
1/2  cup water

1. Spray a small nonstick skillet with a quick spray of cooking spray, heat over medium-high heat and add the chicken strips. Stir and cook until lightly browned. Add the zucchini and the garlic, and cook for another minute. Add all the remaining ingredients,  cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid, and cook another minute or two until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat and let it rest covered while you make the noodles.


2. Place the drained noodles in a small, dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat and stir for a few minutes until they are as dry as you can get them.  add the remaining ingredients for the noodles, through the grated cheese. Reduce the heat to low, and stir to melt the cheese wedges, adding a water a few tablespoons at a time to just make a creamy sauce.

Enjoy, and these both reheat well in a microwave for an at-work lunch or dinner. I like them in the same dish...


Disclaimer:

This makes an approximately 300 calorie meal. Your calculation may differ, and it will certainly differ with the use of other ingredients.

The 5:2 Feast: Fabulous Filling Soup for a Fast Day

Fifteen lousy, rotten pounds. I've been trying to lose  them for the last 8 years or so. They just sneaked onto my body when I wasn't watching, because, well, before I hit 45 or so, I never had to watch. I always ate what I wanted and it was quite a surprise to watch the scale just creep up. Who knew pizza for lunch and dim sum for supper would start packing on the pounds? So I am a bit of a Judy-come-lately to the dieting game. What makes it rather ironic, is that as a nutritionist, I counseled others on how to lose and help keep those extra pounds at bay.

So a few years back I joined Weight Watchers, and I gained three wonderful friends and a ton of Facebook friends, but weight wise, I yo-yoed up and down with the same 10 pounds. I learned that for me, I can stick to a "Plan" for a few days, and then real life intervenes with croissants. Counting every bite, every day, no matter in Points or in calories is a giant pain in the butt. All those aphorisms like "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" are baloney. Obviously, whoever dreamed that one up has never had a chocolate dessert in a fine French restaurant with a good pastry chef. Or fresh homemade bread warm from the oven slathered in butter. Good food is a wonderful thing. Watching every bite you take forever is not a life; its a life sentence.

Back when I was in my 20's, I was very thin, I ate like a horse some days, and others, I just wasn't that hungry, so I ate little. And somewhere, somehow, over the years, I'd managed to lose track of what was actual hunger, so I grazed all the time. I did manage to stop gaining by watching my sugar and grain intake, and held at the same weight for years. But lose, no.

I'm not much for popular diets. When clients would ask about them, I'd usually suggest they try something reasonably well tested, like Weight Watchers, instead of whatever guru had a book on the NYT Best Seller List. But I knew in my heart the success rates are low, because no one really wants to eat skimpy portions every day, or cut out favorite foods. Highly motivated folks, those who are obese, or with big health issues, whose lives depend on their losing and keeping their weight off may be able to do it, but for most people, those of us who are just moderately overweight, its tough. A chunk of Brie, with a few crackers and a glass of wine tastes much better and is more soul satisfying than a diet crispbread with tablespoon of non-fat cottage cheese and a glass of water.

I ran into a classmate last month from grad school who looked wonderful. When we were studying dietetics, she was trying every fad diet under the sun, both to lose weight, and to write her thesis. She had watched the documentary  called "Eat, Fast & Live Longer"  while she was in England last summer and was doing their fasting program, which calls for 2 days of fasting, and 5 days of normal eating. You heard me. Normal eating. She'd lost 15 pounds. And kept it off. The documentary showed here in the States on PBS. So of course by the time, I tried to find it online, PBS had already pulled it, probably saving it for one of their fundraisers. I couldn't find a link. My brilliant friend Michelle, got her also brilliant husband Chris to find it for me online. This is it, with commercials, but truly worth watching: http://documentaryheaven.com/eat-fast-and-live-longer/  The book is called The FastDiet, and I highly recommend you get it and read it before embarking on this plan. http://www.amazon.com/The-FastDiet-Healthy-Intermittent-Fasting/dp/1476734941/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

This is a lot the way I used to eat when I was thin, and I decided to give it a try. I've been on it 2 and a half weeks, today is my 5th fast day, and I have lost 4.5 pounds. And this week has included quite a few birthday treats  and dinners out.  Hunger really does just come in waves, and staying busy is good. Plus, I just tell myself I'm not going to starve to death missing a meal or two. I know that's true. Neither will you.

Since my buddy Amy keeps asking what I eat, here's a recipe for her. It's a very filling soup that I'll reheat at work tonight for my dinner. My 500 calorie fast day is usually 100 calories of Greek yogurt or a 100 calorie protein drink,  a lunch of a small green salad with a little tuna, tomato and balsamic vinegar, for another 100, and a 300 calorie dinner.

This Asian-inspired soup is very delicious,  spicy and satisfying. You can certainly use shrimp alone, or chicken alone or any other protein you like, if you keep the calories from the protein under 200.

A Fabulous 5:2 Meal in a Bowl
Spicy Chicken & Shrimp Asian- Style 5:2 Soup

Spicy Chicken & Shrimp Asian-Style 5:2 Soup
Serves 1
Note: to make this easy and fast to prepare, buy pre-frozen, individually wrapped, antibiotic free chicken breasts, and IQF bags of frozen, peeled raw shrimp. You can also use whatever vegetables you like or have, as long as they come to a total of fewer than 50 calories. Greens are good. A kitchen scale is also a good thing to have, if you truly want to be accurate.


1 8 oz. bag Shirataki noodles, spaghetti style
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon Thai Green Curry paste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon  grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 3- 4 oz. raw, boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 oz. raw small or cut shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 medium zucchini,  coarsely shredded
1 small scallion, thinly sliced
2 cups raw baby spinach, loosely packed
2 Tablespoons shredded fresh basil
2 teaspoons lime juice

1. Drain the noodles into a strained and rinse well.  Drain, and place in a glass measuring cup and microwave for a minute or two, and then drain thoroughly, cut into spoon-manageable strands (I use a clean scissors) and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, place the water, the curry paste, garlic powder, fish sauce ginger and salt, and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breast,  cover, and cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the stock and  add the shrimp. Cook until just opaque, and remove the shrimp. Shred the chicken with two forks and set aside with the shrimp.

3. Add all the vegetables and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute. Add the noodles, the shrimp and chicken, and stir well. Stir in the basil and the lime juice and serve hot.

Disclaimer: Just under 300 calories, approx. Your calculations may differ, so please run your own numbers and adjust your ingredients accordingly.