“Whipping up a delicious meal for your mom this Mother’s Day doesn’t need to include the weight-gaining ingredients we often associate with a treat,” said Dr Peter Hill of Met-S Care.
“Unfortunately society has lead us to believe that in order for a meal to be tasty it needs to be loaded with unhealthy carbs and sugar. This is definitely not the case. Your mom would probably prefer a healthy, delicious meal that isn’t going to pack on the pounds.”
Hill offers this three course meal as a great option for a Mother’s Day get-together:
Starter (Warm Tomato and Apple Salad) – Serves 4:
Ingredients:
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium red chilli, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 medium red onions, sliced
- 12 asparagus spears, trimmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup mint leaves
- 200g rocket
- 1 green apple, cut into thin wedges
Method:
- Heat wok on high heat and lightly spray with olive oil. Add tomatoes, chilli, garlic, onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened, stirring continuously.
- Add asparagus, white wine vinegar, lemon and 1 teaspoon of mint, cook for 5 minutes.
- Place rocket in a large bowl. Add tomato, asparagus mixture and toss. Serve sprinkled with fresh mint and apple wedges.
MAIN (Lemon and Garlic Lamb Rack) – Serves 4:
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped garlic
- 1 French lamb rack – 8 cutlets (females 2-3 cutlets)
- 1½ French lamb rack – 12 (males 3-4 cutlets)
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 500g green beans, trimmed
- 2 teaspoons seeded mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine lemon juice, oil, garlic and chopped rosemary to form a paste. Pour the paste over the lamb rack and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
- Place lemon wedges, onion and some extra rosemary sprigs in the bottom of a baking dish and place lamb rack on top making sure to add any extra marinade from the dish. Bake in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Steam beans until tender and combine in a stainless steel bowl with mustard and white wine vinegar and toss until beans are well coated.
- Serve cutlets with the bean salad.
DESERT:
“Finish off the meal with something sweet, why not try double cream or double cream yoghurt blended with fresh or frozen berries dusted with a little sweetener,” he added.
For other delicious low carb suggestions why not pick up a copy of The Controlled Carb Cook Book which is now available at Dis-Chem countrywide.
