E-Paper
Goodbye guilt!
Options abound for health junkies and healthy doesn’t always mean bland food.
Binged to your heart’s content in the party season and now planning to get back to your fad diet that will put even a pauper to shame? Well, there’s no need to impose a curfew on your taste buds. You can touch heights of gastronomical pleasures and still count your calorie intake, literally, say our chefs. “Options abound for health junkies and healthy never means bland. We have made sure that food tastes great even when we use the most healthy ingredients,” says chef Rakesh Prasad, executive sous chef, The Suryaa. So, how do the chefs achieve the fine balance between health and taste? Jan Seibold, Executive Chef at The Imperial says, “It’s about reducing portions, doing away with high cal ingredients and adding colour to the plate with more fruits and vegetables, without letting the guest feel deprived.”
The demand for healthy food is only growing each day, leading to innovative menus culled out after keeping the healthiest in mind. Chef Sahil Arora from Courtyard by Mariott says, “When you are hard pressed for time and can’t slog it out on the treadmill, you become conscious about what you are eating. Everyday I have some ten people walking up to the dessert counter asking which are the low cal desserts. Similarly, some guests also ask for a salad in the lunch. So extended versions of salads that serve as a full meal are a must on the menu now. ”
Our chefs show you how to rustle up a healthy meal that tastes great with the help of some quick and simple recipes.
Stock up your kitchen with these healthy ingredients
Stevia leaves: Use as a sugar substitute. It has a very low effect on blood sugar
Olive oil: A great dressing for your salads. Contains mono saturated fatty acids that are good for heart.
Multigrain flour: Rich in fibre and complex carbohydrates.
Non-dairy cream: Contains plant origin fats,
Berries pulp: High in antioxidants, it works well as a sugar substitute.
Tofu: It’s low cal, low fat and high in iron<>.
Egg white: Shun the yolk and go for egg white in your desserts. It’s zero cholesterol and contains essential amino acids.
Fresh soybean: A good source of protein. Sprinkle with rock salt and eat it raw.
Linseed: A high source of essential fatty acids. Roast it and have it as a snack.
Wheat grass: You can easily grow this your garden. Its juice can be used to make a low cal shake.
Starter
Chicken salad with lemon olive oil dressing
79 Cal
Chef Sahil Arora, Courtyard by Mariott
Ingredients
Boiled chicken 50 gm
Iceberg lettuce 50 gm
Lemon juice 1 ml
Cherry tomatoes 20 gm
Extra virgin Olive oil 7 ml
Salt 0.5 gm
Freshly crushed pepper 0.2 gm
Method
1. Take a breast of chicken and boil it with salt and pepper. 2. Wash and clean lettuce keep aside. 3. Wash and cut cherry tomatoes into half. 4. In a mixing bowl put lemon juice and salt and pepper and olive oil slowly while whisking. 5. Mix the dressing with chicken, cherry tomatoes and lettuce and serve.
Main Course
Roast Sole with Lamb Sauce
185 calories
Chef Shibhu T. P, Forgetful Elephant Ingredients
Sole fish fillet 200 gm
Chopped garlic 20 gm
Crushed black pepper 5 gm
Refined sunflower oil 30gm
Mustard powder 15gm
Salt 4gm
Thinly sliced dried red chilli 2 gm
Chopped fresh parsley 5 gm For the sauce
Lamb bones 200gm
Tomato paste 150 ml
Onions 50 gm
Garlic cloves 30gm
Black pepper 10 gm
Red wine 15 ml
Thyme 3gm
Celery 20 gm
Leeks 20gm
Salt 5gm
Method:
1. Cut and clean the fish fillet and dry it with a kitchen towel. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and make a marinade. Cover the fish filet completely in the marinade and leave for half an hour.
2. Take a large baking tray and make a bed of roughly chopped celery, leeks, onions, garlic cloves and sprinkle black pepper.
3. Roast in the oven at 200 degree celsius for 40 minutes. Discard the bones and retrieve the drippings by deglazing with red wine. Add tomato paste and thyme to further flavour the lamb sauce. Cook till the lamb sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Now on a roasting tray place the marinated sole fillets and roast for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Serve hot with the lamb sauce drizzled on the side.
Dessert
Mango Vacherin with Raspberry and Vanilla Soup 185 Cal
Chef Rajesh Wadhwa, The Taj Palace
Ingredients (for 5 portion)
Vacherin:
Egg whites: 3
Stevia sachet: 2
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar has been added. Continue beating to make the whites stiff and glossy. Put the mixture in a piping bag with nozzle (1.5cm) and pipe it into 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookies, placed at a distance of about 1/2 inch on a baking sheet. Bake at 130° for 10min. Then turn down temperature to 100° for 30min. Take out of the oven and let the cookies cool.
Sorbet:
Stevia sachet 2
Mango pulp frozen 250gm
Mix the two and put in sorbet machine. Churn the mixture to a creamy texture.
Raspberry soup:
Raspberry pulp, frozen 250gm
Juice of 1 lime
Water 50gm
Vanilla essence a few drops
Puree the raspberry pulp and mix with limejuice water and vanilla keep aside.
Garnish
3 blueberries per portion
Assembling
Put the soup in the serving plate. Pipe the sorbet on base of cookies (vacherin) and put another vacherin on it. Keep this on the plate. Garnish it with mint sprig and blue berry.
