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Dinner party for dieters?

12 replies

notasize10yetbutoneday · 13/01/2010 10:11

Can't moan too much as one of them is actually me! My friend and her DF are coming for dinner on saturday night, she is dieting to lose weight for their wedding, as am I as Im their bridesmaid.

So what can I make that will still be nice and 'special' enough for dinner party but not laden with cream, oil, butter, etc? Can't serve a salad or rabit fiood as doesnt seem right on a saturday night and also not very fair on the men who arent dieting!

Any ideas please?

Thanks

OP posts:
BecauseImWorthIt · 13/01/2010 10:12

Assume you're calorie counting?

Will have a think.

Have you got any of Nigella's books? She usually has some lovely stuff for dieting

wilbur · 13/01/2010 10:15

Onion soup to start - men can have bread and cheese on top of theirs, practically no calories otherwise and delicious and cheap. For main do some kind of fish baked in a foil parcel with garlic, white wine, thin sliced onions and cherry toms. Serve with steamed veg for dieters and garlic mash for blokes.

ConnieComplaint · 13/01/2010 10:16

I follow the SW plan & could give you a SW style menu, though it would depend on whether you follow a calorie controlled diet or not if you'd want to eat it!!

I'd go for a melon, orange & strawberry starter for yourself & you friend, served in a nice wine glass, maybe prawn cocktail (go retro!) Or you could breadcrumb your own mushrooms & stuff with philidelphia light, even the men might like these?

For dinner I would go either chinese style or a roast dinner - depending what they like I might do big steaks with jacket spuds or something, but then I am very easily pleased & enjoy anything that is made for me

If you're good for dinner I'm sure you could get away with something kind of naughty for dessert!!

wilbur · 13/01/2010 10:17

If you don't like fish, you can do chicken breasts this way, but brown them first or they look a bit pale and uninspiring when they come out.

BecauseImWorthIt · 13/01/2010 10:18

I have a recipe for mushroom pate that's made with Philadelphia - could just as easily be made from light stuff:

250g mushrooms
30g butter
3-4 garlic cloves, pelled and finely chopped
250g cream cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper

Clean and trim the mushrooms and chop finely

Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heaat, drop in the mushrooms and garlic and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or until all the moisture the mushrooms release has evaporated. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

Blitz the mushrooms in a food processor until smooth, then add the cream cheese and blitz again until well blended. Season to taste then leave to cool completely.

Refrigerate for at least an hour for the garlic flavour to develop.

This will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

I guess you could also reduce the amount of butter by half, or substitute it for something lower in fat.

notasize10yetbutoneday · 13/01/2010 10:23

Thanks- there are some excellent ideas there- i love the idea of the melon starter and also fish for main- I remebrr a while ago I did seabass like that with cherry toms and it was lovely! So thanks for reminding me!

Im doing WW Simply filling which i think is very similar to SW, in that, 'good' foods eg skinless poultry, fish, grains, etc are all 'free' and you have a points allowance (syns in SW) for extras.

OP posts:
coldtits · 13/01/2010 10:25

A LOT of veg in serving dishes. More than you would normally bother with, as people will not want to be 'seen' dieting so will fill their plates with it. I'd suggest carrots, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, mangetout and a med-mix of cherry tops, onions and peppers stirfried in frylight.

Bonsoir · 13/01/2010 10:29

Vegetable soup

A baked fish, with green vegetables, white rice and a lemon/herb dressing

A soupe de fruits rouges - a soft fruit salad of strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants, cut very small, in a light mint-and-sugar syrup

coldtits · 13/01/2010 10:30

Ooooh bonsot that pudding sounds delectable

BlingLoving · 13/01/2010 10:43

This is a dilemma I expect to face a lot over the next few months as I am absolutely committed to losing weight - none of my usual half hearted attempts here this time.

As it's winter, I'd start with soup. Which has the added benefit of being easy to make low calorie. I'm doing weight watchers so will base my menu on that.

I'd do a pea and spinach soup [In a tiny amount of oil, fry a small finely chopped onion and a finely chopped leak. Then add one bag of baby spinach and about 100g of frozen peas and about 1litre of stock (enough to cover peas and spinach generously after the spinach has wilted) . Simmer gently for 10 - 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly then use a hand blender to liquidise, adding salt and pepper to taste and half a teaspoon of nutmeg. The soup will be a fairly unappetizing dark green at this stage. When serving it (hot), add a table spoon of plain greek yoghurt to each bowl and mix through. Makes it a much nicer colour and adds a lot of flavour. For the men, you can also top with crunch bacon bits]. This soup is 2 points for weight watchers [excluding bacon].

You could also do a butternut soup which is also low in points and can be jazzed up with some spices like cumin, coriander and ginger (even a bit of curry).

For main, I'd do chicken and parma ham bake. This is surprisingly low points as the parma ham goes a long way.

Wrap chicken breasts in a slice of parma ham each and place in a large roasting tray. Around the chicken place baby tomatoes (pricked) and slices of sweet potato. Also toss a few garlic cloves into the dish and sprinkle some thyme or origanum too. By the end, everything should be snug (bulk up with sweet potato and tomatoes). Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (mainly on the tomatoes and sweet potatoe) and put in a medium oven for about 30- 40 minutes - the parma ham will crisp up and release it's fat to help cook the tomatos and sweet potato. You can stir the vegetables around about half way through if you want to.
I work this out to be about 4 and a half points per person, assuming that you only have a 100g chicken breast for the dieters and bulk up on the tomatos and sweet potato. Serve with some extra green vegetables like green beans or brocolli. You can also serve it with some couscous (possibly just for the men) which will be lovely with the juices from the roasting try. (alternatively, leave out the sweet potato and serve it with mash, but that makes it a lot more calories/points).

For dessert, I'd go for something very chocolatey and intense and small - some kind of chocolate thing made in espresso cups with 70% dark chocolate. I need to investigate this kind of thing myself! Or, try serving frozen yoghurt with fresh fruit.

notasize10yetbutoneday · 13/01/2010 10:46

Thank you for so many great ideas- they are so much tastier than the grilled chicken breast I was considering!

BIWI my friend doesnt like mushrooms- but I LOVE them, so i'll definitely be doing that pate for me as a change for lunches at work.

Good tip on loads of veg- normally id only do perhaps mangetout, brocoli and babycorn so adding some roasted mediterranean veg is an excellent idea.

OP posts:
notasize10yetbutoneday · 13/01/2010 10:47

Bling thank you- those ideas are excellent. im going to print this thread for all future dinner parties. Like you- Im thinking something small and intense for dessert- my instinct says chocolate mousse in shot glasses? or is that just too small?

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