Panic has just set in.....

[assumpta]

I am having 2 friends, husband and wife, over for dinner tomorrow evening and have no idea what to cook. I am doing slimming world but have no cook books. Can someone please help? For pudding I was going to make fresh fruit salad, exotic fruits with a dash of cointreau, but what about starter and main course. I don't want it to appear, in your face obvious, that I am on a diet, but yet don't want to 'fall off the wagon'. Help!!

main course is easy, do some really nice grilled fish (salmon, cod), marinaded in something nice (lime juice and ginger?) then serve it with some good green veg (like green beans) and on rice or mash (you don't have to eat much of that) or with new potatoes. delicious.
for starter... do you need to do a starter? or can you provide things like smoked salmon on brown bread, some dips (like hummous and pita bread/carrot sticks) some nuts and crisps, etc while you have a drink before dinner, and you can then only eat the healthy bits?

For a really fun starter try soft boiled eggs with grilled asparagus spears to dip in. Yummy. Or use Quails eggs cooked for about 1 min. = NO SYNS

Another starter would be a fish 'pate' type thing with salmon, VLF cream cheese, and yoghurt.

Or smoked salmon, a few king prawns, some melon or mango and salad leaves like rocket. dressed with lemon juice/black pepper. You could have some finely sliced brown 'wholemeal' bread.

Main course grilled marinated fish is always yummy, but difficult on timing (must be cooked fresh) Therefore try a baked fish recipe, like a whole seabass or something. Or individual 'parcels with a fillet of fish on a bed of herbs/leeks/ lemon. Put them in as you sit down, they will take 20 mins.

If you are on a red day, you could do worse than a lovely piece of organic lamb roasted.

I wouldn't do nibbly bits as a starter as it is always dangerous.

If you can do the meal with NO SYNS you can drink flexible syns and have a decent bottle of wine (35 syns) and save syns for the week

What about stuffed peppers for starter? Get a pack of the gallo rice that's free in tomato flavour, cook it addign some finely chopped cougettes and onions if you want. Boil the peppers for about 10 mins, stuff them withthe rice mix, top with a slice of goats cheese (healthy extra) and bake in a hot oven for about 15 mins - gorgeous!

Wow, these sound delicious. I think I will definately go for the grilled fish for main course. It was suggested later this afternoon that we get an Indian take-away. Could this possibly work, in any way, for me???