Riso nero and salmon Wednesday

Before launching into my next recipe, and lest I forget that this blog is about keeping me motivated on my weightwatchers diet plan, I think it only fair that I give an update on what's been happening on the DIEt..

Yep DIEt... I hate the word, I realised, because amongst other thing, it contains the word die... an apt description of people's reaction to the plan by week 3! I know that of the diets WeightWatchers is the most sensible and the one most likely to succeed in the long run. Its results may not be immediately apparent but it slowly retrains your attitude towards food. It doesn't mean that its easy though.

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, I have lost weight, I'm now down to 131.5kg but it has not shifted from there for a few days now. Admittedly I've had some corkers! yesterday was our team lunch, the snow has prevented our shopping from being delivered (yes 2 inches of snow has brought the mighty Ocado to its knees) and our car was ice bound so we've been living on supplies. Some of which were not exactly the healthiest choices I could have made- i.e. peanut butter on toast with jam. To top it all off I woke up with a cold today and it's settled in my chest so now I'm feeling sorry for myself, I didn't go swimming (although I made it to pilates) and I'm unlikely to run tomorrow. Woe is me!

So to cheer everyone up here's what I cooked for our main meal tonight... It is healthy with only 2 table spoons of olive oil.

The Salmon:
1 teaspoons of manuka honey
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
2 (260g) pieces salmon fillet, skin removed

Mix together the honey, lemon juice and mustard. Heat a non-stick griddle  pan until hot but not smoking and cook salmon 3 minutes on each side, or until it is just cooked through.  Add sauce mixture to the pan and simmer until it glazes. Remove from the pan and serve with Italian black rice and mushrooms and mange tout.

The Riso Nero e funghi (black rice and mushrooms):
120g of Italian riso venere (black rice). Note this is not wild rice, this is rice, but it is black on the outside.
350g closed cup mushrooms
2 Portobello mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion
1 celery stalk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cube porcini mushroom stock
parsley and chili to taste

To cook the black rice, simply add to abundant boiling water with a pinch of salt. This is not risotto rice so it must be cooked independently of the mushrooms and added at the end of the cooking.  The rice has to boil for about 35-40 minutes, until it is cooked through but it must not become soft and mushy. Once cooked drain the excess water and leave to rest. Chop the onion and celery and sauté in a pan  with the oil, chili and garlic until caramelised. In the meantime steam the chopped mushrooms in the microwave and preserve the juice. Add the mushrooms to the onions and celery, let them complete the cooking. add the juice from the steamer, the stock cube, the rice and the parsley. Let the rice absorb the remaining juice and leave it to rest while you cook the salmon.