Day 21

No weight change. That's OK,-I've been laid up this weekend with Cysts, so exercise has been nil....also had Cheezely, biccies and pickled onions yesterday,-may not have helped but sure was fabulous:-)

The promised drive past veges happened(!) and as a result some really gorgeous fresh celery was purchased.

Having recently read that the Samurai diet was based largely on brown rice and veges, I decided to get creative and make a nice Japanese-style meal with very little fat and lots of goodness. For those that aren't privvy to Japanese traditions, they eat small quantities and usually have rice with a meal rather than bread.

I am also very taken with Ken Watanabe in general...lol

So here's the meal, with recipes to follow;

Samurai Soup

prep: Soak 1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns in 1tbsp kecap manis, 1tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp Chinese five spice, 1 tsp garlic granules, 1 tbsp sweet chillit sauce & 1/2 cup water until corns are squishy

Soak 3/4 cup pearl barley for 3 hours in cold water, rinse and drain.

Ingredients

( as well as the above) 1 large white onion, finely diced, leaves and stalks of 1/2 bunch of celery (top half), 3 L Massel Chicken Stock.

Method

Soften onions in a little stock and add sauce/spice mix til fragrant

Place celery tops in food processor until finely chopped and add to pot

Add soaked barley and stock and boil (rolling) for 1 hr

Just before serving, add 2 packets of crushed rice noodles (vermicelli) and a handful of crushed toasted sesame seeds. Serve with

Chilli Spring Onion Rice

In a microwave safe bowl combine the following;

1 cup brown rice, 4 tbsp savoury yeast flakes, 2 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp massel chicken stock, 3 cups water.

Microwave on High for 30 min or until all liquid is absorbed. Fold through chopped spring onions (2 large,stem and stalk or 3-4 small)

Serve as a side dish.

A plate of steamed greens with toasted sesame seeds would also go well with this meal, bok choy or gai lan would be my suggestions. Steam until just green and drizzle with 3.2.1 sauce ( 3 tbsp soy, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp splenda + generous whack of toasted, ground sesame seeds).

'A good, functional and healthy body is the ultimate fashion statement' -Kiyokazu Washida