When eating out, most of us are surprised at how rich Caesar salad dressing can be (and it is often high in calories).

I make this low fat version which is much lighter and healthier, but still delivers all the great flavours of a classic Caesars salad.

Ingredients

(serves two)

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 slices of wholemeal bread
• 3 heads of little gem lettuce
• 1 tin (125g) anchovy fillets in olive oil (optional)

For the dressing

• 1 small garlic clove, peeled and grated
• 2 anchovy fillets (optional – taken from tin above)
• Pepper to season
• 2 tbsp low fat natural organic yoghurt
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 250g/1 ½ ozs freshly grated parmesan

Method

1. Flatten your chicken breasts by placing them side-by-side on a chopping board and then cover with Clingfilm and hit with the bottom of a saucepan until flattened out.
2. Heat a griddle pan on a high heat. Baste the chicken breasts with the olive oil and season with pepper.
3. Place onto the griddle and turn down the heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes, turn over and repeat for 5-10 more minutes, or until cooked through.
4. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Next, cut into slices widthways.
5. Preheat a conventional oven to 200ºC (or a fan-assisted oven to 180ºC).
6. To make healthy ‘croutons’, toast the bread until golden. Cut off the crusts and slice through the bread horizontally so that you are left with two sides of bread, each with one toasted side and one soft side.
7. Next, place toast on a baking tray, soft-side-up, and bake for 5 minutes or until the bread has curled up and dried.
8. Place the garlic, anchovy and some salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar and pound until broken into a smooth paste.
9. Add the yoghurt and lemon juice gradually until combined. Stir in the parmesan and season again to taste. (Alternatively, if you don’t own a pestle and mortar, add some more lemon juice to moisten the mixture and blend in a blender).
10. Drop the lettuce leaves into a bowl and mix together with the dressing. Place on a plate and top with the chicken breast and any additional anchovies.
11. Break the ‘croutons’ into the salad and adds some more parmesan shavings to serve.

Salad nicoise, whether made at home or eaten out in a restaurant, is one of my staples.

It’s satisfying and very high in protein which will balance blood sugar levels, meaning you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy foods during the day.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

• 6 new potatoes
• 50g/2ozs green beans, trimmed
• 1 small bag (85g/3-4ozs) mixed salad leaves
• 1 can tuna (185g/7ozs), drained
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• Small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 black olives, halved and pitted
• 20g/1oz fresh parmesan shavings

For the dressing

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Pinch of black pepper to season

Method

1. Simmer the new potatoes for 5 minutes, then add the green beans and simmer for a further 4 minutes, until just tender.
2. Remove new potatoes from water, allow to cool and then transfer to a refrigerator.
3. Next, remove green beans from the water and chill in cold water to stop them cooking further and getting too soft, then drain well and put to one side.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by blending the vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, shallots and Dijon mustard together in a small mixing bowl. Season with black pepper.
5. Toss the salad leaves in the dressing, leaving a teaspoon of dressing to one side, and then split between two plates. Flake the tuna on top of the leaves.
6. In a frying pan, sauté the red onion and garlic and lightly cook the tomatoes. Then add the remaining dressing and remove the mixture from the heat. Place the vegetables and the eggs on top of the salad leaves on the plate.
7. Halve the potatoes and arrange them on the plate with the green beans. Add the olives to the top, sprinkle with the parmesan shavings and serve immediately.

Cous cous is a wonderful grain to experiment with…and it’s so easy to make.

This salad is one of my favourites as it takes just a few minutes (with no cooking involved) and I especially love the kidney beans for a change (full of iron and cholesterol lowering fibre too!).

Ingredients

(serves 2)

• 100g/3 ½ ozs cous cous (uncooked weight)
• 150ml/5fl oz boiling water
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small knob unsalted butter
• 1 can (400g) red kidney beans, drained
• 1 red pepper, sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 8 black olives, chopped
• 100g/3 ½ ozs raisins
• 50g/1 ¾ ozs Feta cheese, cubed
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Place cous cous in a saucepan, then add the boiling water, followed by the olive oil. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes (without heating).
2. Use a fork to separate the grains once cooled and drain off any excess water.
3. Next, add the sliced peppers, spring onions, tomatoes and black olives to the cous cous and mix gently.
4. Sprinkle in the raisins and then crumble the Feta cheese into the dish.
5. Pour the lemon juice on top, mix all together and serve.