Witness the Fastness!

Another 5:2 recipe for all of you out there watching what you eat on this fine March day.

I was struggling with ideas yesterday, but quite fancied making a butter bean mash, so being struck with inspiration, I thought "Hey! Fish is low calorie and goes well with mash!" Then I remembered that I made a fish pie last week. Bum. Not quite the enterprising new idea I was after. If I remove the fish, that leaves me with a big gap to fill and only a few calories to use, what on earth could fill this cavernous expanse near my mash? Aha! Lentils! I mentioned lentil pie before but didn't actually make one, so here is my...

Little Lunchtime Lentil Lovely

Serves 2

60g green lentils (dry, uncooked weight, 174 calories cooked)

500ml water

1 chicken or vegetable stock/jelly cube (50)

60g celery (9)

1 bay leaf

onion granules

garlic granules

cayenne pepper

celery salt

salt & pepper

1 400g tin of butter beans (240g drained weight, 112 calories)

1 garlic clove (4)

Total 349

174.5 calories per person.

1. Cover the green lentils with the 500ml of water, add the stock/jelly cube, bay leaf and season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and celery salt to taste. Boil for 10 minutes, and then turn down and simmer for a further 15-25 minutes.
2. In a separate pan place the drained butter beans and peeled garlic clove in a little water and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 15 minutes.
3. Remove the bay leaf, drain the lentils and reserve the gravy. Weigh out the lentils and make sure there is around 80g cooked weight per person. If making individual pies, like me, now is the time to separate them.
4. Use around half of the gravy to lubricate the butter beans as you mash them, by pouring in a little at a time, mashing and stirring until the beans magically become fluffy mashed glory.
5. Split the rest of the gravy between your pies, or pour it all in to your lentils if making one big pie.
6. Separate pie makers, weigh and split your mash evenly and spread over your pies. Otherwise just slather it all on there like you're plastering a wall.
7. Eat immediately. Or leave to cool, wait a while, and heat it up before eating it later. Or just eat it cold. Up to you really all are pretty good.

This isn't the prettiest of meals, but it is pretty flavoursome and rather filling, so should keep you satsified until dinner time.

How do you like your lentils?