Lemon chicken

SERVES 2
PREP 10 mins
COOK 5 mins

PER SERVING 187 cals | PROTEIN 21.5g | CARBS 12g | FAT 5g | FIBRE 5.5g

A luscious, tangy stir-fry that makes two generous portions for very few calories. We tend to avoid cornflour in our recipes, but here it helps create a lovely glossy sauce to coat the chicken and vegetables. On a non-fast day, you could serve this with a few tablespoons of wholegrain rice.

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp dark soy sauce
finely grated zest and juice ½ small lemon
2 tsp coconut or canola oil
1 skinless chicken breast fillet (around 150g), cut into 1.5cm slices
1 capsicum, any colour, deseeded and sliced
1 medium carrot (around 80g), trimmed and thinly sliced
100g broccoli, cut into small florets
150ml chicken stock (made with ½ stock cube)
4 spring onions, trimmed and thickly sliced

METHOD
1. Mix the cornflour with the soy sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat, add the chicken, capsicum, carrot and broccoli and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned and the vegetables are beginning to soften.
3. Pour the lemon and soy mixture into the pan, add the chicken stock and spring onions and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook for 2 minutes, or until the sauce is slightly thickened and the chicken is cooked through, stirring regularly.
4. Sprinkle with grated lemon zest and serve with cauli-rice (recipe below).

COOK'S TIP
This can be made with firm tofu or prawns instead of chicken. Simply fry tofu with the vegetables in step two, or add prawns for the last couple of minutes of the cooking time.

Cauli-rice
SERVES 1
PER SERVING 68 cals | PROTEIN 5g

INGREDIENTS
½ small cauliflower (around 200g)

METHOD
1. Hold the cauliflower at the stalk end and coarsely grate in short, sharp movements in a downward direction. You can also do this in a food processor but don't let the pieces get too small or they will turn to a paste.
2. Either stir-fry with 1 teaspoon olive oil (27cals) in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over medium-high setting for 4–5 minutes, or steam in a saucepan over a medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes.
You could also microwave on HIGH for 2–3 minutes. The rice should retain a bit of bite, like al-dente pasta.
3. Stir in some chopped parsley or coriander, or squeeze over some fresh lemon juice for added flavour.

Extracted from The Fast 800 Easy by Dr Clare Bailey and Justine Pattison. Published by Simon & Schuster Australia, RRP $35. Photography © Smith & Gilmour