CHICKEN SHAWARMA
Serves 4
This is a slow-cooked dish, but slicing chicken
breasts in half and batting them out to make
thinner pieces makes them cook superquickly.- 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
For the yoghurt dip- 200g plain yoghurt or thick kefir
- 1 tsp dried mint
- Pinch of sugar
- ½ tsp sumac
To serve- 4 large lettuce leaves or flatbreads
- Half a cucumber, sliced
- A few pickled chillies (optional)
- Cut the breasts in half as if you were
butterflying them: slice through from one long
side to the other so you have two pieces with
the same surface area but half the thickness. - Put each piece between two pieces of
clingfilm and pound them until they are
5mm thick. Repeat with the other breast. - Mix the lemon zest and juice, garlic, spices,
oregano and olive oil with salt and pepper. Add
the chicken and rub the mixture into it. Leave
to marinate for a few hours or overnight. - Heat a dry frying pan until hot, then add the
breasts and fry on one side until well browned.
Fry the other side for 2-3 minutes. Check the
chicken is cooked, then remove from the pan. - For the dressing, mix the yoghurt, mint and
sugar with a pinch of salt, then sprinkle with
sumac. Serve with the chicken on lettuce
leaves or flatbreads.
The Times Magazine 33Eat!
HAIRY BIKERS
CALS
370
COOK
10 MINSt’s ten years since Si King and Dave
Myers, aka the Hairy Bikers, made
their Hairy Dieters television series and
published their first diet book – a period
that changed their lives and led to them
shedding 7st between them. “Before then
we were, to put it bluntly, obese,” they say.
“While we will never be superskinny, we’ve
kept to a better weight and improved our
blood sugar levels and cholesterol. We’ve
changed our cooking style to include more
veg and lighter dishes and we’re definitely
way healthier than we were back then.
“We’re well aware of the risks of carrying
too much timber. It’s not about looking like
you’re auditioning for Love Island; it’s to do with
good health. And the older you get, the more
important it is to stay at a healthy weight,”
add King, 55, and Myers, 64, who last week
disclosed he is receiving treatment for cancer.
Their approach has never been one of
extreme dieting but rather to enjoy healthy,
home-cooked meals, and their latest book is
full of carefully balanced, nutritious meals that
won’t leave you hungry. The secret, they say,
is to eat well but not too much, watching the
portion size and keeping the amount of fat,
sugar and carbs to sensible levels.
A lot has happened in ten years and some
dietary advice has moved on. “We try our best
to keep up, but it’s easy to get confused: don’t
eat carbs, eat carbs, go high-fibre, low fat, and
so on. Every week there seems to be new
advice about diet and health – often very
contradictory – and it can be hard to know
what’s right and what isn’t. It would be all too
easy just to give up and reach for the nearest
biscuit, but that’s not the answer.”
So instead, together with Professor Roy
Taylor, the diabetes expert who worked with
them at the beginning of their health drive,
they’ve rounded up the latest advice:- Strict dieting should be an episode,
not a life sentence. - Rapid weight loss over a two or three-month
spell is more successful than slow weight loss. - It’s fine to count calories if that works for
you but there’s no need to obsess over them. - It’s more important to watch your portions
and keep moving. - Avoid highly processed foods and ready
meals and eat a good range of fresh foods. - It’s OK to eat full-fat yoghurt, cheese, butter
and so on, but remember that fat is high in
calories so don’t overdo it. - Don’t worry if you don’t eat breakfast – but if
you do, avoid carb-heavy meals, like cereal. - Avoid fruit juice and smoothies. Stick to
whole fruit. - Think of “five insteads a day” rather than five
a day. So instead of a slice of apple pie you
have an apple; instead of a side of chips you
have some delicious leeks. Tony Turnbull
I
PHOTOGRAPHS
Andrew Hayes-Watkins