Food for thought

Having said that, like so many, I did make a bit of effort to rein it in last month. Who doesn’t feel like that in January? After two weeks of being surrounded by Quality Street cartons, sherry bottles; pannetone and mince pies in every cupboard, who doesn’t want to give their body a bit of a health spa moment?

I’ve just hit 48, and my once-dependable metabolism is half the chemical process it used to be. Hangovers that could be walked off in under an hour now hang around for days and I’ve found myself putting weight on simply by glancing at cookery magazines.

Last year I signed up for a six-week fitness course and for the first time ever, my weight started heading in the opposite direction. A lot of this was down to cutting right back on carbohydrates. I have always subscribed to Nigella Lawson’s maxim that all food can be improved by putting it between two slices of bread, and I have been known to eat my body-weight in pasta in a single week, so I couldn’t cut them out altogether.

There are various diets, like Keto or Paleo – all these diets seem to sound like minor Californian celebrities – which seem to be all about cutting things out altogether, which just isn’t for me.

However, cutting the carbs right back and adding protein instead, along with regular exercise, resulted in elements of my jawline becoming visible for the first time since my mid thirties.

Good luck, then if you’re keeping up the spirit of January into this month and remaining steadfast. I’m sure that there are plenty of gyms and fitness centres near you but, from personal experience, I can recommend CXF Wellbeing at The Pump House in Rhos-on-Sea, and Fast Way To Fitness in Mochdre. Here’s a glass raised to your success (just the one).

In my quest to strip back the carbs, I found that adding pulses instead was an effective switcheroo. This recipe has come to the rescue on many a cold, wet, dark evening. It’s an especially good way to use up Sunday’s roast chicken: make a stock from the bones and add all the meat to the soup…

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

150g smoked bacon, cut into slices

2 chicken breasts, sliced (or add the leftovers from the roast chicken)

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

400g tin cannellini beans, drained

400g tin butter beans, drained

900ml chicken stock (homemade, ideally)

1 bay leaf

1 savoy cabbage (core removed), finely shredded

Salt & pepper, to season

Parmesan cheese

Heat a heavy-bottomed pan and add the bacon. Fry until it starts to colour, then add the chicken and stir. After a few minutes, add the garlic and the fresh herbs. After one minute, add the beans. Pour in the stock, add the bay leaf, stir and season. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage and continue to simmer for five minutes. Serve in deep bowls with grated Parmesan over the top… and no bread. n

Cai Ross is co-owner and Maitre d’ of the awardwinning Paysanne Bistro in Deganwy, which has been serving French country-style food to the fine people of North Wales since 1988. He also writes for Calibre Magazine, BBC Good Food, HeyUGuys.com and The North Wales Weekly

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