Last Updated on December 7, 2018 by Fiona Maclean
5:2 Diet Chilli Beef Stir-Fry
I’m still doing the 5:2 Diet. I even went out and bought some BRUTAL scales that weigh me accurately (I could lose a couple of kilos by getting on and off the old scales enough times…and that wasn’t through exercise!). And the nasty new scales also show my body fat! horrendous! just the THOUGHT of being made up of over 35% fat is just scary! If you haven’t found the original BBC Horizon programme information then do check this out, for more information about Michael Mosley’s findings
Today’s meal is a personal challenge. I wanted to see if I could make a 5:2 diet friendly meal that involved red meat. One thing I discovered at the De La Panza Steak workshop was that different cuts of steak have markedly different fat content and because of that, very different calories gram for gram. Fillet steak is one of the leanest cuts and has around 100 calories per 100g. If you use the meat to make a stirfry, then you don’t need as much to create something of a feast…my recipe uses just 50g per person! Some cultures, particular in Asia and India eat much lower quanties of meat, although they are not necessarily vegetarian – and their populations have a lower incidence of many unpleasant diseases. So, eating a little less meat is no bad thing in my view. And if it’s part of the 5:2 diet, then I might just lose some weight too.
- 50 g Fillet steak or another lean cut
- 1 Continental Spring Onion or a couple of the smaller sort
- 100 g Broccoli
- 100 g Courgettes
- 100 g Chinese Cabbage or pak choi
- 1 clove Garlic crushed
- 1/2 Red Chilli seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 piece Root Ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Light Soy
- 1 teaspoon Sunflower or Sesame oil
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Mix together the chilli, ginger, garlic, soy and rice wine vinegar.
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Slice the beef finely along the grain, then put it into the soy mix
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Trim the spring onion and slice. Keep the white bulb portion separate from the green leaves
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Prepare all the vegetables, slicing into smallish pieces
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Heat the oil in the wok till just smoking. Drain the beef, reserving the soy mix, and add to the oil with the courgettes and the white parts of the spring onion. Cook for a minute
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Add the brocolli and chinese cabbage and cook for a further couple of minutes stirring constantly, till the vegetables are cooked but haven't lost their crunch.
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Pour over the remaining soy and chilli mix and stir through
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Serve with a small portion of boiled rice, garnished with the green parts of the spring onion.
For some reason anything that has steak in it is a ‘treat’ for me, something of a feast. So, this is my proof that you can indeed feast on a fast day.
The calorie count for this recipe is as follows
50g fillet steak (50cals)
100g broccoli (34cal),
100g Chinese cabbage (13cals),
100g courgettes (30cals).
1 spring onion (10 cals)
The sauce was a teaspoon of mirin, a teaspoon of soy sauce and a mix of ginger, chilli and garlic (around 50cals)
I used a teaspoon of sunflower oil to stir fry (40 calories)
Total Calories 227
I also had a small portion of boiled rice (35g dry weight) which will have added about 130 calories.
The meal was very tasty and satisfying. I am keeping to my previous 5:2 diet plan of a little o% greek yoghurt in the morning or as a snack and up to 5 cups of white coffee made with 1% milk. And hopefully, my body fat measurement will improve, along with a bit more weight loss!
Looking for some more inspiration for your 5:2 diet or simply for a low-calorie meal? here are some of my other recipes
Livorno Fish Stew for the 5:2 Diet – more fish – it’s one of the easiest ways to keep to a llow-caloriediet!
Tarragon Chicken Parcels for 5:2 Diet simple, tasty and something you can serve to the whole family – 5:2 diet friendly
Galician Hake the Low Calorie 5:2 diet way! A lovely warming dish that I could eat whether or not on a diet
I don’t need the diet bit, but always looking for different recipes, and this looks great!
Am thinking of having a go at this diet and your recipes sound lovely! Looking forward to trying them!
the diet works very well for me, if you want help or support there are some great facebook groups, let me know!
I would just like to thank you for all your recipes! I was quite apprehensive about starting this diet as I had no idea what I’d eat on my fasting days but you’ve made it so much easier.
Glad you like them;) I’ve actually really enjoyed finding ways to eat well and keep the calories right down
Thank you Fiona for your superb recipes, they’re not only beautiful and satisfying but make it really easy to keep on track with the 5:2 system. Think I’ll look for some new scales too! Thanks again
glad you are enjoying the recipes. I think it’s making it easier for me to do the diet too…I don’t do well on shop bought shakes and soups.
That is a feast. We have scales bells and whistles but most of it stopped working after a while and we only use the weighing bit now.
my old ones were dreadfully inaccurate, I could get a different reading by stepping on and off…till I got to something I was just about happy with!
What make is your scales? Mine are also inaccurate.
the new ones are Tanita these, from john lewis.
I’m really impressed (though still getting to grips with the technology). You can track your body weight, hydration, body fat and visceral fat levels amongst other things. I am trying to keep a balance of diet and exercise, so the body fat and hydration measures are really important (it’s possible to lose body fat, lose inches and gain weight!)
I’d had the old ones for over 10 years and got them from IKEA…so probably reasonable to expect them to be inaccurate.