Cooking Japanese in Jamaica - Toki no peanut butter Yaki/Sengiri Yasai no salad/Okra soup

For some of us, the holiday is over. For the rest, it continues and so does indulging. Either way, we need some healthy low-calorie recipes after all that food and drink we consumed in the last few days.

Today, I am going to introduce you to three recipes, which are quick and easy with the ingredients you may very well have left in your fridge. It will also help you shed some weight. These are balanced dishes, so I recommend you keep cooking them through 2013.

Tori niku no peanut butter (grilled chicken with peanut butter sauce)

Cooking time 20 minutes

Serves 2 persons

Ingredients

Two 1/4lb boneless chicken breast

Salt

Pepper

2tbs peanut butter

1tsp soy sauce (Kikkoman brand recommended)

1tsp sake or white wine

Cooking Instructions

Season chicken breast with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix peanut butter, soy sauce and sake or white wine well.

You can cook chicken either in a frying pan with a small amount of oil or in the oven. Cook one side of each breast for five minutes. After turning the chicken, put peanut butter sauce over the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Sengiri yasai no salad (julienned vegetable salad)

Cooking time 15 minutes

Serves 2 persons

Ingredients

For salad

1/2 cucumber

2 cabbage leaves

1/2 stem of celery

1/2 carrot

1/2 tomato

For dressing

1 tbs soy sauce (Kikkoman brand recommended)

1tbs high-quality sesame oil

1tbs freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Cooking Instructions

Julienne all the vegetables except tomato. Dice tomato.

Cook carrot for one minute.

Meanwhile, mix soy sauce, sesame oil and grapefruit juice well.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve as a side dish for grilled chicken with peanut butter.

Okra soup

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serves 2 persons

Ingredients

3 okras

1/2 spring onion

1 egg

1chicken or vegetable consommé cube

400ml water (2 cups)

Salt & pepper

Cooking Instructions

Boil water and add consommé cube.

Cut okra and spring onions into small pieces. Throw them into boiling consommé soup and cook for 3 minutes. Add some salt and pepper if required.

Whisk egg and pour it into the soup. Immediately after pouring the egg, turn off the fire, cover with the lid and leave it for 3 minutes so the egg gets cooked.

Itadakimasu and have a healthy 2013.

Ai Irisawa-Coney managed a Japanese restaurant in Soho, London. She is also a founder of Epiphany Media Solutions and ACI Consultancy www.aci-consultacny.com in Kingston, Jamaica.