Breakfast

A mate of mine lost loads of weight last year, and when I asked her what her secret was, she recited the old saw about eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

The cliché may well have made me want to roll my eyes to the ceiling. In fact, that's probably what I did (a poker face has never been my forte). But, reluctant as I am to admit it, she's got a point. A good breakfast is absolutely vital if you're dieting. The question is, what kind of thing should I be eating every morning? I need something to give me enough of a boost to my metabolism to see me through the next few hours – without weighing me down and making me feel queasy.

I'll 'fess up now. Breakfast has never really been my thang (apart from the cornbread, bacon and maple syrup I used to serve up on morning afters, back in my single days – never failed to impress, I'm proud to say). I'd rather have the extra 20 minutes in bed, to be quite honest, so most mornings, I start the day with a strong cup of coffee, then find myself grabbing something delicious and totally inappropriate on the way to a tasting or a meeting. Something like a muffin or a croissant. Mmmmm, muffins... At the weekend or on holiday, I've been known to be partial to a kipper or a full English, if I've got time. Sadly, all these options are now out of the question. (My greedy subconscious actually sparked a dream about bacon and sausages last night. How totally tragic is that?)

But there are plenty of options open to me. To start with there's scrambled (or poached or boiled) eggs, served with a slice of toast (toast is just fine – as long as it's wholegrain or multigrain. White is off the menu, and I'd strongly recommend buying a quality loaf rather than a pre-sliced job as the latter are loaded with sugar). If you're going to scramble your eggs, just whisk them gently with some salt and pepper – not milk or cream – then fry them with the merest skerrick of butter.

Most days, though, I've been enjoying a home-made muesli (the commercial ones are too full of sugar, not to mention dried fruit – not a good idea). It's simplicity itself to make, and once you've prepared the basic cereal it'll last for days – you only need a double handful each morning. You can douse your muesli with semi-skimmed milk, of course, but I'm particularly enjoying mine mixed in with a couple of tablespoons of 0% fat Greek yoghurt – and sometimes I add a bit of sliced fresh fruit.

Enough muesli for 10 days or so

200g rolled oats
200g rye flakes
40g sesame seeds
60g almonds, roughly chopped
60g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
200g sugar-free fruit spread
100g All Bran

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark6.

Mix the oats, rye flakes, sesame seeds and nuts in a bowl.

Stir 100ml of boiling water into the fruit spread, then mix it thoroughly with the cereals and nuts.

Spread the mixture evenly out over two roasting tins, then place in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir again, then place in oven for a further 10 minutes. Remove from oven and, if the cereal is evenly toasted, allow to cool. If not, stir once again, and leave in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Once the cereal is cool, stir in the bran flakes, then store in an airtight container.

Last Sunday I decided I'd had enough muesli, delicious as it is, so Mark and I opted for corn fritters, served with ham, crème fraiche and tomatoes. These little fritters are a really nice way of starting the day, especially when you serve them with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. The batter mix is enough to make three fairly substantial fritters – Mark had two and I had one.

This is a good general principle: if you're dieting, but your partner isn't, there's nothing to stop them from having an extra helping of whatever you're eating. There are also ways in which you can add simple 'extras' to a dish for your non-dieting partner – I'll flag these up when and where it's appropriate.
Corn fritters with ham, crème fraiche and tomatoes – makes three

50g polenta
50g plain flour
1 egg (preferably free range or organic)
1 tbsp olive oil, then a scant tbsp for frying
100-125ml semi-skimmed milk
70g canned sweetcorn, drained
1 tsp carraway seeds
3 tbsp crème fraiche
6 slices of parma ham or speck, cut into strips
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the polenta and flour into a bowl, then whisk in the egg and 1 tbsp olive oil. Whisk in the milk bit by bit until you end up with a thick, sticky batter. Season well (the fritters can be bland otherwise), then stir in the sweetcorn kernels and carraway seeds.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, then pour in a third of the batter. Flatten it out with the back of a wooden spoon and fry until brown. Flip the fritter over and fry on the other side until brown.

Place on a plate and top with crème fraiche, ham and tomato halves.