chicken roll-up & the dukan diet

It's been more than a month since my last blogpost/recipe and I suppose any potential followers I might have gained have given up hope on ever reading anything on here ever again, but here I am with a brand new cooking-for-one recipe :) I have had a busy semester so far (luckily with a short holiday in between terms) and besides the fact that I have sort of forgotten about this blog, I must confess that I have mostly been eating convenience meals and fast food :O

However, last week Wednesday I started the Dukan diet. It comprises of four phases and yesterday I completed the Attack Phase, where I basically only had pure proteins, fat free dairy and oat bran for 5 days. I thought I would find this particular phase extremely difficult as I generally survive off carbs, but it went by quickly and I was never hungry and never really felt deprived (except when we had a braai at my boyfriend's house and everyone except us had chips, drinks and starchy side dishes!). In the first four days I lost 2.2 kg (most of it is probably water weight, but I do have to get another hole punched in my belt soon, so some of it definitely is body fat). Today I started the Cruise Phase, where I will alternate pure protein (PP) days with protein and vegetable (PV) days. I must admit that I've never been so excited to prepare and eat vegetables as I was today :) This phase will be followed until I reach my goal weight and then the Consolidation and lifelong Stabilization Phases will follow.

Besides the extremely motivational daily weight loss, I have been feeling extremely energized since I started this regime. In the mornings when my alarm sounds, I open my eyes and get up, instead of instinctively hitting the snooze button like before. It sure is a welcome "side effect" of the lack of carbs in my diet! So far I can really recommend this diet to anyone wanting to get back in shape. I would also recommend getting a "buddy" to do it with you - my boyfriend is also following this diet now (he lost 2.5 kg in 5 days and his 60-year-old mother has lost 10 kg in 4 months) and being able to share accomplishments and recipe ideas with someone really helps. Yesterday we went for a fast-paced 10 km trail walk/jog in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve and after that we had a Dukan-friendly picnic (so it is possible to stay social while on the diet!) :)

And now for the recipe, which is after all the reason you are reading this blog in the first place: I saw something similar on Masterchef Australia during the week and decided I would try my own version of chicken roll-up, served with baby carrots (since I can eat vegetables now...yay!). I have also decided to give my recipes in a more user-friendly bullet form, so I hope you find it easier to follow now :)

Chicken roll-up served with baby carrots

Ingredients
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 skinless, deboned chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
1 teaspoon cottage or cream cheese
2 slices pastrami
(baby carrots)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil on medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat. Add the salt, cayenne pepper and thyme and mix thoroughly.
4. Remove from heat and blend with blitz stick or in food processor together with cheese until it forms a paste.
5. Cut the chicken breast lengthwise, cover with cling film and pound until thin and pliable.
6. Spread the onion paste mixture on the chicken breast and later with one slice of pastrami.
7. Roll up and roll the other slice of pastrami around the chicken breast.
8. Tie with string or "pin" it closed with toothpicks.
9. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
10. Cut into thick slices. Make sure the chicken is cooked (no longer pink and/or slimy)

I made the baby carrots according to this recipe and used only the amount of carrots I wanted to eat of course.

The end product was very tasty, the outside slice of pastrami was nice and crispy and the onion mixture delightfully sweet and all Dukan diet friendly! :D

Bon appétit!