The diet-friendly healthy dinner party

Keeping on the straight and narrow when trying to eat healthily can be hard enough when you’re battling it alone - but throw in your best mates and a saturday night out to catch up over dinner and you face level 10 danger of falling off the wagon.

However,  rather than locking ourselves away to avoid temptation we thought it better to seek out the help of nutritional therapist and in-house expert, Henrietta Norton  to help us solve this dieting dilemma.

So, using her mastermind of culinary knowledge she’s composed a full dinner party menu that’s nutritious, delicious and devilishly dapper - no longer the hermit, you’ll be the host!

Starter

Shaved fennel, courgette and feta salad

1 medium courgette, sliced very thinly

2 small fennel bulbs, shredded thinly.

15g fresh dill, chopped

80ml fresh lemon juice

80ml olive oil

4 handfuls of fresh rocket

60g almonds, lightly toasted

60g Feta cheese, crumbled

Method

Combine the courgette, fennel and dill in a bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of rock salt. Mix and leave to marinate for 20 minutes. When ready to serve, put a handful of rocket per person on to a plate, top with 1-2 tablespoons of the courgette and fennel mixture and toss gently. At the end, pour on the remaining marinade if needed. Sprinkle each portion with the toasted almonds and feta, and serve. (If you find the lemon marinade is too tart you can add a drizzle of honey).

Main

Steamed wild trout with puy lentils and an avocado salad

2 x 175g wild trout fillets

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, julienned

1/2 lime, sliced

1 red chilli, julienned

20g fresh coriander, chopped

100g ready-prepared Puy lentils

For the salad

1 avocado, cubed

2 spring onions, chopped

1 cucumber, cubed

For the dressing

15g dill, finely chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon water

Method

Place the trout in a steamer with the ginger and lime and steam for approximately 8 minutes. Remove from the steamer and sprinkle the chilli and fresh coriander on top. Mix the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl. Add the salad ingredients and mix with the dressing. Serve the trout on top of the Puy lentils with the salad on the side.

Dessert

Lychee, mango and basil sorbet

200g lychees (peeled and pitted)

200g mango, chopped

2tbsp lime juice

150ml agave syrup

225ml water

3 tablespoon basil leaves

Method

Whizz all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Transfer to an ice-cream maker and freeze for 1-2 hours. Then, transfer to a freezer proof container, cover and freeze until firm. If you don't have an ice cream machine transfer the mixture to a shallow freezer-proof dish and place in the freezer until it just starts to harden around the edges. Whisk vigorously with a fork to break up the ice crystals and then refreeze until firm.