Authors: Pierre Dukan

The Dukan Diet (24 page)

Remember too that skin that has become slack after weight loss needs 6 months to completely finish retracting. After this time, do not expect any spontaneous improvement.

Exercise will help you to lose more weight more quickly. You will look better and feel better, and you will enjoy the feeling of success and satisfaction.

100 NATURAL FOODS THAT KEEP YOU SLIM
Eat As Much As You Like

MEAT

Steak: flank, sirloin, London broil
Beef tenderloin, filet mignon
Extra lean kosher beef hot dogs
Lean deli sliced roast beef
Buffalo
Venison
Extra lean ham
Pork tenderloin, pork loin roast
Lean center-cut pork chops
Reduced-fat bacon, soy bacon
Veal chops Veal scaloppine

POULTRY

Chicken
Ostrich steak
Chicken liver
Turkey
Low-fat deli slices of chicken or turkey
Cornish hen
Nonfat turkey and chicken sausage
Wild duck
Quail
Rabbit

FISH

Arctic char
Catfish
Cod
Flounder
Grouper
Haddock
Halibut and smoked halibut
Herring
Mackerel
Mahi-mahi
Monkfish
Orange roughy
Perch
Red snapper
Salmon or smoked salmon
Sardines
Sea bass
Shark
Sole
Surimi
Swordfish
Tilapia
Trout
Tuna, fresh or canned in water

SHELLFISH

Clams
Crab
Crawfish, crayfish
Lobster
Mussels
Octopus
Oysters
Scallops
Shrimp
Squid

EGGS

Chicken eggs

NONFAT DAIRY PRODUCTS

Fat-free cottage cheese
Fat-free cream cheese
Fat-free ricotta
Fat-free sour cream
Nonfat milk
Nonfat yogurt, unsweetened or artificially sweetened

PLANT PROTEINS

Tofu
Tempeh
Seitan
Soy foods and veggie burgers (see “
Category 8: Vegetable Proteins
”)

VEGETABLES

Artichoke
Asparagus
Bean sprouts
Beet
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Endive
Fennel
Green beans
Kale
Lettuce, arugula, radicchio
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions, leeks, shallots
Palm hearts
Peppers
Pumpkin
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Tomato
Turnip
Watercress
Zucchini

AND

Sugar-free gelatin

RECIPES AND
MENUS

If you have already started the pure protein diet, you have probably noticed its surprising mixture of effectiveness and simplicity. One of the best things about the Dukan Diet is this simplicity, which eliminates all ambiguity by focusing on exactly which foods you can eat. But this diet also has its Achilles’ heel. Some patients, because they lack time or imagination, limit themselves to a repertoire of steaks, chicken breast, extra-lean deli turkey, hard-boiled eggs, and nonfat yogurt, repeating the same menu day after day.

This solution is of course in line with the diet’s creed, which is to allow you to eat freely within the list of permitted foods. However, limiting yourself in this way eventually becomes monotonous and wearisome, wrongly creating the impression that the Dukan Diet lacks variety.

But it does not, so it is absolutely essential, especially for anyone who has a lot of weight to lose, to make an effort to ensure that their meals are not only bearable, but actually appetizing and attractive.

Among my patients, I have seen that some people are more inventive than others and manage to create bold dishes and combinations, as well as innovative recipes that make their diet enjoyable. I started writing down these recipes and giving them to other patients who had less time or creativity, instigating a recipe exchange for anyone about to start the Dukan Diet.

These recipes make use of the list of foods for the pure protein Attack diet and then the list for the Cruise diet, with its protein foods and vegetables. They are only suggestions and in no way prevent inventive readers from coming up with original ideas to make their meals even more varied. The ultimate purpose of this recipe collection is to save time so
anyone using them can spend more time on improving the quality and presentation of their dishes and meals.

Sauces, Mayonnaise, and Dressings

The vast majority of sauces require large quantities of oil, butter, or cream, which are the chief enemies of anyone wanting to lose weight. The one exception is tiny, almost negligible amounts of vegetable oil (of your choice) when necessary.

The major problem in following my program, in particular its first two phases, is therefore finding suitable sauces and seasonings to accompany the pure proteins of the Dukan Diet.

You can replace fats with several available alternatives, including the following:

•
Cornstarch
. Cornstarch, a cousin of tapioca, is useful for its thickening and binding properties. Although it is a carbohydrate, you need such a tiny amount—1 teaspoon for ½ cup (125 milliliters) of sauce—that it is allowed. Cornstarch makes sauces, especially béchamel, creamy without adding any fat.

Before using cornstarch in a sauce, you must thin it with a small amount of cold liquid—water, milk, or stock—before adding it to the hot mixture. It thickens when heated.

•
Low-fat bouillon cubes (beef, chicken, fish, and vegetable)
. Low-fat bouillon cubes are very useful for their thickening and binding qualities when replacing oil in salad dressings and also for sauces. When mixed with a bed of chopped, sautéed onions to accompany meat and fish, they add flavor without fat.

Consuming raw or undercooked eggs carries the risk of serious food poisoning with salmonella bacteria. Raw or undercooked eggs should not be eaten by the very young, the very old, pregnant women, or anyone with a compromised immune system.

Some recipes in this book call for raw eggs. Pasteurized eggs, which can be found in many supermarkets, can be substituted for raw eggs in any of these recipes with virtually the same results. If pasteurized eggs are not available, in some recipes liquid pasteurized eggs such as Egg Beaters or Better’n Eggs can be used. Dressing and sauce recipes using liquid pasteurized eggs will have a slightly thinner consistency.

Unless otherwise noted, the following recipes for sauces, mayonnaise, and dressings can be used in the Attack phase of the diet as well as the Cruise, Consolidation, and Permanent Stabilization phases.

Basic Vinaigrette 1
This easy, flavorful vinaigrette uses a tiny amount of oil
.

1 tablespoon mustard (Dijon or, even better, French whole-grain mustard)

5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional:

1 large garlic clove

7 or 8 basil leaves

Take a clean, empty jar and add the mustard, balsamic vinegar, vegetable oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. If you like garlic, add a large clove to marinate in the bottom of the jar, together with 7 or 8 basil leaves. Cover the jar and shake well to blend.

Variation:

If you do not like balsamic vinegar, you can select another one. Just use a little less: 4 tablespoons for wine, sherry, or raspberry vinegar; 3 tablespoons for champagne vinegar.

Basic Vinaigrette 2

This vinaigrette is a basic dressing that you can use in the Cruise phase to make it easy to enjoy salads and raw foods. You can adapt it to suit your taste by using different types of vinegar and your choice of herbs or other additional seasonings
.

MAKES ABOUT ¼ CUP
Preparation time: 5 minutes

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon mineral water

2 tablespoons sherry, raspberry,
or
balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until well blended.

Note: For variety, add herbs, soy sauce, Tabasco, or Worcestershire sauce to taste
.

Classic Mayonnaise

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP
Preparation time: 5 minutes

1 raw egg yolk
or
1 pasteurized egg yolk
or
1 tablespoon liquid pasteurized egg

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

Place egg in a mixing bowl with salt, pepper, and vinegar.
Slowly stir until well combined.
While stirring, add vegetable oil one drop at a time.
When mixture begins to thicken, add mustard and stir until thoroughly combined.
Taste and make adjustments by adding salt and pepper for flavor and more mustard for a thicker consistency.
Mayonnaise will keep refrigerated in a covered container for 2 to 3 days.

Note: Using liquid pasteurized eggs will result in a slightly thinner consistency
.

Green Mayonnaise

Green Mayonnaise can be used in all of the phases, but refrain from eating it if you are experiencing a stagnation in your weight loss
.

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP

Prepare Classic Mayonnaise recipe and add 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley or chives or 1 teaspoon crushed dried parsley or chives. Mayonnaise will keep refrigerated in a covered container for 2 to 3 days.

Oil-Free Mayonnaise

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP

Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus 12 minutes for the hard-boiled egg

1 hard-boiled egg

¼ cup fat-free cottage cheese
^*or
fat-free sour cream

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste