Comfort Food Atkins Meal Plan

Comfort food is not something which we generally equate with a ‘diet’ but the Atkins plan allows for plenty of soothing and rib-sticking fare. Individual tastes differ of course, but a day of comfort food favourites might look a little like this.

Breakfast
Turn a childhood tea-time treat into a cheering breakfast. Grill some good quality sausages (make sure these do not contain any rusk or other carbs) with robustly-flavoured Portobello or chestnut mushrooms.

Lunch
This is a day for comforting flavours and simply-prepared foods, but don’t allow this to be an excuse to go down the junk food route. Your body will know the difference. There is all the difference in the world between a cheap and fatty additive-filled burger and the better quality offerings which are available now in most supermarkets – and, indeed, in the more enlightened restaurants the carefully-produced burger made with quality meat is back. So for lunch grill a couple of good quality beef burgers. Top with a slice of decent cheddar or, if you like, a little blue cheese. Enjoy these with a salad made of mild-tasting little gem lettuce and a low-carbohydrate mayonnaise.  

Snack
Sweet-tasting cherry tomatoes with creamy mozzarella pearls make a satisfying, colourful and easy-to-prepare snack. Just limit yourself to 10 cherry tomatoes (or one normal sized tomato) per day in stage 1.

Dinner
It’s not just a popular meat for its taste and its memories of family dinners; turkey also contains high levels of the happy hormone serotonin so you’ll feel better throughout the evening and go to bed with a peaceful smile on your face. Roast a turkey breast in the oven, adding about 150 ml of chicken stock to the roasting tray and covering with a tent of foil for the first two-thirds of the cooking time to keep the meat moist. If you like the taste, sprinkle the breast with dried sage before putting in the oven, not forgetting to season well with salt and pepper. Serve with a salad of either lettuce or fresh baby spinach leaves, dressed up with crumbled, grilled bacon pieces and chunks of creamy avocado.

Shopping list
Good quality sausages (no rusk)
Chestnut or Portobello mushrooms
Good quality burgers
Cheddar (optional)
Blue cheese (optional)
Little gem lettuce
Low-carb mayonnaise
Cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella pearls
Turkey breast
Chicken stock
Dried sage
Fresh baby spinach leaves
Bacon
Avocado