Crunchy zucchini canapés 3 ways

Think of this as a healthy and easy version of blini. You don’t have to count the calories in the zucchini, as they are so low as to be insignificant.

Crunchy zucchini canapés 3 ways Credit: The Fast 800

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

This recipe is part of a meal plan for an 800-calorie day (see below) from The Fast 800 by Dr Michael Mosley (Simon & Schuster, $29.99). You can read our interview with Dr Mosley and view his other meal plans here.

• Baked salmon and eggs with chives, 300 cals
• Crunchy zucchini canapés 3 ways, 211 cals
• Garlic prawns with mixed zucchini and spaghetti, 290 cals

Ingredients

• ½ medium zucchini, sliced approx. ½ cm thick

Tapenade with feta

• 50 g feta
• 50 g pitted olives, from a jar or tin, drained
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Hummus in a hurry

• 200 g tinned chickpeas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)
• 2½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tbsp tahini
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

Smashed avocado

• 1 large avocado, peeled and stoned
• ½ small lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp pumpkin or sunflower seeds, toasted

NON-FAST days: Top the slices with flavoured cream cheese, pickled fish, chives, quick pickled fennel and radishes or whatever healthy leftovers you can assemble from the fridge. Finish them off with a spoonful of home-made sauerkraut or kimchi.

Instructions

To make the crunchy zucchini canapés, top the sliced zucchini with 1 tbsp of tapenade with feta, 1 tbsp of Hummus in a Hurry, and 1 tbsp of smashed avocado.

Tapenade with feta (138 cals, serves 2)

1. Blitz the ingredients together with a hand-held blender in a small bowl, leaving some chunky bits of olive

 

Hummus in a hurry (205 cals, makes 4 portions)

1. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the water.
2. Blend all the ingredients together, except for ½ tbsp olive oil.
   
   
3. Add a little of the reserved chickpea water if needed to get the desired consistency. Season the hummus with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
   
   
4. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top, along with some cumin seeds or paprika, if you wish. Serve with crispy vegetable crudités, such as sticks of celery, cucumber and courgette, baby asparagus, and cauliflower or broccoli florets, all of which contain very few calories and are a good source of fibre, so can be eaten almost freely.
   
   

Note

• Don’t over-squeeze the lemon when you juice it, as the white pith can make it bitter.

Smashed avocado (290 cals, serves 2)

1. Roughly mash the avocado in a bowl with the lemon juice and oil, leaving some chunky bits.
   
   
2. Season it with salt and black pepper and spoon it onto the zucchini slices.
   
   
3. Sprinkle the toasted seeds over the top before serving.
   
   

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This recipe is part of a meal plan for an 800-calorie day (see below) from The Fast 800 by Dr Michael Mosley (Simon & Schuster, $29.99). You can read our interview with Dr Mosley and view his other meal plans here.

• Baked salmon and eggs with chives, 300 cals
• Crunchy zucchini canapés 3 ways, 211 cals
• Garlic prawns with mixed zucchini and spaghetti, 290 cals