High-protein, stay-lean recipes: come dinnertime, you need to increase protein and decrease carbs to lose fat. These four failure-proof recipes strike the right balance

Men's Fitness, June, 2003 by Robin Vitetta-Miller

Plates of pasta and mounds of white rice may taste great, but on days when you spend more time pounding the office rumor mill than the gym treadmill, you don't need to power up with a dinner plate full of starchy carbs. Since carbohydrates are essential for energy, eating a load of them in the evening, when the only exercise you're likely to do involves thumb-wrestling the remote control, is a recipe guaranteed to pad your waistline.

Don't get us wrong. If you're performing intense and prolonged cardio sessions, having a reasonable amount of pasta or rice (along with some low-fat protein) is crucial for aiding recovery and replenishing glycogen stores for your next workout. But if you're trying to lose body fat, you want to avoid starches and instead focus on wet, fibrous carbs and lean protein. More important, you must consume the majority of starchy carbs long before your evening meal, so you have a chance to burn them up over the course of the day.

To help keep you right, we've fixed up four high-protein dinners that are perfect for days when you've OD'd on carbohydrates. These meals dish up tons of flavor, plenty of protein, moderate amounts of fat and very few carbs. They also require little effort on your part. Simply follow the fail-safe instructions and you're good to go.

Just don't ruin it all with a huge piece of leftover chocolate fudge cake for dessert.

GREEK CHICKEN
SALAD

What you need:

3 4-oz. skinless, boneless chicken-breast
  halves *
Salt and ground black pepper
  to taste
1 cup sliced cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red onion
4 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce

Cooking spray

* You can speed prep time by using
precooked chicken breast or a
roasted chicken. (Don't forget to
remove the skin.)

What you get:

* High-quality muscle-building
protein from the chicken breast.

* Folate and cancer-fighting
chlorophyll from the lettuce.

* Cancer-fighting sulfur compounds
from the red onion.

How you do it:

* Preheat your oven to 400[degrees]. Coat a
baking sheet with cooking spray.

* Season both sides of the chicken
with salt and pepper. Place the
bird on the prepared baking
sheet and bake for 25 minutes,
until it's cooked through. Cut the
chicken into two-inch pieces.

* In a large bowl, toss the cucumber,
onion and feta cheese.

* In a small bowl, whisk together
the vinegar, oil and mustard. Add
the mustard to the cucumber
mixture and stir to coat. Stir in
the chicken. Season to taste with
salt and black pepper.

* Serve the chicken salad over the
Romaine lettuce.

Makes two servings. Per serving:
361 calories, 6g carbs, 47g protein,
16g fat (7g sat. fat), 2g fiber

TURKEY MEATBALLS
IN WILD MUSHROOM
GRAVY

What you need:

1 1/4 lb ground skinless turkey breast
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup sliced fresh shiitake or any
  other wild mushroom
1 green bell pepper, seeded and
  chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
1 tbsp cornstarch

What you get:

* Lean protein from the turkey
breast.

* Immune-system-boosting
lentinan from the mushrooms.

* Vitamin C from the green peppers.

How you do it:

* In a large bowl, combine the
ground turkey and the poultry
seasoning. Mix well with your
hands and slap the mixture into
eight meatballs.

* Heat the oil in a large nonstick
skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the meatballs and cook
for five to seven minutes, until
browned on the surface. (When
handling poultry, always wash
your hands with hot, soapy
water to avoid bacterial contamination.)

* Toss in the mushrooms and
green pepper and cook for five
minutes, until the mushrooms
are tender and releasing juice.
Stir in the thyme to coat the
meatballs and mushrooms. Add
a half-cup of beef broth, then
cover the pan and simmer for
three minutes, until the meatballs
are cooked through.

* Dissolve the cornstarch in the
remaining quarter-cup of broth
and add the mixture to the
skillet. Simmer for one minute,
until the sauce thickens, stirring
constantly.

Makes two servings. Per serving:
325 calories, 13g carbs, 51g protein,
8g fat (1.5g sat. fat), 3g fiber

SESAME-GINGER
SHRIMP

What you need:

2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 1/4 lb large shrimp, peeled
  and de-veined
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 cups sliced zucchini

What you get:

* Protein from the shrimp, along
with the mineral zinc, which
keeps senses alert, heals wounds
and aids in sperm production.

* Heart-protective folate from the
zucchini.

* Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated
fats from the sesame
oil, which is also low in saturated
fat. With its strong flavor, a little
goes a long way.

How you do it:

* Heat the oil in a large skillet over
medium-high heat. Add the
garlic and ginger and cook for
two minutes. Add the shrimp
and zucchini and cook for
another five minutes, until the
shrimp is bright pink and cooked
through and the zucchini is
crisp and tender.

* Stir in the soy sauce. Serve hot.

Makes two servings. Per serving:
289 calories, 7g carbs, 49g protein,
7g fat (1g sat. fat), 2g fiber

SEARED TUNA WITH
ROASTED RED PEPPER
SAUCE

What you need:

2 tsp olive oil
1 lb tuna steak (preferably sushi
  grade)
1 cup roasted red peppers (from
  water-packed jar)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken
  broth or water
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, peeled
Salt and ground black pepper

What you get:

* Muscle-building protein and
heart-friendly omega-3 fatty
acids from the tuna.

* Beta-carotene and vitamin C
from the red peppers.

How you do it:

* Heat the oil in a large skillet over
medium heat. Season both sides
of the tuna with salt and pepper.
Add the tuna to the skillet and
cook for three minutes per side,
until almost cooked through (the
fish will be pink in the center,
so cook it longer if you want it
well done).

* In a blender, combine the
roasted red peppers, chicken
broth, vinegar, ginger and
garlic. Process until the mixture
is smooth.

* Spoon the sauce over the tuna
just before serving.

Makes two servings. Per serving:
402 calories, 11g carbs, 53g protein,
16g fat (3.5g sat. fat), 2g fiber