How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

Rhubarb was once a carefully-guarded national treasure in ancient China, the roots valued for their laxative properties. Then, somehow, plants showed up in the Volga River Valley [aka: the Rhu] giving the classical Greeks reason to name it “the plant of the barbarians [foreigners] from Rhu.” Hence, ‘rhu-barb.’ Not kidding. By the 1500s, Rhubarb was in England — though still for medicine rather than food — then it was taken to many parts of the Empire. And you thought it was just a humble pie plant. Here is a delightful poem about the vegetable, by Minnesota poet Larry Schug:

By April, sour red stalks
push elephant-ear leaves
into near-earth atmosphere.
Rhubarb plans ahead,
years, decades even,
lives sustainably on the interest
of sunlight stored under ground,
having folded up its solar collectors
in September,
when the days grow too short
to make sugar.
See how simple is a miracle. © by Larry Schug.

Spelt Galettes with Rhubarb: 225 calories… 4.6 g fat… 6 g fiber… 8.5 g protein… 37 g carbs… 128 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB  Spelt is one of the ancient ancestors of modern grains, full of taste and nutrition. Here, in a recipe by Joe Woodhouse at goodfood, it co-stars with rhubarb for a splendid Springtime breakfast.

recipe for 14 six” crepes	Non-stick pan or 6” cast iron
2 eggs +++++ 10g olive or sunflower oil +++++++350ml water ++++ 175g spelt/buckwheat flour	Tip ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth OR whisk briskly.Set aside to rest.
400g rhubarb, cut in 2 cm lengths +++++++ 40g honey ½ orange= ¾ tsp juice + ¾ tsp zest	Put these in a medium saucepan over a medium. cook, stirring at whiles. 8-12 mins until rhubarb collapses. If lots of liquid remains, strain and cook down liquids until more syrupy
Butter 3-4 T batter for each galette	Melt some butter in a 6″ pan over a medium, wipe out with paper towel. Keep towel. Pour in batter, swirling to coat pan. Cook ~1 min until underside is golden
	Flip. Heat  30-60 secs until cooked through.
	Keep warm. Repeat, wiping pan with buttered towel between pancakes.
2 spelt galettes per person ++++++++++++2 T Rhubarb compote per galette	Spoon a little compote into centre of each galette, dividing equally. Fold in ½ and plate with a bit of syrup on top.
½ oz ham, pan-fried	Serve with the ham and your beverage of choice.

Rhubarb Roasted Salmon: 295 calories… 11 g fat… 4 g fiber… 32.5 g protein… 10 g carbs… 65 mg Calcium…  PB GF Melissa Clark’s recipe in the New York Times looked so good, I just had to try it. A wonderful addition to the rhubarb-season repetoire.

2 servings	Heat oven to 400F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
2 scallions, thinly sliced	Take out 2 T, use remainder in next step
Sliced scallions +++++ 1 T granulated sugar ++++++++ 1½ tsp rice wine vinegar ++++ ½ tsp grated fresh ginger ++++ pinch salt	In a medium saucepan, combine these. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer until sugar has dissolved.
3 oz /2/3 cups rhubarb, trimmed, sliced 1” thick	Add rhubarb. Cover pan, and cook, stirring at whiles, until rhubarb is just tender, ~5 mins.
	Take pan off heat and mash rhubarb until it turns to a chunky purée.
Sugar/vinegar/ginger/salt	Taste, adjust flavors for a balance between sweet, tangy and salty. Divide in 2 equal portions.
two 4 oz skin-on salmon fillets ++++ salt and pepper + 1 tsp unsalted butter, cubed ++++ ½ of rhubarb sauce	Put fish skin-side-down on baking sheet. Season lightly. Spread rhubarb mixture on fish. Top with butter. Roast 8-10 mins, or until just cooked through
The 2 T sliced scallions +++++ Red-pepper flakes ++++ ½ of rhubarb sauce	Top with remaining rhubarb sauce, garnish fillets with scallons and pepper flakes.
1/3 c peas per serving	Plate with peas.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ……………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg = US large + sugar	1.5 two-oz eggs
part-skim ricotta cheese + molasses	tomato puree + parsley
2%-fat cottage cheese + banana	bell peppers + onion
white whole wheat flour	cayenne + pear
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday:………………………….. single portion for Thursday:

salt cod + potatoes + baby spinach	quick barley + mussels + onion + tomato
cauliflower + skim milk	shrimp + garlic + seafood stock + carrot
garlic + fennel seed	preserved lemon + saffron + paprika
2” or smaller tomatoes  +  Finn Crisp crackers	uncured bacon + bell pepper + wide green beans
Sparkling water	Sparkling water