Delicious and tasty yet healthful

Ever wondered how you can enjoy eating and stay in shape at the same time? Renowned for his simple great tasting and eye-pleasing cuisine, Daniel Green believes his healthy recipes can work wonders for anyone's life.

Green, 41, is a British cook and an advocate of healthy eating who appears regularly on television in the US. He's determined to spread his knowledge of healthy food to the world, mostly culled from his personal experience.

An obese teenager, Green was 50 kilograms overweight. He was determined to lose weight without having to compromise on the taste and flavour of his food. He started creating healthy yet tasting meals for himself and not only shed the excess kilograms but went on to become a model for several international lifestyle brands, among them Gucci, Martini, British Airways, Vodaphone and Barclaycard. These days he's better known as a model cook.

"There's no point being thin and unhealthy. Nor is there any need to eat boring food. I love food so I have taught myself to adapt the foods I love to be both low fat and tasty. I don't describe what I did as a diet. I just changed the way I eat - and I've never gone back," he says.

With five cookbooks published on healthful cooking, Green wants to help change people's lives. Aside from creating menus at hotels across Asia, Green has designed the meals served on board all KLM flights from the US since 2008.

In town recently for the Dusit Thani's launch of "Eat Well, Feel Well" programme - Green says he wants to prove to the culinary world that low-fat, healthy food does not need to be poor in presentation.

The Eat Well, Feel Well programme, to which Green is a consultant, is the new way to a healthier and more creative diet for guests and will be available to guests in the hotel's dining venues and well as through room service.

The menu, designed by Green, includes a selection of low-calorie recipes from a wide range of cuisines from breakfast to appetisers, soups, main dishes and desserts.

In a demonstration, Green created five starters, five main courses, and two desserts - all healthy and nutritious.

His breakfast was delicious: an antioxidant energy drink, followed by fruits high in antioxidants and vitamins and poached egg on smoked salmon with English muffin, a low fat version of the classic eggs Benedict.

"When cooking, try brushing food with a little oil before cooking, instead of cooking using oil to cook the food," he suggests. "Better still, try cooking without oil."

To lose weight systematically, avoid fad diets.

"The best way to lost weight is to sustain a healthy diet. By cutting out food that is high in fat content, one will have better and longer lasting results. Don't snack late at night. Whatever food you may eat will be wasted energy. If you must, take fruit juice or yoghurt as a snack instead," he says.

Daniel Green's Low Fat Menu

Appetisers

- Crab cakes: Fluffy and full of protein with little fat and a hint of sesame.

- Tuna Nicoise: Pink seared low fat tuna with beans, potato and anchovies tossed in mustard dressing.

- Pan seared tiger shrimp: With avocado, salmon eggs and a zesty citrus dressing.

Soups

- Bouillabaisse: Rich tomato soup cooked with fish stock and tender seafood added; a French classic without the thickening to avoid fats.

- Butternut squash soup: Home style comport food, filling and full of fibres.

Main dishes

- Seared scallops on sweet potato and onion reduction: Seared to leave tender on the inside with a buttery soft puree made with sweet potatoes, olive oil and garlic.

- Fillet Mignon with red wine and pomegranate seeds: The leanest part of beef with a red wine reduction over a bed of spinach

- Salsa Verde Fish: Fillet of black cod fish with a refreshing and tang salsa based on anchovies, lemon and capers.

-Wasabi Tuna: Sashimi grade tuna coated with -wasabi crumbs, served with jasmine rice and greens in Asian dressing.

Desserts

- Low fat cr่me brule: Using low fat yoghurt and vanilla with a toasted crust.

- Poached Pears: Pear simmered in wine served on minted blueberry yoghurt

- Lemon Curd ice cream: Low fat yoghurt, berries and sour cream with meringues