Half way through my month's no-to-low cholesterol diet, I have lost 3 pounds and am feeling great. I'm not really missing anything. I even managed to buy tarts and biscuits yesterday because a bunch of kids were coming to tea, and I was quite content to just sip my herbal tea and eat nothing.

I thought I would share with you a couple of dishes I have made, one pasta and one salad:

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

This means 'Spaghetti as a whore would make it',

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and there are various explanations as to why it got the name. I reckon the likeliest is that it's quite spicy. You will see my usual precision of quantities and time in the following recipe.

Spaghetti

Olive oil
A few cloves of garlic, chopped
A hot chili pepper, deseeded and chopped
A can of anchovy fillets, chopped (the anchovies, not the can - you can rinse them if they're very salty)
A tin of chopped peeled tomatoes
A few capers (rinsed if they are in vinegar)
A few pitted and chopped black olives
Chopped fresh parsley

Boil the spaghetti in the usual way.

While it's boiling, make the sauce. Gently fry the garlic, chili pepper and anchovies in the olive oil. When the anchovies have become mush, add the peeled tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then add the capers and olives, turn down the heat and let it reduce for a little while. Add the chopped parsley at the end.

Chicory, Fennel and Orange Salad with Honey and Vinaigrette Dressing

This is my own invention

For the dressing:

A teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Half a cup of olive oil
A little balsamic vinegar
A teaspoon of runny honey
Chopped fresh coriander

For the salad

One very finely sliced fennel head
One very finely sliced chicory head
One very finely sliced orange

To make the dressing, beat the olive oil into the mustard, a teeny bit at a time (as though you were making mayonnaise, so it keeps thick and doesn't separate). Add the other ingredients.

Mix everything up in a bowl.

Buon appetito!