My cousins and friends will surely gasp on the title alone. They know I seldom order seafood or veggies when we eat out. My favorite food to order pre-diet was pasta. I was your typical carb lover.
The good thing about the Cohen Lifestyle diet was it forced me to eat seafood and veggies and now I actually enjoy it. The food we can eat on this diet is limited and so are the spices. It takes a lot of thinking and planning of my weekly menu so I won’t get bored and tired of the food.
These pictures are just guides for those on the same diet. Please follow your allowed food portion when you cook these recipes.
SHRIMP
Before I would eat shrimp only if it was tempura or fried or the occasional gambas. Now I love it with a green salad, mango and tomatoes just like the first picture. I spritz some balsamic vinegar with a drop of olive oil for my dressing.
Sauté some shrimp with garlic and season with your desired spices. I paired it with a mixture of bok choy and cauliflower. Presentation helps too. I’m so blessed with a cook with a flair for plating.
shrimp and veggies
In this dish bok choy was sautéed with shrimp and crabmeat. Obviously bok choy has become my favorite veggie next to romaine lettuce and arugula.
shrimp, crabmeat and bok choy stir fry
CRAB
Once a week I have my favorite crab cakes either with a salad or bok choy. To make this simply add a teaspoon of diet mayonnaise, 2 crackers crushed, lemon juice, salt & pepper to crabmeat. Form into patties and pan fry. I don’t miss the regular greasy crab cakes.
crab cakes
Simply sauté veggies with crabmeat.
crabmeat and bok choy
SQUID
Stuff the squid with chopped tomatoes, onions and grill or steam. Slice when cooked. Another variation which I love even more is to add chopped mushroom to the tomato mixture.
stuffed squid
Slice squid and sauté with garlic and add a dash of chili powder if desired.
garlic squid and bok choy
FISH
I’m not very fond of canned tuna unless it’s swimming in mayonnaise. But I eat it once in a while. Mix tuna flakes with apple cubes and flavor with some lemon juice and pepper. Pile on top of lettuce and enjoy this hearty meal.
tuna salad
I really dislike cauliflower but I tried to eat it this way. Steam the cauliflower until tender.
Mash with a fork and season.
Add tuna flakes and form into a patty and pan fry.
Needless to say I only made this recipe once. It wasn’t bad but I just don’t like the taste of cauliflower. Even when mashed.
tuna and cauliflower
Place the fish on parchment paper or aluminum foil, top with tomatoes, onions and mushroom or veggies of your choice. Fold the paper well and steam. Unbelievably yummy!
fish in parchment paper
Asparagus is another veggie I’m not too keen on. So this was a one time dish too.
fish and asparagus
Pan searing is my favorite way of cooking fish. Season the fish with fresh dill or thyme, salt & pepper then place in a hot pan. Do not flip until you see the top of the fish is almost white. Then flip the fish and cook for just a few minutes more.
pan seared sole fish
I got the idea for this dish from a recipe of Martha Stewart. Spray some olive oil on a baking dish put the fish, mushroom and tomato. Spray some more oil on top of the fish and veggies. Season and bake for ten minutes or until the fish is cooked.
baked tilapia with mushroom and tomato
VEGETARIAN
Initially I thought a purely vegetarian meal would leave me hungry. I was surprised that I was just as full without any meat or seafood.
I have a salad made with romaine lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, mushroom and feta cheese every Saturday lunch. It’s really, really good.
I tried making a Cohen style pizza. In the first bowl is lightly sautéed shimeji mushroom, arugula and chopped tomatoes (or any toppings you like). Surprisingly mozzarella cheese is allowed on this diet but I rarely have it. For the base of the crust I used 2 crispbreads (Wasa brand).
Pile all the veggies on the crispbread.
Place it on a tray and top with all your allowed mozzarella cheese. I used a toaster oven to make this.
Bake until the cheese melts. It was actually good and very filling but I’d rather eat my crackers separately rather than use it with a meal that’s why I’ve only made this once.
Cohen style pizza
I pressed a square of tofu in between paper towels and a heavy weight on top to release excess moisture. I coated the tofu with chili powder, salt and pepper and pan fried it until golden brown.
Next I sautéed some mushrooms and topped it on the tofu steak. It’s good but somehow I miss the Japanese restaurant style where the tofu is breaded with panko and deep fried.
tofu steak with mushroom sauce
I’m happy to report that after 5 months on this diet my blood pressure has gone down, my acid reflux has disappeared and I’ve lost lots of weight. So eating the same food over and over again for a few months is not a big thing when the benefits outweigh the sacrifice.
Meat and chicken dishes on Monday.
Cohen Lifestyle Philippines
Suite 1006 Medical Plaza Makati (Across Makati Medical Center)
Amorsolo cor Dela Rosa Sts. Legazpi Village, Makati City
Manila, Philippines 1223
telephone: +63(2) 502.1090
mobile: +63 (917) 89.COHEN
(0917) 892.6436
Office Hours
M – W, F 8:30am -5:30pm
Thur 1:00pm – 7:30pm
Sat 8:30am -12:00pm
Shoot First Eat Later 
I have to commend you for making the Cohen diet look soooo appetizing! You should be their chief nutritionist!N
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Aww thanks!
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hats off to you leslie!!! these recipes are amazing!!
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I have to say, these dishes look amazing! It doesn’t even look like it’s a diet menu. I especially love the ones with bok choy, the pizza, and tofu with mushrooms. Will let our cook try some of these! Yum!!
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Thanks Guia! You’re right this is the yummiest diet I’ve been on.
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Hi Les! Great post. You should come up with a compilation of your Cohen recipes with matching pictures and include those in the Cohen Recipe Book they gave us. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your meals.
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thanks so much… I’ve been cheating a lot on my Cohen diet bec I dont know how to cook and it’s so tedious to prepare everything. Your posts really inspired me not to cheat since they look yummy. i will print them and post them in my kitchen. For breakfast, if im on a rush, i blend my plain yoghurt w sweet mangoes , ice, a bit water and a pack of splenda. to make my smoothie…
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In the beginning I used to make a smoothie just like you did but I found that eating yogurt with chunks of fruit and splenda is more filling and satisfying. You can prepare the yogurt with cut up fruit in a container and leave it in the ref the night before and you can eat it on the go! Try it.
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My brother is in the Cohen diet and he has lost quite a lot of weight, as well as hair! He’s still on it but the hairloss was quite severe. It seems to be a common side effect of going on these diets for an extended period of time (6 months in his case).
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I was quite worried about that too but I take Biotin so I haven’t experience more than normal hair loss. Does he take Biotin?
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I love your recipes here! You’ve inspired me to try the Cohen diet =)
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How much weight have you lost? I need to lose at least 30lbs but not sure if Cohen would work for me
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Trish, almost 40. I’m sure it will work for you. It amazingly did for me and several friends.
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i am just starting my cohen diet and this really helps a lot 🙂 thank you so much 🙂 I hope you can post more ideas 🙂
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hi! thanks for sharing!!
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Thanks big help. Where can you buy shelled crab meat? I found the senorita brand but it is mixed with flour and i don’t think flour is allowed in cohen dieting.
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i buy fresh crab and remove the crabmeat myself.
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I just started with my cohen eating plan today and already panicking on how else to cook my allowed dishes. Your recipes are a blessing. Keep them coming please.
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hi..where can i buy the mushrooms?it all looks appetizing..thanks..
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You can buy the mushrooms in any supermarket or weekend market. I’m happy that we now have several varieties of fresh mushrooms.
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hi! where do you buy Wasa crispbread?
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Wow you’re very creative! Ü *slow.clap* i tried cohen diet too, lost 40lbs in 3 months but i didnt get to my goal weight coz i got pregnant… Now im strugling coz ive tried to get on the diet again for 4 times now but i always end up cheating and cancelling the diet altogether 😦 im on my 5th try now but i just finished a cup of nonfat green tea latte and a bar of magnum
oh my… I need a support group!! 😥
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That’s amazing weight loss in 3 months! I’ve gained weight back too and trying my best to follow the diet again. It’s so hard!!! Good luck to you!
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Hi! I just wanted to tell you how helpful your Cohen recipes have been to me. All 3 blog posts are bookmarked in my laptop & phone and I refer to them EVERYDAY. I’m not kidding. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing. Now, if I only I could plate my meals the same way. 🙂
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Hi, where do you buy your low fat mayonnaise? 🙂 Which brand?
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Hellmann’s or whatever is available in Unimart. Most supermarkets like SM, Robinsons should have it.
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I miss crabmeat but haven’t figured out how to include in the cohen diet. We’re supposed to weigh everything before cooking, so how do you manage to de-shell the crab and weigh the meat prior to cooking it? Or do you lightly steam the crab first then deshell and weigh?
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I just weigh after it’s been cooked. I figured a little ‘cheating’ is ok. 😀
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Haha got it 🙂 in the grand scheme it’s not that bad of a cheat anyway. 😀
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Exactly!!! 😀
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