I wonder how long it takes before most of our New Year’s resolutions are broken. Not long, I suspect. Giving up smoking must be the hardest one to keep, but as a reformed one-time smoker, I can well appreciate the agonies that one causes!

My resolution is very simple and I make it (and break it) every year – to get rid of the pounds that an over-indulgent Christmas always puts on, but the trouble is there are too many temptations to overcome. The remains of the Christmas cake and chocolate log just have to be finished, along with the rest of the mince pies which keep looking at me invitingly. And then there are those boxes of Mon Cheri, Quality Street and After Eight mints sitting on the sideboard, and I mustn’t forget the panettones we were given.

Added to my dilemma is the fact that I’m always looking at recipes, food magazines and foodie websites – although that is what you might call a very enjoyable occupational hazard. Perhaps it would help if the New Year started on the first of February!

Anyway, enough of my excuses. Here are a few recipes for what I call ‘thinner dinners’ which shouldn’t add to those extra pounds.

Although it’s an oily fish, salmon contains those Omega-3 oils so beloved by the nutritionists, so it’s good for you. And it’s a versatile fish – you can bake it, fry it, grill it, or use it in pies and fishcakes.

One of the simplest and nicest ways to cook salmon is to sprinkle it with a herby gremolata and steam it in a bamboo basket. Serve it with some steamed broccoli and new potatoes.

I know all those jars of ready-made sauces are convenient, but it’s much cheaper to make your own from what are essentially store cupboard ingredients.

So, whip up a sweet and sour marinade, add cubes of chicken breast and let it sit for a while in the fridge, then thread them on to skewers with some red peppers and zucchini and grill them. Boil up the remaining marinade with chicken stock and serve with some plain rice. Delicious, and not a speck of oil or fat to be seen.

Pork is generally thought to be a fatty meat, but modern breeds now produce meat containing less fat than beef or lamb, although there has been something of a backlash against that in England, with some farmers returning to the old-fashioned and, some say, tastier breeds.

In the US, pork is sometimes referred to as ‘the other white meat’ because when eaten without the delicious crackling, it contains not much more fat than chicken.

My recipe for pork browned in very small amounts of oil and butter, then roasted on a bed of vegetables is so good that you won’t miss the crackling.

Niçoise salad is a mixture which can include a combination of green beans, butter beans, potatoes, tomatoes, hard- boiled eggs, tuna, anchovies and olives.

It’s one we have quite often in the summer, but my hot winter version replaces the potatoes with pasta. It’s tossed with a light dressing and some wilted spinach, then topped with a poached egg, instead of hard-boiled eggs.

Maybe next year my good intentions will last a little bit longer. We shall see!