Friday 21 June 2013

Apple and Cinnamon Rice Pudding



- serves 3, ½ syn for the whole thing.


- 4 ounces of Pudding Rice

- 170ml water

- 330ml No Added Sugar Cream Soda

- 1 shape apple crumble flavour yogurt

- 100 ml apple squash concentrate

- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
 
-  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon



- Put the rice, water, apple squash and cream soda in a pan and bring to the boil.

- add the nutmeg and cinnamon
-  Simmer until liquid is absorbed.Stir every few minutes
- Remove from heat and leave to cool.
- Stir in yogurt and serve with fresh fruit

Crispy Paprika Potato and Courgette Fritters



- syn free if use HE A (3 fritters)
- serves 2 (makes 6)


- 3 medium sized potatoes
- 1 courgette
- 60g grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 garlic cloves
- fry light


- spray oven tray with frylight (I used a muffin tray in order to get a regular shape)
- peel and grate the potato, courgette and onion
- lay the grated vegetables on kitchen towel, cover the top with kitchen towel and apply pressure, repeat several times until the mix is dry
- grate the parmesan
- crush the garlic
- add the paprika and mix all the ingredients well
- make into six patties
- bake at 225°/ gas mark 7 for 30 minutes until crisp.
Bake in the oven 225°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for 20 minutes until crisp. - See more at: http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/recipes/easy-healthy-options-main-meals/crispy-potato-courgette-fritters-tomato-sweetcorn-salsa#sthash.UiHoh4bS.dpuf
Bake in the oven 225°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for 20 minutes until crisp. - See more at: http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/recipes/easy-healthy-options-main-meals/crispy-potato-courgette-fritters-tomato-sweetcorn-salsa#sthash.UiHoh4bS.dpuf
Bake in the oven 225°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for 20 minutes until crisp. - See more at: http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/recipes/easy-healthy-options-main-meals/crispy-potato-courgette-fritters-tomato-sweetcorn-salsa#sthash.UiHoh4bS.dpuf

Lime and Mango Sweetcorn Salsa



serves 2,  less than 1 syn each


-small tin sweetcorn
- 2 tomatoes
- 4 spring onions
- handful of coriander
- 1 tablespoon of mango chutney
- 1 diced red apple
- juice and zest of one lime
- 2  cloves minced garlic


- dice the tomatoes and spring onions, add to salad bowl with the sweetcorn
- finely chop the coriander, add to salad bowl
- in a separate bowl whisk the lime juice, zest, garlic and mango together
- pour the mango and lime over the vegetables and mix well

Honey Mustard Chicken and Parsnip Casserole



serves 4, 2 syns each

- 6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
- 6 parsnips peeled and chopped into chunks
- 1 pack of mini chicken fillets
- 1 diced red onion
- 1diced white onion
- 1 pint boiling chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic
- 3 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard
- 3 teaspoons of honey
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary  (or a tablespoon of dried rosemary)
- 1 tablespoon gravy granules



I cooked this in the slow cooker, on the high setting for two and a half hours

- put the potaotes, parsnips, chicken, rosemary and onion into the slow cooker
- whisk together the honey, mustard, garlic and chicken stock and add to slow cooker
- after two and a half hours turn off the slow cooker and stir in the gravy granules

Sunday 16 June 2013

Lemon and Saffron Rice Pudding



- Serves 3, syn free



- 4 ounces of Pudding Rice

- 170ml water

- 330ml No Added Sugar Cream Soda

- 3 tablespoons Fat Free Fromage Frais

- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

- zest of 1 lemon

- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

- Pinch of saffron strands

- 1 cinnamon stick or  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- punnet of blueberries



- Put the rice, water and cream soda in a pan and bring to the boil.

- add the saffron, lemon zest, and cinnamon in
-  Simmer until liquid is absorbed.Stir every few minutes
- Remove from heat, add nutmeg and leave to cool.
- Stir in fromage frais and vanilla extract and serve with fresh blueberries




- Slimming World friends make sure you are using pudding rice not pudding rice flakes ( the flakes are syns, the rice isn't)
- The recipe would also work without saffron if you don't have any.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Creamy Crushed Potato






- 3 tablespoons fat free fromage frais
- 1 tablepoon finely chopped chives
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into eighths
- fry light


- place the potatoes into boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes
- drain the potatoes, spray the empty pan with frylight and return the potatoes to the pan
- crush potatoes with the back of a fork
- stir in the chives and 2 tablespoons of the fromage frais
- fry the mixture for  five minutes
- stir in the remaining fromage frais, season with black pepper and serve

Garlic Parmesan Courgette




Serves 1, syn free if use HE A for the cheese

-1 courgette
- 30g Parmesan grated
- frylight
- garlic salt
- a hand full of chopped parsley
- black pepper


- cut the courgette in half and then cut each half into six long pieces
- spray both sides of the courgette with frylight
- spring with the parsley, garlic salt and black pepper on both sides
- sprinkle the grated Parmesan on top of the pieces
- grill until the courgette is soft and the cheese is melted, would be lovely grilled on a BBQ. 



Garlic, Bacon and Tomato Spaghetti



Serves 2, syn free if cheese is used as HE A

- 4 ounces of spaghetti
- 1 pack tomatoes
- 4 rashers of bacon diced, with all fat removed
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 yellow sweet pepper
- 3 spring onions
- handful chopped coriander
- 60g Parmesan cheese


- cook the spaghetti
- whilst the pasta is cooking dice the pepper, spring onions and garlic. finely chop the coriander
- Spray a frying pan with fry ligh, fry the pepper, spring onion, garlic, bacon and coriander.
- drain the spaghetti and mix with the fried veggies and bacon, stir in the tomatoes and half of the cheese.
- serves with the rest of the Parmesan and black pepper on top

Bolognese Pasta Bake



 Serves 4,  ½ syn each (if using HE A for the cheese)

- 500g extra lean mince
- 1 red pepper, chopped finely
- 6 spring onions
- handful of chopped coriander
- teaspoon chilli paste
- teaspoon ginger paste
- teaspoon garlic paste
- 2 rashers diced bacon
- splash of  Worcester sauce
- 60g parmesan cheese grated
- 1 small tin tomato purée
- 1 tin baked beans
- 1 vegetable oxo cube
- 8 ounces of pasta, I used Tricolore Trottole but any pasta shape would do

- cook the pasta,
- spray a frying pan with fry light and fry the red pepper, spring onion, coriander and bacon until the bacon is cooked

 - add the mince, Worcester sauce, garlic, chilli and ginger . Cook until the mince is browned.
- add the beans and tomato purée
- in a casserole dish mix the pasta and mince, sprinkle the parmesan and oxo cube over the top of the dish.
 - bake in the oven at 220°C/ Gas Mark 8 for half an hour

Thursday 6 June 2013

Potato Boulangere



serves 2, syn free

- 4 medium potatoes, thin slices
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 500ml chicken or vegetable stock

- Heat the oven to 220°C/ Gas Mark 8.
- Peel and slice the potato and onion, finely chop the garlic.
-Place a layer of potato slices in the dish
- Scatter some of the onion slices over the potato, then add some of the garlic, salt and pepper
- Continue to layer and season the potato, onion and garlic until you've used all the ingredients
- Pour the stock over the potato so that it comes up to the top layer
- cook it for 1 -  1½ hours. Until almost all of the stock has been soaked up by the potatoes
- Remove the dish from the oven and allow it to rest and absorb the stock for at least 10 minutes

Lemon Herb Marinade for Pork




Serves 1, 1½ syns

- juice from half a lemon 
- half a teaspoon olive oil 
- 3 cloves garlic, minced 
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon thyme 
- 1 teaspoons Wholegrain mustard 
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pork steak 


- Combine all ingredients and whisk until blended
- leave pork steak to marinate for half an hour
- grill the pork steak 

Chilli-Roasted Carrots




- syn free
- 2 carrots per a person, cut into battons
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1 teaspoon chilli pepper
- 1teaspoon salt
- frylight
- juice of 1 lime
- handful of chopped coriander

 - preheat oven to220ºC/ Gas Mark 8
-Combine chilli powder, cumin and salt in a medium bowl. Add carrots, spray with frylight and toss well to coat.
- Spread out on a baking tray. Roast the carrots for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Toss the carrots with coriander and lime juice

Saturday 1 June 2013

Fennel and Leek Mashed Potato



Serves 2, ½ syn each


- 4 medium sized potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped into chunks
- 1 leek sliced
- 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoon 0% fat fromage frais (or for non SW friends a splash of milk and a generous spoon of butter)
- cracked black pepper

- boil a pan of water
- add in the potatoes, leek, fennel and thyme
- simmer for twenty minutes (or until the potatoes can easily be pricked with a knife)
- drain the vegetables and remove the thyme
- add the mustard and fromage frais and mash until smooth
- season with black pepper

Ginger and Thyme Marinated Steak





A nice quick marinade, this makes enough for 1 steak. 
Only ½ syn


- 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger 
- a pinch of salt 
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- the leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or a teaspoon of dried thyme)
- 1 teaspoon english mustard
- juice from half a lemon

- Mix all the ingredients together. Pour over the steak, cover dish and leave in fridge for half an hour (minimum, the longer the better)
- take the steak out about an hour before you want to cook it to get to room temperature. If you cook it once its room temperature the outside of the steak cooks better more evenly.
 - Cook the steak to your preferred level of cookedness, the easiest way to test this is the pressure test. Press the middle of the steak, a rare steak should be soft, medium will feel firmer but still squish-able and a well done steak will feel firm.