Sunday 28 October 2012

Chicken & Bacon Pasta Bake

I had some leftovers to use up and so created this tasty pasta bake.

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 0 syns, HEXa

Ingredients
200g Dried Fusilli Pasta
250g Passata
100g Fat Free Fromage Frais or 0% Greek Yoghurt
2 Chicken breasts, sliced
2 Bacon rashers, fat removed and sliced
1 Red onion, sliced 
1 Red Pepper, sliced
1/2 Courgette, sliced and halved
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
60g Reduced Fat Cheddar, grated (HEXa)
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Black Pepper
Frylight

Method
1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
2. Add the vegetables and garlic to an ovenproof dish and spray with frylight. Cover with the mixed herbs and season. Put into a hot oven at 200C for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
3. Season the chicken and fry in a frying pan sprayed with frylight, along with the bacon, until cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, mix the passata and fromage frais (or greek yoghurt) in a bowl and season. Add the cooked chicken and bacon and coat with the sauce.
5. Add the cooked pasta to the ovenproof dish containing the vegetables. Pour over the tomato and chicken mixture and combine with the pasta and vegetables until everything is covered with the sauce. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and season. Bake for 15 minutes and serve.





Saturday 27 October 2012

Chicken Tikka Masala with Pilau Rice

This recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala was inspired by the one featured in this month's SW magazine, but with a few tweaks!

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 0 syns

Ingredients (Chicken Tikka Masala)
2 Chicken Breasts, sliced into chunks
125g Fat Free Natural Yoghurt
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp Very Lazy Ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsps Tikka Curry Powder
1 Red Onion, finely diced
250g Passata
2 tbsps Tomato Puree
2 tsps Chilli Flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Tumeric
2 tsps Granulated Sweetener
100g Fat Free Fromage Frais or 0% Greek Yoghurt
Frylight

Method
1. Mix the chicken, natural yoghurt, ginger, 1 of the garlic cloves and 1 tbsp of curry powder in a bowl and stir. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Spray a deep frying pan with frylight and fry the onions until soft. Add the garlic, tumeric, cumin, chilli flakes and remaining curry powder and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the passata, sweetener and tomato puree to the frying pan and then add the marinaded chicken (the magazine recommends discarding the marinade but I added it along with the chicken).
4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and the chicken has completely cooked through.
5. Stir in the fromage frais (or greek yoghurt) and serve.


Ingredients (Pilau Rice)
150ml Basmati Rice (measured in a measuring jug)
1/2 Cinnamon Stick, split lengthways
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
2 Cardamon Pods
3 Cloves
1 tsp Ground Tumeric
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp Onion Powder (alternatively use 1 small red onion, finely diced)
Frylight

Method
1. Spray a saucepan with frylight and add all of the spices and herbs. Fry on a low heat for 1 minute.
2. Add the rice to the pan and stir until the rice is coated in the spice mixture.
3. Add 300ml boiling water to the pan and bring to the boil. Place a lid on the saucepan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and the water has been absorbed.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon pods and bay leaf from the rice and fluff with a fork. Serve with the Chicken Tikka Masala.



Tuesday 23 October 2012

Fragrant Pork Stir Fry

This recipe is from the SW site but I made a few tweaks. I definitely recommend this one!

Serves 2

Extra Easy - 0 syns

Ingredients
2 Pork Loins, fat removed, sliced into strips
Half a courgette, sliced and halved
Handful of sugarsnap peas, sliced diagonally
Hanful of tenderstem broccoli
1 red onion, sliced
1 tsp Very Lazy Ginger, finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
Half a red chilli, finely chopped
Half a pint of Chicken Stock
1 tsp Chicken Bovril
Soy Sauce
Frylight
Black Pepper

Method
1. Stir fry the vegetables until slightly softened.
2. Add garlic, ginger, chilli and pork and stir fry until the pork is sealed.
3. Add the chicken stock and the chicken bovril and season with black pepper. Leave to simmer until the stock has slightly reduced and the pork has completely cooked through.
4. I served mine with SW Egg Fried Rice.




Tuesday 9 October 2012

Nigella's Meatzza

This is a recipe from Nigella Lawson's latest TV series, Nigellisima. It occured to me that this recipe was very easy to make SW-friendly so I thought I'd give it a go! It's basically a pizza, but with a meat base in place of dough. I'm sure you could experiment with toppings but this is the basic 'Margherita' version. You could even include the parmesan and porridge oats as HEXa and HEXb to make this recipe free.

Serves 4

Extra Easy -  2 syns per portion, HEXa

Ingredients  
500g Extra Lean Beef Mince
3 tbsps grated Parmesan (1.5 syns per tbsp or use as HEXa)
25g Quaker Porridge Oats (4.5 syns or use as HEXb)
1 tsp dried Mixed Herbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 large Garlic clove, finely grated
1 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
120g ball of Mozzarella, sliced into 8x15g slices (part of your HEXa)*
Fresh Basil
Salt & Black Pepper
Frylight

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C and place the mince, parmesan, eggs and porridge oats in a bowl and combine with your hands. Add half of the grated garlic, mixed herbs and seasoning. (Don't overwork the meat when combining).
2. Spray a round cake tin with frylight and place the meat into the tin, pressing it flat with your hands.
3. Drain the the liquid from the chopped tomatoes and mix with the leftover garlic and the oregano, season. Spread evenly onto the meat base.
4. Arrange the mozzarella slices on top (allowing for 2 slices per portion) and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and scatter on the fresh basil leaves.Cut into quarters and serve.

* Full daily allowance = 45g


Saturday 6 October 2012

Thai Curry

A recipe taken from the SW Takeaway Faves recipe book but I added a bit more curry paste to give it more flavour. You can use red or green curry paste with this recipe.

Serves 2

Extra Easy - dependent on brand*

Ingredients
2 tbsps Thai Red or Green Curry Paste (syns dependent on brand)*
75ml light Coconut Milk (3 syns)
150ml Chicken Stock
2 Chicken Fillets, sliced
Frylight

You can use any Asian Vegetables you like but here are some recommendations...
Babycorn, diced
Mangetout, sliced in half diagonally
Half a Red onion, cut into wedges
Half a Courgette, sliced
Half a Red Pepper, sliced
Half a small can of Bamboo Shoots

Method
1. Fry the vegetables in a wok sprayed with frylight until soft.
2. Add the chicken and the Thai Curry paste and mix well.
3. Add the stock and coconut milk and leave to simmer until the chicken is completely cooked through.
4. Serve with rice or noodles.

* Sharwoods Thai Green Curry Paste = 0.5 syns per tbsp
   Thai Taste or Sharwoods Thai Red Curry Paste = 1 syn per tbsp


Thai Red Curry
Thai Red Curry
Thai Green Curry

Coleslaw

This recipe tastes exactly as Coleslaw should and it's only 2 syns for the whole batch!

Serves many

Extra Easy - 2 syns per batch

Ingredients
Half a small Red Cabbage
1 large Carrot, peeled
1 Red Onion, peeled
3 tbsps extra light Mayonnaise (1.5 syns)
1 tbsp 0% fat Greek Yoghurt
1 tsp Wholegrain Mustard (0.5 syns)
Salt & Black Pepper

Method
1. Grate the cabbage, carrot and red onion using a food processor (or grater if you don't have one).
2. Empty the grated vegetables into a large bowl and stir in the mayonnaise, greek yoghurt, mustard and seasoning until thoroughly mixed.
3. Store in a tupperware container and enjoy alongside your favourite SW meals.