free food

Lasagne – Béchamel Sauce

Leave a comment

Lasagne is one of my children’s favourite meal, they have it quite often but it is never a Slimming World friendly version for them! They love it with homemade béchamel sauce which can be very high in syns for us slimmers, so I make my own for myself so I can still enjoy the meal guilt free! I use this recipe here for the mince.

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE if using cheese as healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: less than 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Lasagne

Lasagne

Ingredients

  • 1 tub of cottage cheese (plain or flavoured, check if syns! I use Aldi’s cottage cheese with chives and onion, FREE)
  • 2 eggs
  • A pinch of mustard powder
  • 40g light cheddar cheese
  • Seasoning to taste

Method

Blend the cottage cheese with the eggs, mustard and seasoning with a hand held blender till smooth and no longer lumpy.

Add half of the cheese allowance into the cottage cheese mix.

Layer lasagne with mince, lasagne sheets and cottage cheese mix in an individual dish.

Top the lasagne with the remaining cheese and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes till the pasta is cooked. Cook the first 30 minutes with foil over the dish so the cheese doesn’t burn quickly.

 

 

Egg Fried Rice

4 Comments

This recipe took me less than 10 minutes to prepare using leftover rice! It is a delicious way of using up leftover rice. You can serve it with any meat or fish or have it on its own too. We had it with grilled salmon. You can add any veg to this as it is such a versatile dish, I was pressed for time when I made this so kept it really simple. But veg like peas, sweetcorn, grated carrots, peppers, mushrooms etc work really well with this.

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Egg Fried Rice with Salmon

Egg Fried Rice with Salmon

Ingredients

  • 3 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 green chilli, chopped (remove seeds if prefer less spicy)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
  • 3 tbsp dark soya sauce
  • 3 eggs
  • 1.5-2 cups cooked rice

Method

In a hot wok fry the spring onions with the chilli for a couple of minutes with spray oil. Add the garlic powder.

Add the cooked rice to the wok and stir to mix everything together. Add the Chinese 5 spice powder (available in most large supermarkets) and soya sauce. Stir again.

Move the rice to one side of the wok and spray more spray oil to the wok and crack the eggs to it. Stir the eggs till cooked and mix with the rice.

Bassar Mix!

1 Comment

I realise that not everyone knows what bassar is, I didn’t either till after I got married. I am from an Indian background and growing up my mum used a mixture of different spices for curries. Cooking Indian food looked really difficult and it never interested me. Being the youngest child I guess I got away from going in the kitchen too!

When I got married that is when I came across bassar, it was widely used by the in-laws. It makes life so much easier using this ready made spice mix! My mother in law makes her own, I have bought many different brands over the years and my favourite is the one pictured.

I have recently bought some bassar mix from a lovely lady who makes it herself and that’s what I have been using lately and it is the best! I have no idea what exact spices goes in it but it tastes amazing!

So in my recipes where I state curry powder, that’s what I use – bassar. You can get this from most of your local Asian supermarkets. If you are in Birmingham you can definitely pick this up from shops in Stratford Road, Ladypool Road, Alum Rock Road etc.

If you use bassar in your cooking, comment below which one you use. Do you use a homemade mix or buy ready made? Have you come across a good ready made brand?

Pakistani Bassar

Chana Daal

2 Comments

Another really simple and very easy to make recipe. All my recipes that state curry powder, I use a Bassar mixture. You can get it ready made from most Asian supermarkets or make your own! I don’t know how to make my own so I buy ready made. The one I buy is quite spicy hence why I only use a bit. You can adjust the level of spiciness to your taste.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: less than 1 hour plus soaking overnight

Difficulty: Easy

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Ingredients

  • 250g channa daal, soaked in cold water overnight
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1.5 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree

Method

Fry the onion till golden with the cumin seeds. Add the chopped tomato, ginger/garlic paste, tomato puree and curry powder. Fry for around 5 minutes. Add hot water if the spices start to stick to the pan, season to taste.

Drain the water off the daal and add it to the spice mix. Add enough cold water plus a little extra to cover the daal and cook for 30-45 minutes on a low heat. If the daal is too dry, add water accordingly.

Pesto Style Sauce

Leave a comment

This is a really simple way of making a pesto style sauce you can have with pasta or chicken. I don’t have the exact measurements as I knocked this one up really quickly whilst my pasta was cooking. It tasted fine for me but I may tweak it a little bit more in the future, maybe just use the cream cheese with quark possibly? I don’t know yet but will be sure to post on here. I used some of it for my pasta and the leftovers was used for stuffing chicken breasts.

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE if using the cheeses as healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: less than 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

Handful of fresh spinach leaves

Handful of fresh basil leaves

1 x 35g Philadelphia light cream cheese

2 x Laughing Cow Blue Cheese triangles

Garlic powder

Seasoning to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients together adding a little bit of water to it and blitz it altogether using a handheld blender.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto Pasta

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken

 

Carrot & Lentil Soup

Leave a comment

I’ve had this recipe saved in my scrapbook for a very long time, I can’t remember where I got it from but it was online. I love the fact that it is super easy to make and it is perfect if you are following Extra Easy SP.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE if using milk as part of your healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: less than 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Carrot and Lentil Soup

Carrot and Lentil Soup

Ingredients

  • 600g carrots, coarsely grated
  • 140g red lentils
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1lt vegetable stock
  • 125ml milk

    Method

    Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Add the carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until the lentils have swollen and softened.

    Whizz the soup with a blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Season to taste.

    Pasta Arrabiata

    Leave a comment

    A really simple and delicious pasta dish.

    Serves: 2

    Syns: FREE if using cheese as Healthy Extra A choice

    Time Taken: 40-60 minutes

    Difficulty: Easy

    Pasta Arrabiata

    Pasta Arrabiata

     

    Ingredients

    • 2 red onions, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 1 tsp Chilli flakes
    • Carton of passata
    • 1 red pepper, chopped
    • Chopped frozen spinach
    • a handful of fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp dried basil
    • Salt and pepper
    • 2 cubes of Maggie Seasoning, crumbled (optional)
    • 300g Pasta
    • 80g light cheddar cheese

    Method

    Fry the onion, garlic and chilli flakes in fry light till golden. Add the chopped pepper, passata, spinach and herbs. Season, cook for about 20 minutes.

    Cook the pasta separately according to the packet instructions. Drain and mix with the sauce. Put the pasta into a dish, sprinkle the cheese and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.

    Chickpea & Red Kidney Bean Curry

    3 Comments

    This curry is super easy to make, I always have these ingredients in my cupboard! You can use all chickpeas or use any other type of tinned pulses you enjoy. Using tinned pulses saves a lot of time in cooking.

    Serves: 4

    Syns: FREE

    Time Taken: 20-30 minutes

    Difficulty: Easy

    Curry Ingredients

    Curry Ingredients

    Ingredients

    • 2 medium onions, chopped
    • 1 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste
    • 1 tbsp. curry powder
    • 1 tsp black onion seeds (optional)
    • 1/2 carton passata
    • 2 Maggie seasoning cubes
    • 1 tin each of red kidney beans and chickpeas
    Chickpea & Red Kidney Bean Curry

    Chickpea & Red Kidney Bean Curry

     

    Method

    Spray a pan with fry light and cook the onions till they are golden brown (around 10 minutes). Add a little bit of hot water to the pan if needed if the onions start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

    Add the ginger/garlic paste and cook for another couple of minutes before adding the passata, the curry powder, crumbled seasoning cubes and black onion seeds if using.

    Let it cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat. Then add the chickpeas and the red kidney beans and cook for 10 minutes. You can serve this with boiled rice and a speedy side salad.

     

    Chicken Biryani

    1 Comment

    This is one of the easiest ways of making a delicious and syn free biryani. If you don’t use Fry Light you can replace it with oil and just syn accordingly. You can also use any other brand of Biryani masala, I love the Laziza brand plus it is syn free!

    Chicken Biryani

    Chicken Biryani

    Serves: 6

    Syns: FREE

    Time Taken: 60-90 minutes

    Difficulty: Easy

    Ingredients

    • 4 onions, finely chopped
    • 4 tomatoes, chopped
    • 750g chicken breast, cubed
    • 1/2 packet Laziza Chicken Biryani mix (use more if you prefer spicier, I keep it mild so the kids can eat it too)
    • 2 cups of basmati rice
    • Yellow food colouring
    • 1/2 bunch each of fresh mint and coriander leaves, finely chopped (optional)
    • Fry Light

    Method

    Spray lots of Fry Light in a pan and add the onions. Cook them on a moderate-high heat until golden brown. Add boiling water to the onions to stop them sticking to the bottom of the pan as needed. Keep stirring, this should take around 20-30 minutes.

    Onions

    Onions

    Add the chicken, tomatoes and the spice mix and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and the chicken is no longer pink.

    Chicken, tomatoes and spice mix

    Chicken, tomatoes and spice mix

    Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes.

    Meanwhile, cook the rice. Add the rice to double the quantity of boiling salted water and cook till half done, around 8 minutes. Drain the water, rinse it in cold water and set aside till needed.

    Once the chicken is cooked you can start to layer it with the rice. Use the pan you’ve used to cook the rice and add a third of the rice to the bottom of the pan. Top it with half of the chicken, then rice again, chicken, and finish off with a layer of rice reserving some to mix with the food colouring to add colour to the rice. Add the mint and coriander if using at this stage.

    Cover the pan and cook the biryani on a low heat for 30 minutes.