Chettinad Chicken Curry

I love this curry!! It has fast become my favourite one to make and of course eat....
You can make it as spicy as you like, by adding more chillies. It has desiccated coconut in it, but that is optional if you don't want the syns.

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves peeled
2 inches ginger peeled
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs with all fat removed quartered
1 tsp turmeric
1 onion chopped
2 red chillies sliced
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp desiccated coconut toasted optional 9 syns
2 cinnamon sticks
400ml vegetable stock

Spice Mix

fennel seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds 2 tsp of each.
1 long dried chilli
1 star anise

Method

Blitz the garlic and ginger with a tsp water until smooth, then mix with the turmeric and massage into the chicken, leave to marinade for at least an hour, if possible over night.
Toast all the whole spices in a pan until aromatic, then grind.
In a pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onion and red chilli seasoned with salt until soft, add the chicken, tomato purée, cinnamon sticks, coconut if using and spices, fry for 2 minutes, pour in the stock and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

I served it with rice and Mushroom and Green Bean Bhaji.

Thai Style Chicken with Lettuce Wraps

What a lovely meal, as you can see from the picture it is full of super free!! It would be great to serve at a party as people just help themselves. Instead of using synful wraps you use healthy and crisp lettuce leaves. The sauce finishes the wrap perfectly with a zing of sour, a touch of sweet and a slight kick of spicy!! and at 2.5 syns for the whole dish of sauce/marinade, you can practically say it's syn free as you only need about a tsp on each wrap.

So quick and easy to make apart from the marinading.

Sauce/Marinade Ingredients

3 tbsp rice vinegar
¼ tsp sweetener
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chilli sauce   ½ syn per tbsp
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 tsps of freshly grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil   2 syns

Rest of Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, pounded till ½inch thick
About 8 romaine or iceburg lettuce leaves

You can use any vegetables you like, i used.

peppers
spring onions
radishes
coriander leaves
bean-sprouts
Chinese lettuce
red chilli

Method

Mix together all the marinade ingredients, set aside half the sauce and marinade the chicken with the other half for at least an hour, over night if possible.

Heat a griddle pan until it is smoking, then add the chicken to the pan cooking for about 3 minutes on each side, let it rest for 10 minutes then slice into thin slices.

Prepare all your vegetables and serve.

Indonisian Chicken Fried Rice

This is a very quick and easy meal to make. It has now become one of my husbands favourite dishes that i make. I agree it is very yummy!!!
I love rice and when its paired with very tasty spices and condiments it can't get much better.
You can use whatever vegetables you like in this, i say the more the better!
It isn't syn free but still a lot healthier than a take away.

Makes 3 large servings

Ingredients

1 onion diced
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
8oz mushrooms chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
2 chicken breast diced
3 cups cooked basmati rice
2 tbsp chilli sauce 1 syn
2 tbsp ketjap manis 6 syns depending on brand
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup of sliced Chinese leaves
1 chilli sliced
Juice of ½ a lime

Method

In a wok or large pan sprayed with frylight, stir fry the onions, until soft, then add the mushrooms and stir fry until golden, then add the garlic and chicken, when the chicken is sealed add all the dry spices, stir for 1 minute.then add the rice and stir to combine, add the chilli sauce, ketjap manis and soy sauce, stir through to combine. Add the vegetables and sliced chilli, stir fry for 3 minutes. squeeze over the lime juice and serve.

Kung Pao Chicken

Looks like I'm back on the Asian dishes again. This is one of my husbands favourite Chinese Dishes.
So i decided to adapt the usual one for Slimming World and it turned out quite well.
It's not the usual sticky sweet dish you get from a takeaway but it still has loads of flavour, Personally i don't like the sticky sweet one, but this one was really good!!!
This dish isn't syn free mainly because of the nuts, but they are optional.
This dish serves 2 to 4 people and is 6.5 syns on extra easy without the nuts for the whole pan. If you add the nuts add 7.5 syns.

Ingredients


1 tbsp light soy sauce
1.5 tsp corn flour  1.5 syns
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine  1 syn
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast diced

1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce  2 syns
1 tsp sesame oil  2 syns
½ tsp sweetener
2 garlic cloves grated
1 inch ginger grated
½ tsp sichuan peppercorns
8 ten dried chillies
8oz oriental mushrooms
8oz tenderstem broccoli
1 onion diced


25g cashew nuts optional

Rice or noodles to serve

Method

In a bowl mix together the first 3 ingredients and add the chicken let it marinade for at least 10 minutes.

In another bowl mix together the next 7 ingredients set aside.
In a hot wok sprayed with frylight stir fry the dried chillies and peppercorns for 1 minute, add the chicken and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, remove from the wok. Spray the wok with more frylight and fry the onions for 2 minutes, add the tenderstem and mushrooms, fry for 2 more minutes, then add the chicken and chillies back to the pan, pour in the sauce and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, then stir in the cashew nuts if using, serve with the rice or noodles.

Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup

This soup is really easy to make and tastes amazing! It is light and refreshing but very filling.
full of super free and is syn free on extra easy.
Great on a cold evening or if you are feeling ill.

Ingredients

1 pound of chicken thighs with the skin and all the fat removed cut into inch chunks.
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 onion diced
2 carrots peeled and diced
8oz cremini mushrooms sliced
1 tsp celery salt
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp chilli flakes
2 bay leaves
1¼ litres chicken stock
1 cup orzo
1 sprig rosemary
juice of 1 lemon

Method

In a large pot sprayed with frylight, brown the chicken and remove.
Add the onions and fry until golden, add the carrots and mushrooms and fry until tender, stir in the garlic, celery salt, thyme, chilli flakes and bay leaves, fry for 1 minute then add the stock and chicken, bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the orzo and rosemary and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the orzo is cooked. Stir in the lemon juice and serve.

Orange, Garlic and Soy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken drumsticks are syn free on extra easy, so how about cooking up a batch as snacks for when your peckish.
These drumsticks are marinaded in just orange juice, light soy sauce and garlic and it adds such a depth of flavour. Unfortunately you have to syn the orange juice, but it adds hardly any syns to the drumsticks.
In fact some would argue that as your not actually eating/drinking the orange juice, you may not need to syn it.
I made a batch of 9 drumsticks and it works out as 0.2 syns per drumstick, so the choice of syning is totally up to you. You could marinade a lot more drumsticks in that amount of marinade.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

9 chicken drumsticks skin removed
100 ml orange juice 2 syns
100 ml light soy sauce
2 garlic cloves grated

Method

In a large zip lock bag mix the orange juice, soy sauce and garlic, add the chicken and rub the marinade in, marinade the chicken over night.
Lay the drumsticks out on a tray sprayed with frylight, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

No Butter Chicken Curry

Butter Chicken on Slimming World, who'd have thought, ok so technically there isn't any butter in it, but it melted like butter and was so flavoursome!!

This has got to be one of the most tastiest currys i have had. You can make it as spicy as you want, by adjusting the chilli flakes. Get this it is SYN FREE!! yes i said syn free on extra easy.......

The batch i made served 4

Ingredients

4 chicken breast diced

2 red onions chopped

2 inches of grated ginger 

1 tsp sweetener

2 tsps cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp tomato puree

500 ml chicken stock

salt and pepper

handful chopped coriander leaves

½ cup fat free yogurt optional, i didn't use it.

Method

In a large pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onions until soft and golden, to stop them burning before they are soft, every 5 minutes, i put a dash of water in with them and cover the pot for 2 minutes, this helps them become soft like butter, you will need to fry them for about 30 minutes.

Add the ginger and the next 7 ingredients stir into a paste and cook for 1 minute, then add the chicken, stir to coat the chicken and cook for 3 minutes, stir in the stock and season, bring to a boil then simmer over a low heat for 1 hour.

If using the yogurt, remove from the heat and stir it in then serve. I served mine with Butternut Squash and Coriander Fried Rice, and sprinkled it with the coriander leaves.

Buffalo Chicken

When we lived in America, They had a lot of buffalo chicken, with many flavours, but i always loved the hot and spicy ones.
So be warned this dish is spicy!!!
The whole dish is 4.5 syns on extra easy. I serve it with a blue cheese dip and lots of super free salad. I make wraps out of romaine leaves.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves grated
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp worcester sauce
2 tsp celery salt
3 tbsp hot chilli sauce 1.5 syns
1 tbsp honey 3 syns
1 tbsp tomato puree
4 chicken breasts cut into wing size pieces

Method

Mix together the first 8 ingredients, put them into a freezer bag and add the chicken, massage the marinade into the chicken, then refrigerate overnight.

Line a baking tray with foil and spray with frylight. Lay the chicken onto the tray spray again and bake for 12 minutes.
Put the reserved marinade into a saucepan and bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes, stir the chicken into the sauce and serve.

Chicken Enchiladas

I was really craving enchiladas, but didn't want to waste all my syns on the tortillas, then i thought how about trying to make them with pasta, but instead of wrapping them i decided to make it in the style of a lasagne.

To say they were delicious is an understatement, they were amazing!!!

I served them with jalapenos, coriander leaves, grated low fat cheese and a chipotle yogurt sauce.

Serves 4, plus one portion of the chicken sauce left over, each serving is 2 syns as long as the cheese is used as your healthy A.

Pre heat oven to 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

4 roasted chicken breasts shredded

150g chorizo sausage chopped  9.75 syns

8oz mushrooms chopped

1 onion chopped

2 red peppers chopped (i used jarred)

2 tins tomatoes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 tsps cajun seasoning

½ tsp celery salt

1 tsp chilli powder

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 tbsp chipotle paste  ½ syn

dried lasagne sheets

80g low fat cheddar cheese

80g grated low fat cheese to serve

jalapenos to serve

coriander leaves to serve

½ tsp chipotle paste mixed with fat free natural yogurt to serve

Method

In a large pan brown the chorizo and remove. Fry the onions in the same pan for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and peppers and fry until golden. Add the cumin, oregano, cajun seasoning, celery salt, chilli powder, chipotle paste and garlic, cook for 1 minute, add the tomatoes and 200ml of water. Return the chorizo and add the chicken to the pan, simmer for 20 minutes.

Layer the sauce in a baking dish with the lasagne sheets, finishing with the sauce on top, cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes, uncover, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 more minutes.

Serve with a green salad and the condiments.

Chicken and Rosemary Casserole

I love the winter when all the one pot and warming comfort foods come out, just like this lovely chicken casserole, just what you need on a cold frosty night.

This is a cheats casserole though as it doesn't need hours of cooking.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts roasted with rosemary

4 rashers of bacon with all fat cut off sliced

1 onion chopped

8oz mushrooms sliced

bunch of asparagus

600ml chicken stock

1 sprig rosemary finely chopped

1 tbsp flour 3.5 syns

½ tsp celery salt

fresh ground black pepper

Method

Fry the onions until they are soft, add the bacon and mushrooms and fry until golden, stir in the flour celery salt, pepper and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes, pour in the stock and bring to a boil, return to a simmer and add the asparagus and simmer for 20 minutes, until the asparagus is cooked and the sauce has thickened, and serve.

Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato

I found a recipe for Chipotle Chicken on Pinterest, and it looked good, I was always told you eat with your eyes. I decided to adapt it for Slimming World.

You have the spiciness and smokiness of the chipotle and the sweetness of the sweet potato with a tang from the cheese.

I also had some rice left over from last nights meal so decided to mix that in too, and it works very well.

The whole dish is 1 syn on extra easy, so if serving two it's only ½ syn per person.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes baked

2 chicken breasts roasted and shredded

2 tbsp chipotle paste 1 syn

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp lime juice

2 garlic cloves grated

salt and pepper

8oz mushrooms chopped

1 red pepper chopped

1 onion chopped

1 cup cooked rice

handful coriander leaves

80g reduced fat cheese

Method

Mix together the chipotle paste, chilli powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, lime juice and grated garlic, season with salt and pepper, set aside.

In a frying pan sprayed with frylight fry the onions till golden, add the mushrooms and fry till golden, then add the red peppers, fry for 2 minutes, stir in the chicken, rice, coriander and sauce, heat through for 2 minutes.

Cut the sweet potatoes in half, scoop out most of the middle, spray the inside of the skins with frylight and put back in the oven for 10 minutes. Save the middles for another meal.

Stuff the potato with the chicken mix then bake for 10 minutes, sprinkle with the cheese and put bake in the oven till the cheese has melted.

Serve with a green salad.

Hunters Chicken

Cheese, bacon, BBQ sauce on top of a chicken breast, served with a large side of Cajun Fries, are you sure this is a meal you can eat on Slimming World???

Well don't worry because you can and it's only a couple of syns too!!!

I used the BBQ sauce recipe that is on this blog and the recipe made 5 portions.

I used 1½ portions of BBQ sauce per person with this meal, which worked out at 2¼ syns per person.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 portions of Spicy BBQ Sauce (4.5 syns)

4 rashes of back bacon all fat removed

80g reduced fat cheddar (syn free if used as you healthy extra A)

Method

Put the chicken breasts in a foil lined baking tray sprayed with frylight. Cut a split down the middle of each breast and put ½ portion of BBQ sauce in each slit, cover with the bacon slices, 2 on each. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then sprinkle over the cheese and return to the oven until the cheese has melted.

Serve with Cajun Fries, a large salad and 1 portion of Spicy BBQ Sauce.

Gumbo

When we lived in the States, i always enjoyed the Southern Food, so when i came across a recipe for Gumbo i decided to adapt it and make it Slimming World friendly.

I love the smoky heat from the chorizo, that is what makes this dish, so there was no way i was going to leave it out, so again this isn't a syn free dish but so worth the syns it has as it is so tasty!!

The whole pot is 6.5 syns on extra easy, i made 3 portions out of it so it was roughly 2 syns, do bear in mind i'm greedy so you could probably make more portions!

Ingredients

100g chorizo sausage the raw kind (6.5 syns)

2 chicken breasts chopped

8 oz cremini mushrooms chopped

2 sticks of celery, or 1 tsp celery salt

1 large onion finely chopped

1 large red pepper diced

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp cajun seasoning

½ tsp cayenne pepper

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin chopped tomatoes

500ml hot chicken stock

20 raw shrimp

handful of coriander leaves

Method

In a hot pan sprayed with frylight fry the chorizo till golden then remove from pan, add the chicken and brown, then remove from the pan.

Fry the onions in the fat from the chorizo till soft and golden, add the mushrooms, pepper and celery or celery salt and fry till mushrooms are golden, add the bay leaves, cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato puree and tin of tomatoes and cook for 1 minute then add the stock and chicken and chorizo back to the pan, bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the shrimp to the pan with the coriander leaves for the last 2 minutes of cooking.

I served mine with rice.

Slow Cooked Balsamic Chicken

For on a day when you don't have much time to cook and don't want to spend ages in the kitchen, this dish is perfect.

Ok so it's not the prettiest looking chicken, but it sure makes up for it with flavour! and it is so tender too...

Syn free on extra easy.

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts, or you could use thighs with all the skin and fat removed.

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tsps dried onions

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

½ cup balsamic vinegar

2 star anise

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp tabasco sauce (optional)

Method

Mix together the garlic salt, dried herbs, dried onion and rub into the chicken.

Lay the chicken into a frylight spray slow cooker and pour over the balsamic vinegar, add the star anise and season. 

Cook on high for 4 hours.

When cooked remove the chicken, pour the marinade into a saucepan add the tabasco if using and simmer down by half, use this as a sauce over the chicken.

I served the chicken with baked sweet potatoes and roasted thin asparagus.

The sweetness and creaminess of the potato cut through the tang of the sauce. Perfect combination!

Chinese Lemon Chicken

A fake away to be proud of! This dish is light and refreshing with a kick and a lot less syns than from a Chinese Restaurant, and taste so much better too!

The whole dish is only 5 syns on extra easy.

Ingredients

1 level tbsp potato flour (3 syns)
2 large skinless and boneless chicken breasts sliced
1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine (1 syn)
1 red pepper diced
1 yellow pepper diced
8 oz oriental mushrooms
1 cup edamame beans
1 onion chopped
juice of 1 lemon
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp sweetener
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 garlic clove grated
1 red chilli finely chopped
1 inch ginger grated
1 tbsp chilli sauce (1 syn)


Method

Mix the sliced chicken with the potato flour and season.
To make the sauce mix together the lemon juice, chicken stock, sweetener, soy sauce, garlic, chilli, ginger and chilli sauce.
In a hot wok sprayed with frylight stir fry the chicken until it turns opaque then pour over the rice wine and stir fry until liquid has gone, add the onion, peppers and mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil then simmer until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
Serve with egg fried rice.

Chilli and Garlic Grilled Chicken with Quinoa Greek Salad

This is a very healthy and syn free meal on extra easy. If you can't find quinoa you can always use rice, or a combination of basmati and wild rice, you could even try spelt.

Syn free if you use the feta as your healthy A, if not the feta is 3 syns for 25g

Chicken serves 2 Quinoa Greek Salad serves 8, so plenty of leftovers for future lunches or picnics.


Chilli and Garlic Grilled Chicken Ingredients

2 large skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced into quarters
1 red chilli finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil fry light

Method

Spray the chicken pieces with frylight and sprinkle over the chopped chilli and garlic, season and leave to marinade for at least 1 hour.

Heat a griddle pan till smoking then fry the chicken till cooked through, turning half way.


Quinoa Greek Salad Ingredients

2 cups of quinoa cooked as per packets instructions.
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes quartered
8 black olives chopped
1 red onion finely chopped
½ cucumber seeds removed and sliced
100g feta, or your daily allowance
small bunch of mint leaves roughly chopped
juice and zest of a lemon
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp sweetener
1 tbsp mint sauce unsweetened
1 tsp greek seasoning
1 tbsp water

Method

Put all the vegetables in a large bowl, stir in the quinoa. Whisk together the lemon juice and zest, red wine vinegar, sweetener, mint sauce, greek seasoning and water. Pour over the dressing, mix in and sprinkle over the feta and chopped mint, serve with the chicken.

Coronation Chicken

I've found lots of recipes for coronation chicken, but not a syn free one.
My adaptation isn't quite syn free but the closest i could get, without having to use a mullerlight yogurt.

It is thick and creamy, with a great kick, theres a crunch from the apple and it has so much flavour.

1.5 syns for the whole batch.


Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts seasoned and roasted for 20 minutes, then diced.
1 apple peeled and diced
1 onion diced
2 tbsp quark
6 tbsp fat free natural yogurt
1 tbsp mango chutney
1 tsp madras curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
handful chopped coriander

Method

Mix all the wet ingredients together with the curry powder, then add the chopped, chicken apple and onion. Stir in the coriander and season to taste.

This dish is great served in a sandwich, on a jacket potato, with pasta or rice.