Pastitsio

This dish is what they call a Greek Lasagne, you usually use lamb mince, but as i couldn't find any extra lean lamb mince i used extra lean beef mince, it was just as tasty. I love the warmth you get from the cinnamon and nutmeg.

The whole dish is syn free on extra easy.

These ingredients make enough ragu for a large Pastitsio and some left over ragu which you can use for a topping for a baked spud, or just mix it into pasta with some rocket leaves, you could even make a Sloppy Joe sandwich out of it!

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1 kg extra lean lamb or beef mince
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
500g mushrooms chopped
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp all spice
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tins tomatoes
1 litre lamb stock

500g macaroni cooked as per packet instructions, and cooled

1 500ml tube fat free yogurt
1 250ml tube quark
2 eggs beaten
½ tsp nutmeg

Method

In a large pot brown the lamb or beef mince then remove.
Fry the onion until soft then add the mushrooms, fry until golden, stir in the garlic and all the herbs and spices cook for 1 minute, return the mince, stir in the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes, then add the stock, bring to a boil, then simmer on a low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Mix together the yogurt, quark, eggs and nutmeg, and season.

Mix a couple of large spoonfuls of the quark mixture with the pasta.

In a large baking dish, layer the meat on the bottom, top with the pasta, then pour over the white sauce. Bake in the oven for 30/35 minutes.

Orange and Chilli Lamb Kebabs

Beautiful tender lamb with a kick from the chilli, warmth from the cinnamon and allspice and a sweet touch from the orange.
They are beautifully paired with sweet potato chips, a greek salad and mint yogurt sauce.
If you want to use some syns a pitta bread would be good too!
This dish is 2 syns on extra easy for all the kebabs. in our house it served two.

Ingredients

4 large lamb leg steaks cubed with all the fat removed

4 garlic cloves minced

2 bay leaves torn

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp all spice/chinese 5 spice

100ml orange juice 2 syns

3 red chillies sliced in half and deseeded then quartered

salt and pepper

Method

In a large plastic bag mix together all the ingredients apart from the salt, massage the marinade into the lamb and leave to marinade overnight.

Skewer the lamb and chilli sprinkle with salt and spray with frylight, then griddle for 4 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

Serve with side dishes of your choice.

Greek Venison Shank

This meal is great for a Sunday roast and it's totally syn free on extra easy. The meat is so lean, but so tender and juicy. The sauce has so much flavour and warmth.

Served with syn free roast potatoes and lots of vegetables it make a fantastically comforting meal.

If you can't get hold of venison shanks, then lamb shanks will be a great substitute.

Ingredients

1 large venison shank or 2 lamb shanks

1 large onion diced

1 tin tomatoes

4 garlic cloves finely chopped

200ml beef stock

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp greek seasoning

juice of ½ lemon

salt and pepper

Method

In a large pan sprayed with frylight brown the shanks and then put them in the slow cooker.

Fry the onions until soft add the garlic, herbs and spices fry for 1 minute, then stir in the stock, tomatoes and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the shanks and set the slow cooker to cook for 8 hours on low.

When the shanks are cooked remove from the cooker, and cover to keep warm.

Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil then simmer down until it has slightly thickened.

You can now serve the sauce with the meat, but i like to push the sauce through a sieve so it is smooth, then i reheat it and serve it as a synfree gravy.

Maple Cinnamon Quinoa Bake

I had better warn you from the start there is a bit of debate about the syns on these bakes!!

As any good consultant will tell you these are considered a tweak, which means as the main ingredient is being used for something other than a main meal, (the "supposedly" thing it is meant to be used for) you may eat more than you normally would, which can cause weight gain, so hence a tweak.

So it is totally up to you what you want to syn these at, if you find you do eat a lot and start gaining then it could well be down to these bakes, it is all about the individual.

To be honest, i don't think you could eat many of these at a time as i find them very filling and normal one is enough.

They are great with a dollop of yogurt and fruit, or as a grab and go breakfast bar, but just as nice eaten plain with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

I made 20 out of my batch, so mine worked out at 0.5 syns each, as the whole batch is 10 syns, but that is only if you don't syn the quinoa.

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

Ingredients

2 cups of uncooked quinoa cooked as per packet instructions and cooled

4 eggs beaten

80ml skimmed milk 2 syns

60ml maple syrup 8 syns

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon

Method

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients, then pour into a baking tray lined with parchment paper and sprayed with frylight, smooth it out and bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and set.

remove from the baking tray straight away so it doesn't steam. 

Cut the slab into portions and put onto a oven proof wire rack and put back in the oven for 10 minutes so the edges crisp.

You could always add nuts and raisins or cranberries to them, or maybe some chocolate chips, but these thing would have to be syned.

Greek Lamb Meatballs

On a cold winters night, like we are getting at the moment there is nothing like a lovely warming dish of pasta and meatballs!

They are so easy to make and low in syns.

8 syns for the whole dish, mine served 3, but again it depends how hungry you are.....

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

Meatball Ingredients

400g 16% or less lean lamb mince 2 syns per 100g

1 onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp Greek seasoning or dried oregano

pinch of salt and pepper

Sauce Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp Greek seasoning or dried oregano

500ml vegetable stock

500ml passata 

1 tin tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Method

To make the meatball, fry the onion in a pan sprayed with fry light until they are soft and golden add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes, set aside and let cool.

In a large bowl mix together the rest of the meatball ingredients and the cooled onions, try not to over handle the mixture as it will get tough. Roll the mixture in your hands to make balls the size of a golf ball, put in a baking tray sprayed with frylight. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes till golden, don't worry if they are not cooked through as they will cook through in the sauce.

While the meatballs are in the oven prepare the sauce.

In a large pan sprayed with frylight fry the onions until they are soft and golden, add the garlic and fry for 2 more minutes, add the tomatoes, passata, cinnamon, seasonings and stock and bring to a boil then simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes until it has thickened and darkened in colour, season to taste, add the meatballs to the sauce and cook through for 10 minutes.

I serve mine with a big bowl of spaghetti.

Garlic Tuna, Salsa and Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash

This recipe is in the October 2013 Slimming World Magazine. I have adapted it to my tastes. It is delicious! You have the meatiness of the tuna, the soft and warm sweetness of the butternut squash and the zing and kick from the light refreshing salsa, topped off with a crunchy salad.

The whole meal is syn free on extra easy.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Salsa Ingredients

1 red onion finely diced

4 red chillies deseeded and deveined and finely chopped

1 red and 1 yellow pepper finely diced

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 tsp dried oregano

juice of 3 limes

1 tsp sweetener

handful of chopped coriander leaves

salt and pepper to season

Salsa Method

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and let it stand for at least 20 minutes.

Spiced Roasted Butternut Squash Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to season

Method

Spray a baking sheet with frylight, cover in a single layer with the squash and spray the squash with more frylight. Sprinkle over the cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, then season, toss the squash to cover and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, turning and spraying half way through cooking.

Tuna Ingredients

2 8oz tuna steaks

½ tsp garlic salt

fresh ground black pepper

Method

Spray the tuna steaks with frylight, heat a griddle pan till smoking, sprinkle the garlic salt and pepper over the tuna and griddle the tuna for 2 minutes each side or till done to your liking.

Potato, Mushroom and Aubergine Curry

I found this recipe on the Good Food website and as it looked so tasty decided to adapt it for Slimming World.

You don't have to use the vegetables i've used, you can add about anything. I think next time i make it i will add cauliflower, butternut squash and mangetout.

It was very tasty and spicy, but you can adjust the spice by the amount of paste you put in. I used 4 tbps, and i would say it was about as spicy as a madras from a take away.

It made a huge pot about 6 serving, depending how hungry you are. The whole pot was only 1.5 syns on extra easy, but you could make it syn free by using different yogurts.

Curry Paste Ingredients

3 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

1 inch ginger 

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp tomato puree

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method

Dry fry the whole spices till they are fragrant for about 2-3 minutes.

Blitz the whole spices in a coffee or spice grinder, then put everything into a blender and blend until its smooth. This makes more than you need for this recipe, so divide the mixture into tbsp spoon portions and put into an ice cube tray and freeze what you don't use for another time.

Curry Ingredients

2 onions roughly chopped

1 large potato cubed

1 aubergine cubed

1 red or yellow pepper diced

800g button mushrooms

2-4 tbsps curry paste

300 ml vegetable stock

3 tubs muller light greek style coconut yogurt, 0.5 syns each

handful coriander leaves roughly chopped 

Method

Fry the onions and potatoes in a large pot sprayed with frylight for 2 minutes, then cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, keep checking that they aren't sticking to the pot.

Add the mushrooms, pepper and aubergine and fry uncovered until golden. Stir in the curry paste and cook out for 5 minutes, season and add the stock, bring to a boil them simmer till potatoes are cooked.

Take the pot of the heat and stir in the yogurts and coriander, if needed, gentle heat the curry through, careful not to let it split.

Serve with rice.

Greek Lamb Hotpot

I really felt like making a Moussaka, but didn't want to use lots of syns on the sauce that goes with it, so i made a lamb ragu and layered it with potatoes and sprinkled with feta cheese, you can use aubergine too for the layers.
The feta cheese cuts through the richness of the lamb, without all the fat and syns.
 Its a cross between a Moussaka and Hotpot.

3.5 syns per portion on extra easy as long as you use the Feta as your healthy A, if not add 6 syns.


Serves 6

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 large onion chopped
2 carrots finely diced
1 punnet cremini/chestnut mushrooms
1 kg less 16% fat minced lamb
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500ml passata
1 tbsp tomato puree
500ml lamb or chicken stock
1 lb potatoes thinly sliced
Butter frylight
45g feta cheese per portion

Method

In a large pan sprayed with sunflower frylight brown the mince lamb then remove and set aside.
Fry the onions until they are soft and golden, add the garlic, carrots and mushrooms, fry for 3 minutes.
Return the lamb to the pan, add all the herbs and spices, stir together then add the tomatoes, passata, puree and stock, season with salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally.
When the ragu is cooked, layer the ragu and potatoes in an oven proof dish, with ragu on the bottom and potatoes as the top layer, spray the top layer of potatoes with the butter frylight and bake for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. If the top starts to get too brown cover with kitchen foil.
Serve up and sprinkle with the feta cheese.

Delicious served with a Greek Salad

Spicy Sweet Potato

Sweet soft potato with the kick of chilli and the warmth of Cinnamon and allspice and the saltiness of feta cutting through the sweetness.

I served it with roasted salmon, salad and Mint Yogurt Sauce

Syn free on extra easy as long as the feta is used as your healthy A


Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes
2 red chillies finely sliced
extra virgin olive oil frylight
2 tsp Ras El Hanout
1 tsp flaky sea salt
90g feta cheese

Method

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1cm slices.
Put one potato onto kitchen foil, spray with frylight, sprinkle with 1 chilli and 1 tsp of the Ras El Hanout, and ½ tsp of salt. Wrap it up in the foil. Repeat with the second potato, and bake them for 40 minutes, serve and sprinkle with feta cheese.