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.

Tuna and Vegetable Baked Eggs

This dish was inspired by a trip we took to Tunisia, the dish there is called a Shukshuka, this is my take on it.
I basically used up the veggies i had in the fridge and decided to add a tin of tuna to it to bulk it out a bit, so really it is not like the Tunisian dish, but I'm thankful for it's inspiration!! It was still really good and syn free!!!

This dish is great for an SP day.

I would like to say this pan served two but it didn't i ate it all myself!!

Ingredients

1 onion chopped
8oz mushrooms sliced
2 jarred red peppers sliced
1 courgette sliced and mooned
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tbsp capers
1 tin tuna in brine
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onions until soft, add the mushrooms and fry until golden, then add the peppers and courgette and fry until soft, add the rest of the ingredients apart from the eggs let it simmer for 10 minutes, Make 2 wells in the mixture and crack in the eggs, put under a high grill until the eggs are to your liking, then enjoy!!!

You could use your healthy A and B with this meal, a nice wholemeal roll to mop up the juices and sprinkle some feta over the top.

Thai Seafood Basil

I love all Thai food, so when i found this recipe and adapted it for SW i was over the moon!!
You can make it as spicy as you like, by adjusting the amount of chillies and chilli sauce you put in. Add whatever vegetables you want too. It is also great with chicken. The whole dish is only 1.5 syns on extra easy and that's for the chilli sauce, so you can alter that to your taste. 1 tbsp is 0.5 syns on extra easy.
This dish serves 2/4 people.

Ingredients

1lb of raw squid and prawns
3 birds eye chillies sliced
3 tbsp chilli sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp light soy sauce
big handful Thai basil
1 onion chopped
8oz oriental mushrooms
8oz tenderstem broccoli

Method

In a hot wok, sprayed with frylight, stir fry the onions for 1 minute, then add the broccoli and chillies, stir fry for 1 minute, add oriental mushrooms and stir fry for another minute, add the chilli sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and soy sauce, add the seafood and stir fry until the seafood is cooked, throw in the Thai leaves and serve.
It is great with rice or noodles.

Country Potato Salad

This potato salad is deliciously creamy and full of flavour, it is fab as a side dish, for a picnic, with a green salad, it is so versatile!!
It isn't syn free but it is so much better than any shop bought potato salad.
The amount of ingredients that i used made enough for 6 servings. The whole dish was only 4.5 syns on extra easy, so split that between 6 and it's next to nothing, and so worth it!!!!

Ingredients

2 lb new potatoes boiled until cooked and cooled
3 hard boiled eggs chopped
3 rashes of bacon with all the fat removed, fried and chopped
3 or 4 spring onions chopped
7 tbsp lighter than light mayonnaise
3 tbsp fat free natural yogurt
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
10 basil leaves chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a large bowl mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, wholegrain mustard, salt and pepper, and basil. The gentle stir in the rest of the ingredients, being careful not to break them up. let them rest in the fridge for 30 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.

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.

Lemon Pepper Roasted Vegetables

There is nothing like a plate of roasted vegetables for a comfort food, full of super free and very filling. This meal is all cooked on one tray so very little washing up too!
You can use any vegetables you like.

Syn free on extra easy.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

3 large potatoes
1 large sweet potato
½ butternut squash
2 portobello mushrooms
10 asparagus
1 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
salt
garlic frylight
2 8oz salmon fillets (optional)

Method

Chop the potatoes, butternut squash and sweet potato all the same size, thickly slice the mushrooms and cut the asparagus in half.
Spray a large baking tray with the frylight, lay the potatoes, sweet potato and butternut squash on the tray spray with frylight, sprinkle over the lemon pepper seasoning and season with salt. bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then toss them and spray again, bake for another 10 minutes, then toss in the asparagus and mushrooms, spray again and bake for 15 minutes.

I added 2 8oz fillets of salmon on top of the vegetables and baked for an extra 8 minutes, to make it a meal.

Butternut Squash and Coriander Fried Rice

I made up this rice to go with my No Butter Chicken Curry, and it complimented it wonderfully.
The sweetness of the butternut squash went so well with the spicy sauce.
It is so easy to make also, and again syn free on extra easy!!
This rice dish would go well with any curry, Cajun Salmon, or any cut of meat with a spicy rub.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

½ butternut squash diced into 1cm cubes
2 cups cooked rice
handful of chopped coriander leaves
butter frylight
salt and pepper

Method

Lay the butternut squash cubes in a single layer on a baking tray sprayed with frylight, spray and season them. Bake in the oven for 15/20 minutes, then toss them and spray again, bake for another 15/20 minutes until the are golden, set aside.

In a large frying pan or wok, sprayed with butter frylight, toss in the cooked rice, butternut squash and coriander, season and gently toss until warmed through, then serve.

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.

Orange and Ginger Tilapia

This dish has become one of my favourites, it is light, refreshing and so tasty. I've been told you should eat the colours of a rainbow in your meals, well this one certainly is colourful, it makes it look so appetising, but believe it tastes as good as it looks.

I served the fish with an Orange and Balsamic Orzo Salad and some mixed green lettuce.

This dish is 1 syn on extra easy.

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 Tilapia fillets
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice ½ syn
1 inch of grated ginger
2 tsp chilli sauce ½ syn
salt and pepper

Mix all but the fish together, pour into a bowl and lay the fish in, let them marinade for 30 minutes to an hour.
Heat a frying pan sprayed with frylight until very hot then cook the fish for 3 minutes each side.

Garlic, Rosemary and Orange Slow Cooked Turkey Breast

I had a large turkey breast in the freezer that needed using up, so i decided to slow cook it to use for snacks. It was great in sandwiches, on a baked spud, with a salad or just to pick at!

Ingredients

1 large turkey breast roast

2 garlic cloves sliced

¼ cup light soy sauce

2 tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp honey 3 syns

50ml freshly squeezed orange juice 0.5 syn

1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

salt and pepper

Method

Make small holes all over the turkey breast and push in the slices of garlic. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Place the turkey into a slow cooker, pour over the marinade and cook on low for 8 hours, you may want to baste every now and then.

When the turkey is cooked, remove and let it rest for 10 minutes, keep the sauce in the slow cooker you will need it. Using two forks shred the turkey, return it to the slow cooker and toss it into the remaining sauce. 

You can serve it hot or cold, the flavour improves if you leave it in the fridge until the next day.

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.

Steamed Thai Salmon

This is a beautiful light Thai dish, full of flavour!!

The original recipe called for the salmon to be grilled but i decided to steam the salmon instead as it remains nice and moist and enhances the flavours, plus it is healthier.

I served it with stir fried vegetables and noodles. I used the marinade from steaming it as a sauce for the vegetables and noodles, so the flavour ran through the whole of the dish.

I used a wok and a bamboo steamer. I put a plate in the steamer with the salmon and marinade on top. A trick to getting the plate back out the steamer is to put a clean new j cloth under the plate with the edges hanging over the side of the steamer, then you can take the plate out with the cloth, and that way you won't spill anything, as you are left with lots of lovely juices that you don't want to waste!

This dish serves two and is 1 syn each on extra easy.

Ingredients

1lb salmon fillet

1 inch ginger

2 red chillies

3 garlic cloves

¼ cup light soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil 2 syns

handful thai basil leaves torn

A selection of vegetables of your choice, enough for two. I used broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, chilli, spring onions and thai basil.

Dried egg noodles, cooked as per packet instructions.

Method

In a blender blitz the chilli, ginger and garlic, divide it into two portions.

In a bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients apart from the salmon. Add one portion of the chilli mixture to the sauce.

Place the salmon on a plate and put into the steamer on top of a j cloth, pour half the marinade over the salmon, leave for 10 minutes.

Fill the wok with water, up to the where the bottom of the steamer will sit, bring to a boil, place the steamer in the wok, turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked to your liking.

Take the steamer out the wok and with the j cloth lift out the plate, be careful it will be very hot.

Empty the water out the wok and spray with frylight, add the broccoli and mushrooms and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables  and the second portion of the chilli mix, stir fry for 1 minutes, then pour in the remaining sauce and any juices from the salmon, stir fry for 1 minute, add the cooked noodles to the wok, warm through then serve with the salmon.

Revised Ceasar Salad Dressing

My Ceasar Salad Dressing was quite low in syns on extra easy, but i thought i would try and make it even better! I am really impressed with how it turned out, it is just as good as before, just as tasty, but less synful.

This recipe is only 2.5 syns on extra easy for the whole batch, which in my house made 8 portions and i like a lot of dressing!

I have left the olive oil out this one and i haven't added the parmesan cheese, you can always sprinkle on the salad when you serve it.

Ingredients

1 garlic clove

1 tin of sainsburys anchovy fillets drained

4 tbsp lighter than light mayonnaise  2 syns

2 tsp worcester sauce

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard  0.5 syns

salt and pepper

Method

Put everything into a blender and blitz until it's smooth and creamy, then either chill or serve.

Sausage Casserole

An easy dish that you just throw together and let cook, it tastes terrific and is pure comfort food, you can have it by itself or with pasta, potatoes, rice.
The sausages are synful but everything else is free and it is full of super free.
I used Sainsburys Cumberland low fat sausages which are 0.5 syns each.

Ingredients

1 package of sausages
1 onion chopped
8 oz mushrooms chopped
1 red pepper diced
1 tin tomatoes
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tbsp italian seasoning
2 carrots sliced
1 tin baked beans
200ml beef stock
salt and pepper


Methods

In a pan sprayed with frylight brown the sausages. put into the slow cooker. Fry the mushrooms until they are golden and add to the slow cooker, add the rest of the ingredients stir together and cook on low for 8 hours.

Jalapeno and Coriander Rosti

I love potatoes and how versatile they are, but any potato that is fried is alway at the top of the list.

I love the kick from the spice and as coriander is my favourite herb it adds a delicious flavour.

The rostis go so well with chipotle yogurt and cajun salmon and a big salad!

They are syn free on extra easy.

Ingredients

1lb potatoes, i used maris piper

1 onion

1 tsp ground cumin

1 green chilli finely chopped

handful of coriander leaves chopped

1 egg beaten

salt and pepper

Method

Grate the potato and onion onto a clean tea towel, then squeeze out all the moisture, in a large bowl mix all the ingredients together.

In a large frying pan sprayed with frylight, flatten a spoonful of the mixture and fry for 3 minutes on each side until they are golden, transfer to a baking sheet, repeat until you have used up all the mixture. Spray with more frylight and bake for 15 minutes, until they are cooked through.

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.