Red Lentil, Jalapeno and Lime Soup

I was a bit apprehensive about this soup as i don't usually like beans and pulses, i was worried it would have a really grainy texture.
I couldn't have been more wrong, it was smooth and creamy!
You have a bite from the jalapenos and a zing from the lime, that makes you just keep on eating it, i had to go back for more!!

It is syn free on extra easy, and the pot i made served 6.

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 green chillies deseeded
1 inch ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp red lentils
500g passata
750ml vegetable stock
salt and pepper
zest and juice of 1 lime
handful coriander leaves
6 tbsp fat free yogurt

Method

In a blender blitz the chilli and ginger.
In a large pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onions and carrots until soft. Add the ginger and chillies and fry for 1 minute, add the cumin seeds and lentils, stir together then pour in the passata and stock, season to taste, then bring to a boil and simmer over a low heat for about 45 minutes, and the lentils and carrots are soft.
Using either a stick blender or a normal blender, blend the soup until it is smooth, return to the heat and warm through, take off the heat and stir in the lime juice and zest.

Serve up with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

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.

Cajun Salmon Hash

I had a piece of salmon that had to used up in the fridge and was craving comfort food, so looked to see what else i had laying around and came up with this recipe.

It is along the same lines of the Chicken Hash, but with a few different flavours.

It is syn free on extra easy.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

4 large potatoes peeled and diced

1 lb salmon fillet

8 oz cremini mushrooms thickly sliced

1 red pepper diced

1 cup jalapenos

1 onion diced

1 tbsp cajun seasoning, devided into 3

1 tbsp worcester sauce

salt and pepper to season

2 duck eggs

Method

Spray a baking sheet with frylight and lay out the diced potatoes spray the potatoes, sprinkle over ⅓ of the cajun seasoning and season, bake in the oven for 30 minutes, turning and spraying again half way through.

Spray an ovenproof dish with frylight, put the salmon in the dish and spray with frylight and sprinkle over ⅓ of the cajun seasoning and season, bake for 8 minutes.

Spray a large frying pan with frylight, fry the onions till they start to soften, add the mushrooms and pepper and fry till golden, sprinkle over the remaining cajun seasoning, worcester sauce and season, add the jalapenos and fry for 2 minutes, stir in the cooked potatoes and serve up, flake over the salmon and top with a fried egg.

Jalapeno Coleslaw

I was planning my weekly menu and decided that jalapeno coleslaw would be good with a meal i was preparing, so i set about making a syn free one.


Ingredients

½ red cabbage
½ white cabbage
1 large carrot
1 large onion
1 cup pickled jalapeno slices
1 tube quark
4 tbsp fat free natural Greek yogurt
1 tbsp tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Shred the cabbage, carrot and onion, mix together. Finely chop the jalapenos, mix together the quark, yogurt, and tomato puree, stir in the jalapenos and season to taste, mix into the vegetables.

Salsa Chicken with the Works

Craving nachos, Tex Mex or something spicy then this is the dish for you!
This dish takes a long time to cook but is so easy to prepare. Just stick it in your slow cooker in the morning and your meal is ready when you get home from work or play!

Depending on what salsa you use in this dish, makes a difference on the syns per portion.


Serves 6

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
8 oz mushrooms sliced
2 red peppers diced
1 cup of salsa, shop bought or homemade
1 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp fajita seasoning
8 spring onions chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp chilli flakes
1 cup basmati rice

Method

Lay the chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker and sprinkle with the fajita seasoning, layer the rest of the ingredients on top of the chicken, pour over ½ cup water, stir it all together and set the slow cooker to 8 hours, an hour before the cooking ends stir in the rice.

I served the Salsa Chicken with coriander leaves, 30g grated cheddar cheese, sliced jalapenos, and instead of sour cream i made a coriander and lime fat free creme fraiche. Instead of having nachos i used crisp little gem leaves.

Baked Potato with Chilli and a Fried Egg

I wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen cooking a meal, so i got a portion of Beef Chilli out the freezer and stuck a potato in the oven, while i was in the fridge getting the cheese, i noticed the eggs and suddenly had a craving for one on the top of my Baked potato. Well i was very pleasantly surprised, it went really well and was delicious, the richness of the yolk cut through the sharpness of the cheese and the kick from the spicy chilli!!

Syn free on extra easy, as long as you use the cheese as your healthy A.


Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1 Large baking potato
1 portion of Beef Chilli
40g reduced fat cheddar cheese or 30g full fat cheddar cheese
1 egg (i used a duck egg)
Chipotle tabasco sauce (optional)

An afterthought, a handful of jalapenos would be good too!

Method

Wash the potato and prick all over, bake for about an hour, until the skin is crispy and the centre is tender.
Reheat the Beef Chilli on the hob for about 10 minutes till hot, or in the microwave for 5 minutes till hot.
Put the potato on a plate and cut a cross in it, then push down on the edge of each quarter, pour over the chilli and if using Jalapenos sprinkle them over, then sprinkle with the cheese.

Heat a frying pan sprayed with frylight and fry you egg to your liking, then lay on top of the cheese, sprinkle with the tabasco sauce and serve.

Chilli Cheese Fries

This a pure comfort food, hot and spicy, full of what you need when you need a boost!

Syn free on extra easy if you use the cheese as your healthy A.


Preheat grill

Ingredients

1 portion of Beef Chilli
1 portion of Syn Free Chips
20 sliced jalapenos
40 g of reduced fat cheese or 30 g full fat cheese.

Method

Layer the chips in the bottom of a bowl, top with the chilli, jalapenos and grate over the cheese, put under the grill till the cheese has melted.

Chicken Hash

This is pure comfort food!!

Who would have thought you could eat food like this on Slimming World!
Well you can and to top it off this meal is syn free on extra easy!
The cheese is your healthy extra A.


Serves 2

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts  roasted with fry light for 20 minutes at 200c, 400f, gas mark 5.
1 lb maris piper potatoes, peeled and cubed, then roast for 30 minutes with fry light, turning and spraying again half way through.
1 onion chopped
8 oz mushrooms chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup jalapenos
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp worcester sauce
2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
2 eggs fried in fry light or poached
70g full fat cheddar or 90g half fat cheddar grated

Method

While chicken and potatoes are roasting fry the onion with fry light till soft, add the mushrooms and onions and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the jalapenos, tomato paste, worcester sauce, paprika and salt and pepper, cook out for 5 minutes.
Chop the chicken into cubes and add to the onion mixture, then stir in the potatoes, sprinkle over the cheese and melt in oven for 3 minutes.
Top with an egg and serve.