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.

Roasted Vegetable Tortilla

I first made this dish to take on a picnic, it went down so well unfortunately there was no left overs.

Now i make it for all occasions also i have it for lunch, dinner, brunch, and even breakfast, it even makes a great snack.

It tastes great hot or cold. It is jam packed full of superfree and you can use whatever veggies you like.

Best of all it is synfree on extra easy!!

This one was made in a 20cm frying pan and depending how hungry or greedy like myself you are will serve 6 to 8 people.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1lb maris piper or any waxy potato diced

8oz cremini mushrooms quartered

1 red pepper diced

1 onion diced

1 small sweet potato diced

1 garlic clove minced

6 eggs whisked

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

Method

Whisk together the egg garlic and salt and pepper, set aside.

On a large baking tray sprayed with frylight spread out all the vegetables so they are in a single layer, spray with more frylight and sprinkle with the Italian seasoning. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden, tossing them half way through.

Transfer all the veggies to an oven proof frying pan or dish and pour over the egg mixture, bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg is set.

Delicious with a big salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing.

Sausage, Mushroom, Potato and Feta Gratin

This is a tasty comforting dish, quick and easy to cook. I used weight watcher sausages at 0.5 syns each on extra easy.

I used the feta as my healthy A but you can syn it 3.5 syns for 25g.

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

8 low fat sausages, skinned and crumbled

1 large onion chopped

8oz cremini mushrooms chopped

1 tsp chopped thyme

1lb potatoes washed and diced

100 ml chicken broth

90g feta crumbled

Method

Spray a large baking tray with frylight and spread the potatoes out, spray with more frylight and roast for 30 minutes, tossing and spraying again halfway through.

In a large frying pan brown the sausages and remove.

Fry the onions, thyme and mushrooms until golden, return the sausage and stir in the roasted potatoes, stir in the chicken broth, then tip it all into an oven dish, sprinkle with the feta, cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes and serve with a big salad.

Steak, Kidney and Mushroom Pie

I found a recipe for a steak and mushroom pie and really started craving one, i looked up the syns for pastry and almost had heart failure!!!

So i decided to to replace the pastry with a crispy potato topping instead, which is syn free.

The whole pot of pie filling which made 3 big pies came to 3 syns on extra easy.

It was rich, tender and very very tasty!!!

Preheat oven 200c, 400f, gas mark 5

Ingredients

1 kg beef steak cubes

500g kidney diced

500g mushrooms quartered

3 carrots diced

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp each of dried thyme and oregano

1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

2 bay leaves

1 litre rich beef stock

1 tbsp plain flour 3 syns

Salt and pepper

2 potatoes thinly sliced

Method

In a large pan sprayed with frylight, brown the beef then remove, then brown the kidney and remove.

Spray the pan again then fry the onions for 1 minute, add the carrots and mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes until golden, add the garlic and all the herbs, cook for 1 minute, add the paprika and stir in the flour, return the beef and kidney to the pan and stir in the beef stock and season, bring it to a boil and then simmer over a low heat for 2 hours or until the beef is tender, stirring it often, if it starts to over thicken, just add some water.

Divide the mixture between the pie dishes and top in a single layer with the potato slices, spray with butter frylight and bake in the oven for 30/35 minutes or until the potatoes are crisp and golden.

Bubble and Squeak

I love a good fry up and i love that you can eat them when doing Slimming World and as long as you cut all the fat off the bacon and syn the sausages. The rest is syn free on extra easy. Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys do low syn sausages, which are actually quite tasty.

Got some left over potatoes and cabbage, then why not knock up some bubble and squeak to go with your fry up, don't worry if you haven't any leftovers as it is just as good cooked from fresh.

Ingredients

1lb potatoes peeled, boiled

half a green cabbage shredded and cooked

1 red onion chopped

1 tsp mixed herbs

½ tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Method

In a frying pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onion until its soft.

In a large bowl, mash the potato, red onion, and cabbage together, stir in the mixed herbs, cayenne pepper and season.

Roll in balls and flatten out into patties, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In a frying pan sprayed with frylight, fry the patties for about 4 minutes each side until they are golden and cooked through.

Serve with a fry up, or fish, chicken, beef, they are so versatile you could serve them with lots of dishes.

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.

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.