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Baked Sweet Potato with Sweetcorn and Crispy Bacon August 11, 2010

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Potatoes,Uncategorized,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:09 pm
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Yet another Weight Watchers recipe for you 🙂 I promise I don’t have shares.

5 ½ points per serving

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

4 x 250g sweet potatoes

110g low fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs

4 spring onions, chopped

125g drained canned sweet corn

Low fat cooking spray

4 rashers lean back bacon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees Celsius/. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and cook for 30-40 minutes until soft inside (insert a skewer to test). Remove from the oven, leaving it on.
  2. Halve the potatoes and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Mash the flesh, then stir in the soft cheese, spring onions and sweet corn. Season, then spoon the flesh back into the skins and return to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.
  3. Meanwhile, mist a small frying pan with low fat spray and heat. Add the bacon and cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes, turning regularly until the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon and chop into small pieces.
  4. Serve 2 halves of baked potato each topped with the bacon, with some green salad on the side.
 

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Meat,Pasta,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:58 pm
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Tip: I added in chicken which I fried with the bacon until golden brown. I would also recommend adding in a stock cube with the pasta water, to give it an extra bit of flavour.

6 Points per serving

Serves 4

Ingredients

150g small, short dried pasta such as

macaroni or chifferi rigati

400g mixed zero points veg, such as

broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot cut into bite sizes.

Low fat cooking spray

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium rashers lean back bacon, chopped

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp low fat polyunsaturated margarine

300 ml skimmed milk

100g half fat mature cheddar cheese grated

1 slice of low calorie bread, whizzed into crumbs

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
  2. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook for just 1 minute, then add the mixed vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes more until the veg is just starting to get tender.
  3. Drain and tip into a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish.
  4. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan, mist with low fat spray and add the onion. Sauté for 4 minutes until starting to soften and colour, then add the bacon and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
  5. Tip into the dish with the pasta and mix everything together.
  6. Place the flour, margarine and milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium-high heat, whisking constantly.
  7. Simmer for a few minutes more, stirring, until the sauce has thickened and the raw flour taste has disappeared, then stir in half the cheese.
  8. Season to taste, and then pour the sauce over the pasta.
  9. Top the pasta with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs, then place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until hot through and golden brown on top. Serve.
 

Sweet Potato Balti

Filed under: Curries,Healthy Eating,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:51 pm
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This is another Weight Watchers recipe. This is really good. You can serve it as a side dish or with rice as a main dish.

Serves 4. Takes 27 minutes. 9 points value per recipe. 201 calories per serving

Ingredients

500g sweet potato

Low fat cooking spray

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons balti curry powder

150 ml hot vegetable stock

1x410g can butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 red chilli, sliced

75g frozen chopped spinach

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

1. Put the sweet potato on a plate and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

2. Heat a wide non stick frying pan and spray with low fat cooking spray. Transfer the sweet potato to the pan and cook for 20 minutes, turning over about halfway through when starting to caramelise.

3. Meanwhile, put the chopped tomatoes, garlic, curry powder, stock, butter beans, chilli and frozen spinach into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the sweet potato and coriander and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

 

Pasta Salad with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Rocket

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Pasta,Salads and Dressings,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:46 pm
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I got this from the Weight Watchers UK website. I’m not a mad fan of blue cheese, so I substituted it with feta instead.

Ingredients

30 g walnut halves, coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon salt

175g pasta, use farfalle

40g rocket

2 tablespoon fresh chives, minced

180g tomato (s) halved

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil (garlic infused)

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Freshly ground salt and pepper

45g Danish blue cheese, crumbled

Method

  1. Place walnuts in a small, frying pan. Toast nuts over medium-high heat until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently, about 1 to 2 minutes; remove from pan and set aside.
  2. Bring 3 quarts of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a large pot. Stir in pasta and cook until tender, about 11 to 13 minutes. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl; immediately add rocket and toss well. Cover bowl with a lid or tight fitting plastic wrap; set aside until rocket is limp, about 5 minutes. Stir in chives and tomatoes.
  3. Stir together vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper in a cup. Pour dressing over pasta salad and toss well; sprinkle with blue cheese.
 

Baked Poppy Seed and Lemon Cheesecake

Filed under: Desserts,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:31 pm
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I got this from a Weight Watchers cookbook. It’s really good. To keep it relatively healthy you could serve it with some fresh raspberries and low fat creme fraiche.

Ingredients

200g of reduced fat digestives biscuits, crushed

50g of low fat margarine melted

150g of golden caster sugar

1 tblsp of corn-flour, sifted

Zest of 2 lemons

2 tbps vanilla extracts

300g low fat soft cheese

200g tub of low fat crème fraiche

110g 0% fat Greek yoghurt

2 egss, beaten

1 tblsp of poppy seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, fan oven 180 degrees Celsius. Line the bases of a 20 cm springform cake tin with non-stick baking parchment.
  2. Combine the crushed biscuits with the melted margarine and 1 tablespoon of water. Press evenly into the base of tin. Chill until required.
  3. Place the sugar, corn-flour and lemon zest in a food processor and blend briefly. Add the vanilla, soft cheese, crème fraiche, yoghurt and eggs and blend until smooth.
  4. Pour the mixture over the base and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheesecake has begun to shrink from the sides of the tin and is golden on top- it should still wobble slightly in the middle, but will firm up on cooling. Leave it cool before removing from the tin, then chill for at least 1 hour.
 

Traditional Brown Bread

Filed under: Bread,Uncategorized — delishuss @ 8:26 pm
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I got this recipe from Dunbrody House Cookery School.  We had it with gubeen cheese and some chutney. Delightful. You can add some pine nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, fennel and caraway seeds for a healthy crunchy finish. Diced dried apricots and sultanas add an unusual finish to the bread.

Ingredients

350g coarse wholemeal flour (also see notes below)

50g plain flour

50g porridge oats

Pinch salt

2 level teaspoons of bread soda

2 large eggs

1 dessertspoon of sunflower oil

500ml buttermilk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
  • Put the flours, sieved bread soda, salt and porridge oats into a large mixing bowl mix them well.

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  • In a separate bowl beat the eggs together with the oil and add to the dry mixture.
  • Next mix in the buttermilk and get the mix to a “sloppy” consistency.

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  • Pour into a greased 2lb loaf tin and smooth the top of the bread with a wet spoon.
  • Sprinkle some seeds or porridge oats on top of the bread and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

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  • After the hour has elapsed remove the bread from the tin, turn it over and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes.

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  • Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool down.

 

Additional notes

  • I couldn’t find coarse wholemeal flour in the supermarkets in Australia so I used half of regular wholemeal flour and half LSA (Linseed, Sunflower Seeds and Almond meal). It turned out great and it’s a great source of fibre. Here is the brand I used.

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  • 2 tablespoons treacle in the wet mix makes darker and sweeter bread.
  • This bread stays fresh for about 4-5 days.
  • It can be successfully frozen.
  • The mixture can be spooned into muffin tins and backed 9approx 30-35 minutes @ 190 degrees Celsius.
  • Fresh milk mixed with lemon juice (1 lemon) or natural yoghurt 92 small pots) could also be used to naturally sour the milk. Once you have added the juice or the yoghurt just give it a stir and leave it to rest for 30 minutes so as to allow it to thicken up.

 

 

Banana Bread

Filed under: Bread — delishuss @ 8:22 pm
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Ingredients

225g/8oz plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

110g/4 0z caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

75ml/3fl oz sunflower oil

A few drops of vanilla essence

65g/2 ½ oz pecan nuts, chopped

4 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed

Makes 1 loaf

Instructions

  1. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and stir in the sugar.
  2. Mix in the egg, sunflower oil and vanilla essence but do not beat.
  3. Fold in the pecans and mashed bananas, using a fork. Again do not beat.
  4. Spoon into a lined 900g/2lb loaf tin and bake in an oven preheated to 180 C/350F/gas mark 4 for 50-60 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and springs back when prodded gently with your finger.
  5. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
 

Avoca Brown Bread

Filed under: Bread — delishuss @ 8:20 pm
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Ingredients

200g white flour

300g coarse brown flour

3 tblsp of bran

2 tblsp of wheatgerm

2 heaped tsps of baking powder

1 level tsps salt

1 dessertspoon of treacle

600-900ml of milk

Makes 1 loaf

Instructions

  1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Add the treacle and stir in the milk gradually to give a moist but not sloppy mixture. (I used only 600ml/pint of milk for this)
  3. Place in a well-greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or until risen. Reduce the heat 170 degrees Celsius and bake for a further hour.
  4. Run a knife around the tin and ease the bread out. If it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom it is cooked; if not return to the over for a further 10-15 minutes. There is no need to put the bread back in the tin, just place it on the shelf.

 

Note: the cooking time for this is quite long because of the wetness of the mixture. It might be a good idea to set a timer.

 Also I found it quite difficult to get wheatgerm and bran but eventually found it in the health food store.

 

Arabic Lamb Schwarma August 9, 2010

Filed under: Meat — delishuss @ 10:07 pm
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This recipe takes a bit of preparation, so don’t do what I did and start the recipe at 21:00.  In my humble opinion this is gorgeous, why not give it a try. This recipe uses leg of lamb; I used lamb steaks instead and cut them into cubes.

Ingredients

For the lamb kebabs

450g leg of lamb, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 lemon, juiced and half the zest

2 cloves of garlic

1.5 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of ground spice

1 tsp of cinnamon

3 cardamon pods, crushed

1 tsp of cumin seeds, crushed

Pinch of chilli powder

25g fresh coriander, chopped

Pinch nutmeg grated

1 tbsp of sugar

For the parsley tahini dip

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

300ml of tahini

2 lemons, juice only

1 very large handful of parsley, finely chopped

For the tabbouleh

200g bulgar wheat

1 stock cube

2 tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded

3 tbsp finely chopped spring onions

½ cucumber, deseeded and very finely chopped mint

200g very finely chopped parsley

4 tbsp lemons, juice only

5-6 tbsp olive oil

100g rocket lettuce

To serve

Flatbreads

Red onions, thinly sliced.

Method

  1. For the lamb kebabs: slice the lamb thinly. Mix in a bowl with all the other ingredients and leave to marinade in the fridge overnight. (Don’t stress, if you haven’t time, give it 30 minutes if using lamb steaks).
  2. The next day, cook the shreds of lamb on a hot griddle pan or barbecue.
  3. For the parsley tahini dip: using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic and salt to a paste. Mix in the tahini then whisk in the lemon juice- it will start to become sticky. Start dribbling in a little warm water, still whisking until you get the consistency of thick double cream. Stir in the parsley.
  4. For the tabbouleh: Cook bulgar wheat according to packet instructions, add the stock cube during cooking. Drain the soaked bulgar in a colander.
  5. Tip into a mixing bowl and stir in all the other ingredients tasting and adjusting with seasoning all the way.
  6. Make the schwarma wraps by loading flatbread with a mixture of the grilled lamb, tabbouleh, and tahini dip. Scatter with red onion and roll up to serve.
 

Crispy Garlic Chicken Breasts August 4, 2010

Filed under: Chicken,Healthy Eating,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:51 pm
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This is another recipe from the Weight Watchers Fabulous & Filling. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I served it would green beans and some new potatoes (1 1/2 points for 150g)

Serves 4

3 1/2 Weight Watchers points per serving

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

75g (2 3/4 oz) low fat soft cheese

4 x 125g (4 1/2 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 egg

1 tablespoon skimmed milk

7g ( 2 3/4 oz) fresh breadcrumbs

Low fat cooking spray

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/200 degrees celsius/ fan oven 180 degrees celsius.

2. In a bowl, mix together the garlic and parsley with the soft cheese and black pepper. Cut a deep pocket in each chicken breast, taking care not to cut right through, then stuff the soft cheese mixture inside, closing the flesh around the stuffing as far as possible.

3. Beat the egg with the milk in a shallow dish, and spread the breadcrumbs out on a plate.

4. Dip each chicken breast first in the egg mixture and then in crumbs to coat all over. Place on a non stick baking tray and spray with the cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes until crisp and cooked through.