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Sweet Potato Balti August 11, 2010

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.
 

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.

 

Roasted Sausage and Pepper Rigatoni July 22, 2010

Filed under: Favourites,Meat,Pasta,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:51 pm
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Here’s another Weight Watchers Recipe from the Fabulous and Filling Cookbook.  I only added one thing and that was a red onion cut into quarters or chunks.  I used Superquinn low fat sausages, they are gorgeous and there’s no noticeable difference between the full fat and low fat versions.

Serves 4

7 1/2 Weight Watchers points per serving

Ingredients

454g pack low fat sausages

1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped roughly

1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and chopped roughly

3 garlic cloves, crushed

A pinch of dried chillies

Low fat cooking spray

350g (12 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved

250g (9 oz) dried rigatoni

2 heaped tablespoons shredded fresh basil

Method

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 7/220 degrees celsius/fan oven 200 degrees celsius.

2. Snip the sausages into chunks using kitchen scissors and toss together with the peppers, garlic and chillies in a large roasting tin. Spray with the cooking spray and roast for 15 minutes.

3. Stir the cherry tomatoes into the roasting tin and cook for a further 10-15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain thoroughly.

5. Add the pasta to the roasted sausage and pepper mixture and stir in the fresh basil. Serve immediately.

 

Ratatouille Pasta

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Pasta,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:49 pm
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This recipe is from the Weight Watchers Fabulous and Filling Cookbook. I made a few additions to the recipe. I added a stock cube to the ratatouille after the tomatoes. Instead of using plain tomatoes, I used Napolina Chilli and Pepper, it gives it a good old kick.

Serves 4

4 1/2 Weight Watchers points per serving

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

1 red onion, chopped roughly

1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped roughly

1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and chopped roughly

2 courgettes, sliced

1 aubergine, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

400g can chopped tomatoes

200g (7oz) dried fusilli or conchiglie

100g (3 1/2 oz) Brie, sliced thinly

Freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Heat a large, lidded sauce pan until hot and spray with the cooking spray. Cook the onion for 2 minutes then add the peppers and cook for 2 minutes stirring.

2. Add the courgettes, aubergine and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add a splash of water if necessary to prevent the vegetables from sticking to the pan.

3. Cover the pan and cook for a further 4 minutes over a medium heat until the vegetables have softened then add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered. Season with black pepper.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, until tender. Preheat the grill.

5. Drain the pasta and mix with the ratatouille. Tip into an ovenproof baking dish anfd top with the sliced Brie. Grill for 2-3 minutes until the Brie starts to melt. Serve on warm plates.

 

Chicken, Grape and Potato Salad July 15, 2010

Filed under: Chicken,Healthy Eating,Salads and Dressings,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:37 pm
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Surprise, surprise another Weight Watchers recipe. Again, this is from the Fabulous and Filling Cookbook. When I tasted the dressing I thought it needed something, so I added a few splashes of Worchester Sauce, perfect. Also I coated the chicken with some fajita mix before grilling.

 Serves 2

4 Weight Watchers points per serving

Ingredients

300g (10 ½ oz) new potatoes, diced

125g (4 1/2) oz) skinless boneless chicken breast, halved horizontally

40g (1 ½ oz) reduced fat mayonnaise

50g (1 ¾ oz) low fat natural yoghurt

1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)

100g (3 ½ oz) red grapes, halved

1 little gem lettuce leaves separated

Freshly ground pepper

 

Method

  1. Bring a lidded saucepan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes, covered, for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the grill to medium high and grill the chicken for 10-12 minutes until cooked through, Set aside to cool.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the mayonnaise with the yoghurt, chives and mustard, if using, adding pepper to taste. Stir in the new potatoes and grapes.
  4. Slice the chicken and mix into the potato salad. Serve on a bed of Little Gem lettuce leaves.
 

Indian Omelette

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 8:01 pm
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This is another Weight Watchers from the Fabulous and Filling Cookbook. The book suggests serving the omelette rolled up inside a medium chapatti or soft flour tortilla, for 2 ½ extra points value. I’m not sure about this, maybe with a little salsa smeared on the tortilla. Alternatively, you could serve it with a salad.  It’s very simple and doesn’t take too long, so it’s good if you really don’t want to be slaving in the kitchen.

Serves 1

2 ½  Weight Watchers points value

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

½ small onion, sliced thinly

½ red or green chilli, de-seeded and diced

2 eggs

A pinch of ground cumin

1 tomato, diced

2 heaped teaspoons chopped fresh coriander

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Heat a non stick frying pan until hot and spray with the cooking spray. Fry the onion and chilli for 4-5 minutes, adding a splash of water as needed to prevent the onion from sticking and burning.
  2. Beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water, the ground cumin and seasoning. Stir in the tomato and coriander then pout the mixture into the frying pan.
  3. Cook over a medium heat until the omelette is golden underneath and just set on top. Turn out on to a warmed plate.
 

Teriyaki Beef Udon July 13, 2010

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Meat,Noodles,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 11:15 am
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This recipe is from Weight Watcher’s Fabulous and Filling Cookbook.  I’m not a fan of mushrooms so I substituted them with peppers. I also added some Soy Sauce for increased flavour. To make a vegetarian version you could add tofu and bulk it up with some baby sweetcorn and mushrooms.

My marinade for stir fries has always been quite runny and I have never been able to achieve the consistency of a proper Japenese/Chinese restaurant sauce. Well it seems the answer is corn-flour, I always thought it was MSG.

The recipe itself is very good and very quick to make. Hope you enjoy.

Serves 1

Takes 15 minutes

6 points value per serving

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

125g (4 ½ oz) lean rump steak, trimmed of all fat

½ red onion, sliced

50g (2 ¾ oz) sugar snap peas, halved lengthways

75g (2 ¾ oz) mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons teriyaki marinade

¼ red pepper, sliced

¼ yellow pepper, sliced

1 teaspoon cornflour

1 tablespoon soy sauce

150g pack pre-cooked udon noodles

Method

  1. Heat a non-stick frying pan until hot and spray with the cooking spray. Fry the steak for 2 ½-3 minutes on each side over a high heat, then transfer to a warm plate and leave to rest.
  2. Add the onion to the pan and fry for 1 minute then add the sugar snap peas, peppers and mushrooms plus 1 teaspoon of water. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
  3. Mix the teriyaki marinade, soy sauce, cornflour and 4 tablespoons of water, then add to the frying pan and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Mix the udon noodles into the sauce and vegetables. Cook for 1-2 minutes until cooked through. Slice the steak thinly and serve on top of the noodles.
 

Zingy Summer Soup June 24, 2010

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Soups and Stews,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:10 pm
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This is a Weight Watchers recipe. In the past I have found their soup recipes to be lacking in any flavour. Well they are onto a winner in my view with this one.

1 1/2 points per serving

Serves 4

Ingredients

410g can white haricot beans, drained and rinsed

2-3 spring onions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 litre hot vegetable stock

1 courgette, cut into ribbons

125g fine green beans, trimmed and halved

100g peas

1/2-1 mild green chilli, sliced thinly

Handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

4 tsp green pesto

Fresh basil leaves and chopped red chilli, to garnish

Instructions

1. Place the haricot beans, spring onion and garlic in a heavy-based nonstick pan and add the stock.

2. Bring to the boil, then add the courgette and green beans. Simmer for 3 minutes.

3. Add the peas, green chilli and parsley and cook for 2-3 minutes until the peas are tender.

4. Divide among 4 bowls and top each with 1 tsp pesto, a few fresh basil leaves and a little chopped red chilli.

Comments: This is probably best served straight away, I put it in the fridge overnight and it still tested good the next day. I don’t think it’s suitable for freezing.