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Creamy Pesto Pasta September 29, 2010

Filed under: Fast Food,Pasta — delishuss @ 3:52 pm
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This is quick and easy. I made my own pesto, just add some sundried tomatoes to the following recipe:

https://delishuss.wordpress.com/category/sauces/

If you don’t have the time, pesto from a jar is fine.

I tried to keep it as healthy as possible by using Weight Watchers crème fraiche and tesco healthy living bacon.

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 chopped smoked bacon medallions

2 tablespoons of red pesto (add more if you like a strong pesto flavour)

1 chopped pepper

20g of crème fraiche

100g of penne or pasta bows

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
  2. Meanwhile, heat a pan and then pour in the olive oil. Once the olive oil is hot, fry the onions, peppers and bacon until almost browned. Add in the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in the pesto and heat through.
  4. Add in the pasta to the pesto and other ingredients. Stir in the crème fraiche and heat through.

Season to taste and serve with some fresh basil leaves.

 

Spiced Lamb Kebabs September 14, 2010

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Meat,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 9:58 pm
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I really liked this recipe, I am a bit of a sucker for lamb and anything curry related so it’s right up my alley.  Hope you enjoy it.

7 1/2 points value per serving

Serves 2

Ingredients

350g (12 oz) lean leg of lamb, cubed

1 pepper cut into large chunks

2 teaspoons tandoori curry powder

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 onion, cut into wedges

To serve

2 pitta breads

10 mint leaves, shredded

2 cm (3/4 inch) piece cucumber, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons 0% fat Greek yogurt

Method

1. Place the lamb in a non metallic bowl. Mix together the tandoori powder, yoghut and garlic and pour over the lamb. Stir well and set aside to marinade at room temperature for 20 minutes.

2. Preheat the grill to medium. Thread the lamb, onion and pepper on to skewers, brushing over any excess yoghurt mixture. Grill for 12-15 minutes until beginning to char.

3. To serve, warm the pitta breads under the grill. Mix together the mint, cucumber and yoghurt. Split the pittas. Remove the meat, onions and peppers from the skewers, stuffing them into pittas. Serve with the yoghurt mixture.

 

Traditional Soda Bread With Sundried Tomato & Parmesan

Filed under: Bread — delishuss @ 9:37 pm
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Hello, I got this recipe from a leaflet (Celebrate Irish Food) in my work canteen. The original recipe used cheddar but I didn’t have any in stock so I used parmesan instead and it appears to have been very successful. This makes two loafs and it tends to go off quite quickly, so it’s best to freeze one if you won’t get a chance to eat it within a couple of days. I had a few slices of this with Low Low triangles and some of the sunblushed tomatoes I had left over. Yum yum!

Ingredients

750ml Buttermilk

1kg Plain Flour

40g Grated Cheddar or Parmesan Cheese

20g Bicarbonate of Soda

50g Italian Roasted (Sunkissed) Tomatoes

3g Cooking Salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius (Gas mark 4)

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients into a clean large mixing bowl and stir in the sunkissed tomatoes and cheese.

2. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Form into one ball of dough. The mixture should be quite dry. Add a little more buttermilk if the dough doesn’t come together.

3. Knead well. Divide the dough into two and roll into sausage shapes.

4. Place onto a clean parchment paper covered tray and place into the oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes. (If you have a gas oven it may take a bit longer)

This goes well as an accompaniment for the Italian Style Tomato Soup.

 

Italian Style Tomato Soup September 13, 2010

Filed under: Soups and Stews,Starters,Vegetarian — delishuss @ 10:28 pm
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This is very simple to make. It’s pretty healthy as well. You would probably get about 6 servings out of this.

Ingredients

1x400g can chopped tomatoes

1 jar passata

1 large onion, chopped

1x 400g butter beans

2x leeks, chopped

2x cloves, garlic crushed

300ml stock

handful of chopped basil

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Fry off the onions and leeks in a lidded saucepan for 2-3 minutes at high heat. Reduce the heat, cover and saute for 3 more minutes. Add in the garlic and stir, fry for another 1 minutes.

2. Add in the tomatoes, passata and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add the butter beans and basil and stir. Cook for a further 5 minutes.

4. Season to taste and serve.

This would be great served with the Traditional Soda Bread With Sundried Tomato & Parmesan.

 

Beef Red Curry September 9, 2010

Filed under: Meat,Noodles,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:27 pm
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I thought this was delishuss.  I was kind of surprised at how tasty it was considering it was low fat. It is a little less creamy/thick than what you would expect a thai curry to be but it’s all the better for the waistline.

5 1/2 Weight Watchers points per serving

Serves 4

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

300g of lean rump steak, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste

1 green pepper, sliced

150g baby corn

1/2 x 400ml can reduced fat cocunut milk

2ooml vegetable stock

2 x 150g packet straight to wok Udon noodles

A handful of freshly chopped coriander, to garnish

Method

1. Heat a large lidded saucepan until hot. Spray with low fat cooking spray and add the steak and fry for 2-3 minutes until brown.

2. Add the paste, pepper and baby corn. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes until beginning to brown.

3. Add the cocunut milk and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the beef is tender.

4. Add the beansprouts and noodles. Cook for 1-2 minutes until hot, then serve in warm bowls garnished with the coriander.

Tip: Prawns would work well with this dish instead of the beef. Add 150g of cooked prawns with the beansprouts. The points value per serving would be 4 1/2.

If you like a spicy curry, I would add some more curry paste.

 

Lentil and Chick Pea Casserole

Filed under: Healthy Eating,Vegetarian,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:07 pm
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Hi everyone, I’m afraid I couldn’t leave the original of this recipe alone. It serves 4. I would serve it with cous cous or rice.  For a meat version, I think it would work well with lamb.

2 Weight Watchers points per recipe

Ingredients

Low fat cooking spray

1 red onion, sliced thinly

2 garlic cloves

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 courgette, sliced

1 x 400g can cherry tomatoes

1 x 410g can green lentils, drained

1 x 100g can chickpeas, drained

1 x 100g can red kidney beans, drained

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of fenu greek

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

150 ml stock

150g young leaf spinach

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Crush the spices in a pestle and mortar, set aside.

2. Lightly coat a large lided non stick saucepan with low fat cooking spray. Heat until hot. Add the onion and fry for 3 minutes. Add the courgette and peppers and cook for another 3 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add in the garlic and spices and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add the lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4 Stir in the spinach and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Serve hot with a sprinkle of parsley on top.

 

Spaghetti with Bacon Breadcrumb Topping September 6, 2010

Filed under: Meat,Pasta — delishuss @ 9:31 pm
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I was watching Rick Stein’s cookery programme at the weekend and he was in Sicily. He made a very simple pasta dish. I have taken his recipe a step further. I think it’s great, but then again I am biased 🙂

 

Ingredients

150g spaghetti

15 olives, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red pepper, diced

1 tray of cherry tomatoes, pith removed and diced

50g breadcrumbs

50g grated parmesan

5 medallions (100g) smoked rasher

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp of chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

Cooking spray

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
  2. Meanwhile, heat a pan and spray with cooking spray. Fry the bacon for 3 minutes until turning brown. Add the breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the parmesan, stir and set aside.
  3. Heat an additional large pan and add the olive oil. Fry the pepper for 3 minutes, add the garlic and olives and fry for another 2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, chilli flakes and season with pepper. Cook for a further 2 minutes until the tomatoes are heated through.
  4. Drain the pasta and add to the large saucepan with the tomato and olive mix. Stir through and cook for another 3 minutes.
  5. Distribute into large serving bowls and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture.
 

Spanish Pan Fry August 30, 2010

Filed under: Favourites,Meat,Potatoes,Weight Watchers Recipes — delishuss @ 10:04 pm
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I am a big fan of chorizo so this is right up my alley.  I would have thought that the chorizo would have been a complete no no where Weight Watchers is concerned but this recipe is pretty okay in terms of points. As always I made a few changes, this is my version below.

Serves 4

5 1/2 points value per serving

Ingredients

500g (1lb 2 oz) new potatoes, halved or quartered if large

low fat cooking spray

200g (7 oz) chorizo, cubed

1 large yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced

1 onion, sliced

6 tablespoons canned chick peas, drained

400g cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

250 ml of stock

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large non stick wok or frying pan and spray with the cooking spray. Add the peppers and onions and fry for 2 minutes.  Add the chorizo and fry for another 2 minutes. Stirring until it starts to crisp.

3. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute. Then add the chick peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Stir in some of the stock and simmer until the liquid has reduced, then add the remainder and repeat.

4. Season to taste and serve in shallow bowls sprinkled with the parsley.

For an additional 2 points serve with 50g of crusty bread to mop up any of the juices.

 

Mo’s Nutty Cheesecake August 29, 2010

Filed under: Cakes,Desserts — delishuss @ 9:22 pm
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I have to admit that I haven’t tried this recipe but it’s definately one on my list. It really is a piece of cake 🙂

Ingredients

Base

8 oz digestives

3 oz butter

Filling

3 oz caster sugar

3 oz Philadelphia cream cheese

2 pots hazelnut yoghurt

1 small carton of cream whipped

Instructions

  1. Bash the biscuits with a rolling pin until it’s the texture of crumbs.
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the biscuits, remove from the heat. Spread into a tin and chill in the fridge.
  3. Beat the sugar and cream cheese in a bowl.
  4. Fold in the yoghurt and cream. Spread on the base.
  5. Chill in the fridge until set.
  6. Serve with whipped cream and some chopped nuts.
 

Vegetable Chilli

Filed under: Healthy Eating — delishuss @ 9:16 pm
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I was a bit concerned about the effect of the apple, but it worked quite well. Serve this with rice or taco shells. Taco shells work out about 2.5 WW points each, so best to with the rice if you are watching the calories.

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

A dash of sunflower oil

1 medium onion chopped

3 half mixed peppers chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 small apple, chopped

1 can of mixed beans

Small can of kidney beans

1 tsp of oregano

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of paprika

½ green chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp of salt

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sunflower and heat. Fry off the onion for 10 minutes stirring regular to prevent burning.
  2. Drain the cans of beans.
  3. Mix together the oregano, paprika, cumin and salt in a small bowl.
  4. Add the rest of the vegetables and the apple to the pan and fry off for 10 minutes.
  5. Add in the chilli and mixed spice and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
  6. Add the tomatoes and beans to the pan and stir.
  7. Cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary.