Pan Fried Salmon in Creamy Vermouth Sauce

I am slowly finding the motivation to lose the whole stone I have gained in the last 3 months since losing my mum. Everyone keeps telling me that it's ok to put on weight during this time, but it doesn't make you feel any better about yourself and my back is giving me trouble because I am so unfit. So it's back to Zumba for me and eating healthy but tasty to shift these excess lbs. I hope to start adding some more really tasty recipes to my food blog over the next few weeks.

At the moment the eating tasty part is absolutely crucial. I need to re-realise that with my style of cooking, following Weightwatchers means you do not miss out. I cooked this dish for the first time a few weeks ago for my husband and my father-in-law. At this time, my Father-in-law was ill and was staying with us. His 'mmms' meant that my dinner met his seal of approval, despite the fact his favourite meal was a nice pork chop or sirloin steak with a nice bit of fat around the meat. Sadly he passed away shortly after this (just 2 months after my mum). I'll always think of him when I carefully remove any fat from my meat in future, sadly now it will stay on the side of my plate and won't be on his.

This meal is based on a classic dish of fish in a creamy herb sauce, but it really is so simple to make it lower fat and WeightWatcher friendly with my little adaptations.

You'll need for 2:

• 2 x 115g salmon fillets, skin on
• Fry light spray
• 400g new potatoes
• Green beans / spinach / asparagus / kale / greens of your choice
• 1 tbsp dry vermouth
• 2-3 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• Squeeze of lemon
• Small handful of chopped chives / parsley / tarragon
• 1 cup chicken stock (made using cube or stock pot or concentrate)
• Seasoning

Method:

• Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Boil until tender. This should take about 20 minutes once boiling.
• After about 15 minutes, heat a non-stick frying pan. Spray with fry light. Pat dry the salmon fillets with some kitchen towel and season. Place the fillets skin side down in the frying pan and cook for 5 - 8 minutes. Turn and reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook. I like my salmon pink in the middle so 8-10 minutes should do it depending on the thickness. You can finish the salmon off in a hot oven for a few minutes to ensure it is cooked through if you prefer.
• Drain the potatoes in a colander and allow to steam dry for a few minutes
• Remove the salmon and keep warm on warmed plates whilst you make the sauce
• In the frying pan add the vermouth and after a few seconds add the chicken stock and boil away to reduce slightly. If using fine green beans or fine asparagus you can add these into the stock to cook for a couple of minutes so they maintain their bite. They will absorb the lovely flavours from the stock too. 

Asparagus cooking in the stock

• Remove the veg to the plates and season the sauce with plenty of black pepper and add the freshly chopped herbs. Take off the heat and add a squeeze of lemon and the half fat creme fraiche. Stir well and pour over the salmon and vegetables.
• Serve with the new potatoes

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Baked Gnocchi with Spinach and Sausage

I have been rather useless of late. Instead of trying to shift a few more lbs I have been gorging on cake (well it was my son's 2nd birthday) and all sorts of naughties. It's not surprising then, I have steadily put on a few lbs. Anyway it's time to get serious, especially as it's less than 4 weeks to our school ball and I'd love to squeeze into a little red dress I bought before Christmas.

To kickstart this new period of 'being good' (can't stand the word 'diet'), I've been experimenting with a few new recipes. This one I tried for the first time last night and hubby and I were really pleased at how satisfying it was for a 12 ProPoint meal, not to mention completely scrummy! I use my favourite sausages, Porky Whites which are a Surrey Sausage and they have a real depth of flavour.  You don't need many sausages, which is a good job seeing how ProPoint laden they are. By using lots of spinach you can fill out the dish. If you didn't like spinach you could easily substitute this with broccoli or your other favourite green vegetable. It's also a very economical dish and whilst I've not worked out the exact cost, you could feed 4 for around a fiver.

You'll need for 4: (easily halved)

• 1 small onion or half a large onion, finely diced
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes or a large jar of passata
• 2 tablespoons lighter mascarpone
• 1 large bag of spinach or a few frozen portions of spinach
• 4 tbsp grated parmesan,
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Small handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 6 chipolata sausages. I use Porky white sausages which are just delicious!

What to do:

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and saute the onion. Add the garlic and gently fry for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden. Chop the sausages into nugget size pieces, add to the pan and turn up the heat to brown. Add the spinach and season with salt & pepper.

Next add the tinned tomatoes, the basil, and the mascarpone. Let the sauce bubble away for 10 mins or so. It should be quite a runny sauce.

Add the gnocchi to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Then tip into a roasting dish and allow to cool a little. Sprinkle with some parmesan. You can prepare the dish up to this stage in advance

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 190 (fan) and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until golden on top and piping hot.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Low Fat Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I've always been under the impression that mushrooms were a bit of a cheat in vegetable terms. By this I mean they look a bit strange, a wee bit dull in colour and seem well, a bit meaningless. So my thinking was they can't be that good for you? Not as good as all the green stuff that's for sure. How wrong was I??!!

This fabulous website explains it all but I was very surprised to learn that:

• Mushrooms are one of the highest antioxidant foods in the world, in the same league as the red pepper and spinach.
• The dietary fibre in mushrooms also helps promote good bowel function and leaves you feeling more satisfied, so you won’t be hungry again as quickly.
• Mushrooms are also extremely rich in protein, so are a great alternative protein source for vegetarians

Choosing some really good tasting mushrooms is essential for this dish, as the mushrooms need to add flavour and meatiness. I used a mix of oyster mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms and just a small amount of dried porcini to pack a mushroomy punch. 

But importantly, how to make a classic creamy pasta dish waistline friendly? I used low fat creme fraiche (WeightWatchers brand), lots of black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to enhance the flavour.  If I had some in my fridge I would have finished with a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley but it was perfectly fine without it!

You'll need for 2:

• Half a small onion, finely diced
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Seasoning
• 125g punnet of mixed oyster mushrooms
• 150g of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 5-10g dried porcini mushrooms or dried wild mushrooms
• Handful fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp low fat creme fraiche
• 1 tsp cornflour
• Cupful of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 200g pasta, penne or tagliatelle work well
• Pinch of nutmeg

What to do:

• In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, get the pasta on as per packet instructions
• Pour some boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and leave to soak
• In a non-stick frying pan heat the oil and very slowly saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent
• Meanwhile prepare the mushrooms by slicing the chestnut mushrooms. With the oyster mushrooms, just gently tear them length ways. Add the mushrooms to the onions and and turn up the heat to get a nice colour on them. Stir frequently. If it's a little dry add some of the stock. Cook for a few minutes until softened and nicely browned
• Mix the cornflour with cold stock or cold water then add the stock bouillon / cube to the mug.
• Add the stock / cornflour to the pan and stir well
• Season well, especially adding lots of black pepper and add the nutmeg
• Turn the heat down and add the drained dried mushrooms and a little of the water from soaking. Add as much of this as you like for your own personal taste. I find the flavour a little overpowering so I go easy on this part.
• Turn the heat down or off and stir in the creme fraiche. It may split (as it's low fat, not double cream!) when cooked on a high heat so be careful at this point
• Drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms along with the parsley and toss everything together
• Serve with  a little Parmesan cheese

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Venison Sausages & Mash

It's bloomin freezing at the moment so I am guessing I am not alone in craving comfort food. Sausage & Mash is comfort food at it's best but when you are WeightWatching, sausages are really just out of the question as pork is such a fatty meat.  I am personally not a fan of the reduced fat sausage. It's likely to be pumped full of other stuff to make up for the lack of proper pork. This is where venison sausages are just an excellent replacement. Tesco do a 300g pack of 6 sausages which have a delicious meaty taste. The smell fills my fridge and when grilled are just 9 ProPoints per serving (3 sausages). Compared to the Tesco Finest Cumberland Sausages which are a whopping 23 ProPoints for the same weight, it's worth giving Venison a go.

Creamy mash potato is an obvious accompaniment to sausages, although I am partial to a oven baked jacket potato too. With my low fat mash potato there is no need for cream or lashings of butter. Just a tiny amount of butter and a couple of tablespoons of skimmed milk are plenty. Using the right potato is also essential. I tend to buy a 2.5kg bag of baking potatoes in my weekly shop as I find it's a versatile spud resulting in really good mash, perfect roasties and a crispy jacket that's fluffy inside.

I sometimes make the red onion gravy from scratch, but more often rely on little cheats. By using a dollop of shop bought red onion marmalade with Bisto gravy, it is the perfect finale to the meal. (I did make a batch of marmalade over Christmas which was just amazing with our naughty indulgence of foie gras, and you can make your own easily using the recipe from BBC Good Food.)

You'll need for 2:

• Pack 300g venison sausages
• 600g potatoes, peeled and diced
• Savoy cabbage or green beans or other veg of your choice
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1-2 tbsp skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp red onion marmalade / chutney
• 3-4 tsp bisto original
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Seasoning

First job is to make the mash. I usually make this much earlier in the day as it nicely re-heats later in the microwave.  Place the diced potato in a saucepan with cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potato is tender which is approximately 20-25 minutes. Drain and allow to dry in the colander for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put the saucepan back on the hob and melt the butter and warm the skimmed milk.  Add the potatoes back to the pan and using a masher to mash the potato. Season and add the nutmeg and stir through. If you have a ricer then push the potato through this, but it is not necessary.

Grill the sausages according to the instructions and cook your vegetables by steaming or boiling.

At the same time as the sausages and vegetables are cooking, make your gravy. Heat through the marmalade in a saucepan. Mix the bisto with some cold water and add it to the pan stirring all the time. Top up with boiling water from the kettle until you have the right consistency.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

King Prawn Pad Thai

I harp on alot about my love of Asian cuisine, particularly Thai. Before my husband and I opened our cocktail bar I worked in a local pub, The Grotto in Weybridge, Surrey which had a dining room serving up authentic Thai food. I loved working in the small restaurant part of the pub and learnt alot about food preparation there.

Toy, the Thai chef managed the kitchen virtually single handedly. Of course she had no method in managing the fast orders coming through (for takeaways as well as diners).  She did each ticket in turn, but everything she cooked was always incredible. I'd watch her hand rolling the vegetable spring rolls, preparing fresh satay sauces and stirring the Massaman curry whilst it stewed away. My love for Thai food really came from working here. She'd often send me off home with a garlic chilli squid stir fry or if I was lucky, my favourite: Pad Thai. I don't think I can ever hope to re-create Toy's amazing Pad Thai (and I'm certain I wouldn't want to ProPoint it!), but Pad Thai is still my dish of choice when I go to a Thai restaurant. I've tried for the last few years to cook a really tasty Pad Thai that is WeightWatcher friendly and delighted to have finally achieved it with this recipe!

Earlier this year I re-visited a newly refurbished Grotto as the new owner had managed to lure Toy back into the kitchen. The menu was just the same as it ever was and amazingly Toy remembered me from my stint there in 2002! I only worked there for a short time but she knew I went on to more glamourous things when we opened our cocktail bar down the road.  I've sadly heard that The Grotto has once again re-closed. I do hope someone snaps it up and gets Toy back in the kitchen as Weybridge will not be the same without her delicious Thai food.

You'll need for 2:

• 1 tsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
• 175g raw king prawns
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 25g roasted, salted peanuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• Asian vegetables of your choice, sliced to your liking
• Couple of big handfuls of beansprouts
• 3-4 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tsp soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 125g rice noodles, soaked in hot water then drained
• Fresh coriander leaves

What to do:

Firstly get the kettle boiling and put the rice noodles into a shallow dish. I use the Pad Thai thick style noodles which are available in Waitrose. Please do not buy the 'straight to wok' rice noodles as these are just horrible and will ruin what is a most fabulous supper! Pour the boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.

Get everything chopped up and ready and have all the sauces and condiments to hand as the dish doesn't take long to stir fry.  Beat the egg in a bowl with a dash of light soy sauce for seasoning.

When the noodles have finished soaking, drain until needed.

In a wok, heat the oil and when hot add the prawns and garlic. As soon as the prawns are pink all the way through remove with a slotted spoon, keeping as much of the juice in the wok as possible.  Add the vegetables and stir fry on high heat for a minute or two. Quickly add the chilli flakes, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar and peanuts stirring frequently.  

After a couple of minutes of stir frying, add the prawns back in and any juices along with the noodles.  Add the beaten egg and stir everything for another minute or two until the noodles are nicely coated.

Serve up and sprinkle with fresh coriander.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Chicken Chow Mein

I reckon not a day goes by where I don't pick up a recipe book,  watch a cookery programme or browse the web looking for new recipes and food ideas. My blog is not just a collection of my own recipes but recipes that I have found that I've adapted to fit my overall criteria; healthy, low fat but very importantly, tasty & filling. I follow all the celebrity chefs on Twitter and love experimenting with some of their recipes. Whilst I just love cooking new recipes, my problem is that I have to give them a low fat / healthy makeover. 

When it comes to Asian cuisine, my favourite Chef has to be Ching He Haung. She's like a modern day Ken Hom. What I love about her cooking is that it is naturally healthy, utilising the best in Asian ingredients to bring out full on flavour.  Since I've been a Ching fan I now regularly store items such as Sake and Shaohsing wine! 

I made very little change to Ching's original recipe, just reducing the oil to bare minimum and weighing out noodles and chicken to calculate correct ProPoints. The original recipe can be found here.  I've got to say that this chicken chow mein dish could not be any healthier or tastier. I pack it with vegetables and it really is a quick, easy, bloomin tasty mid-week supper.

You'll need for 2:

• 2 x 60g portions of egg noodles
• 2 x 1 tsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 275g chicken breast, cut into pieces
• 1-2 tbsp dark soy
• 1-2 tbsp light soy
• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• 1 dsp cornflour
• Stir fry vegetables of your choice. e.g. green beans, mushrooms, sugarsnap peas, pak choi, broccoli carrots, peppers etc.
• A few spring onions, sliced

What to do:

Slice up the chicken and sprinkle with Five Spice and a good dash of dark soy.

Get the noodles on the boil as per packet instructions and get your wok / stir fry pan nice and hot. Add 1 tsp oil to the pan and stir fry the vegetables until cooked but still with a nice crunch. Season with some light soy as you stir fry and add a sprinkling of Five Spice.

Remove from the pan and keep warm. Heat the other tsp of oil. Sprinkle the cornflour over the chicken pieces and place into the hot pan to stir fry. Chinese cooking frequently uses cornflour to thicken sauces. It's a great, low fat technique and I love it's use here in keeping the chicken really nice and moist and this stage shouldn't be omitted!!

Allow the chicken to brown and turn occasionally. Add a couple of dashes of dark soy and once cooked through add the vegetables back into the pan. I prefer to cook the vegetables and chicken separately so as not to overcrowd the wok and to ensure everything stir fries rather than stews together. Also I use ALOT of vegetables so I need the extra room in the wok!! A couple of minutes before the end of cooking, add the spring onions and stir through.

As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain and return to the pan stirring through a dash of light soy sauce until needed.

Finally add the noodles to the wok and toss everything together and serve up. This dish can be prepared in under 15 minutes! I like to get all my ingredients prepped earlier before I get the kids to bed so everything can be literally stir fried in a matter of minutes.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Chicken & Bean Enchiladas

I've always got a pack of tortilla wraps in my breadbin, usually the WeightWatchers brand as they are just 3 ProPoints and make a quick and easy lunch.  We fill them with prawns and salad, or a tuna nicoise type salad or a Greek type salad using light feta cheese. With the weather changing and Winter on it's way, the 'salad wrap lunch' is kind of being abandoned in favour of warming soups. Because of this, I've been left with an abundance of tortilla wraps and as I can't stand wasting anything, I thought a supper of enchiladas was just the job!

This is an ideal make ahead recipe suitable for those days when you need something prepared earlier in the day.  The sauce can easily be frozen so double up and pull it out of the freezer at your convenience. It also goes great with rice!

You'll need for 2:

• 225g chicken breast, cut into slices
• Half a can of blackeye beans, drained
• 3 tbsp frozen sweetcorn
• 1 red pepper, sliced into small-ish pieces
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 fat garlic clove, crushed or grated
• 1/2 jar passata
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp Cumin
• Salt & Pepper
• Couple of dashes of Worcester sauce
• 4 reduced fat (such as WeightWatchers) tortilla wraps
• 2 tbsp grated reduced fat cheddar

What to do:

Spray some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan or stir fry pan.  On a high heat, stir fry the chicken pieces until browned all over and remove from the pan to one side.

In the same pan, fry the onion, garlic and pepper until soft.  Put the chicken back into the pan and add the Cajun seasoning and the cumin.  Stir thoroughly and then add the passata, tomato puree, salt & pepper to taste, and finally the Worcester sauce.  Add approx 120ml of water and the sweetcorn and allow to simmer for 10 -15 minutes. If you want to freeze the sauce, allow to cool and then freeze at this point.

Spread a little of the sauce on the bottom of an oven roasting dish.  Divide the mixture into each of the wraps and fold over and place into the dish.  Save a little of the mixture (try to just get the sauce without the chicken pieces) and spread over the top of the wraps.  Finish with a sprinkling of grated cheese. The dish can also be prepared to this stage in advance and then placed in the oven later when you are ready.

Bake in a moderate hot oven (180 fan) for 15-20 minutes until piping hot and golden on top.

WeightWatchers Points Per Serving: 12 

Italian Sausage & Bean Casserole

DH's family are from Sicily.  We spend ALOT of time eating or thinking about Italian food.  Although I give it a good shot apparently no-one comes close to his Nonna's pasta dishes.   Probably because I'm always looking for ways to reduce the fat or cut the calories to make it less sinful. 

In Sicily we eat Italian sausage with crusty bread and salad dressed in olive oil & lemon juice.  The sausage is usually just pure pork, salt & pepper, sometimes flavoured with chilli or fennel.  But that is pretty much it.  You can pick up good Italian sausages in your local Italian deli and they are really worth trying as the flavour is unique.  Sadly pork sausages are just something I cannot indulge in mid-week when trying to stick to my WeightWatchers plan.

Until now I have yet to find a decent Italian sausage in a supermarket.  I am absolutely delighted to have recently found a gem at my local Waitrose deli counter.  It is not only deliciously tasty with it's fennel flavouring, but is made with 43% veal so is much lower in fat!  Hurrah!  A sausage I can finally enjoy (ahem).  Unfortunately I have yet to lay my hands on any nutritional info, so I have approximated the ProPoint values based on the % of pork and veal that make up the sausage. 

Onto the recipe.  This is one that I have taken from the fabulous BBC Good Food Mag. I usually can't resit meddling with a recipe, but I've got to say I pretty much followed this one.  After reading the reviews, I upped the sausage content to 300g (x3 of the Waitrose Italian sausage) and increased the stock (I used chicken stock) to 500ml.  Instead of serving with crusty bread or mash potato, I added 60g of orzo pasta to cook through with the meatballs to really fill out the meal, negating the need, or the temptation to demolish a whole ciabatta as a side. Ok so maybe I did meddle more than I thought!

You can get the original BBC Good Food recipe by clicking here but my version is also detailed below.

You'll need for 2:

• Half a large red onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• Pinch of chilli flakes
• Salt & Pepper
• 3 Waitrose Italian sausages (300g)
• 1 tin of borlotti beans, drained
• 1 tin of cherry tomatoes in juice
• 500ml chicken or veg stock
• 100g green beans, halved
• 60g orzo pasta
• Parmesan to serve

What to do:

Heat a non-stick frying pan or stir frying pan.  Remove the casing from the sausages and break them up into small meatballs.  I got 6 out of each sausage.  Spray with oil and fry on a high heat to brown all over.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic, fennel seeds and chilli to the pan.  Turn the heat down to slowly cook the onions.  Add some salt to help bring out some of the moisture.  When soft add the tinned cherry tomatoes and stock.  Allow to bubble away for a few minutes.

Add the borlotti beans and the green beans.  I prepared everything in advance to this stage and when the meatballs were cool I put them in the fridge until needed.  If you do this just cover up the sauce and bring it back up to a boil when required.

Next add the orzo and a little more stock if need be, but 500ml should be about right.  Add the meatballs and reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 10 - 15 minutes on a low heat so you do not reduce the sauce down to nothing.  When the orzo is cooked through, taste and season accordingly, then serve up with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 13 including parmesan, 12 without parmesan

Cherry Tomatoes & King Prawn Pasta

I have a problem with cooked tomato skin.  I just cannot bear it.  It ruins the eating experience of a tomato, getting stuck  to one side of your mouth spoiling the delicious flesh part.  Raw tomatoes are less of an issue for me, but cooked ones simply must have their skins removed.  This poses a problem when cooking with cherry tomatoes as de-skinning is time consuming. 


My husband has, on occasion, blanched, cooled and de-skinned, by hand, 1kg of the wonderful datterini tomato (a delicious grape like tomato).  This has taken him several hours.  How nice that he may have the time to do this on a Saturday afternoon with a glass of wine in hand, but for me, a busy Stay At Home Mum (sorta) I need to find a much quicker way of losing the little blighters as spitting them out onto my plate is hardly good table etiquette.


This dish has been in my repertoire for a couple of years.  The tomato sauce can be used in a variety of ways but I love combining it with some king prawns, freshly griddled and tossed in at the end.  Try it with diced roasted aubergine or black olives and capers. Oh and don't forget; Italians NEVER serve parmesan cheese with any kind of fish/seafood pasta, but hey if you like it on your prawns, who am I to stop you?!

You'll need for 2:

• 350g cherry tomatoes, or a couple of small punnets
• 1-2 garlic cloves, bashed
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Good pinch of chilli flakes or a fresh chili finely chopped
• 150 - 175g raw king prawns
• Glug of white wine
• Handful of fresh parsley
• 200g linguine or spaghetti

What to do:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion.  Add the garlic and turn the heat right down so you slowly cook the onions and garlics until soft without browning them.  This will take a few minutes.

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and add these to the pan with some seasoning.  Turn the heat up to get some heat back in the pan and when the tomatoes start sizzling turn it back down.  Add a pinch of chilli flakes or the fresh chilli and allow to cook gently for 10 minutes or so.  Now for the tomato skin removal.  Turn the heat off and using 2 teaspoons, gently tease the skin away from the flesh.  You can of course completely avoid this step but I personally feel you get a much purer taste if you spend a few minutes doing this.  If the skins don't come away easily then let them cook for a little longer and try again.  I often prepare the sauce up to this stage in advance

Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions in salted water.  Once drained, reserve some of the cooking liquor.

Once all the skins are removed, turn the heat up a little and add the wine allowing it to bubble away for a couple of minutes.  Add the drained pasta and some of the cooking liquor to the tomato mix and toss thoroughly. Stir through the parsley

Meanwhile heat a griddle or frying pan.  Spray the prawns with olive oil and season.  Cook in the pan turning once for a couple of minutes on each side until the prawns are completely pink.

Toss the prawns through the pasta and serve up!

WeightWatchers PropPoints Per Serving: 12
 

Kedgeree

I love kedgeree and my favourite version is with salmon.  Whilst the oily fish has undeniable health benefits it also does add ProPoints, so in my book if I am cooking this mid-week, I will use a simple white fish like haddock or Pollock.  I could also save on Propoints by not adding egg or peas, but to me it’s not kedgeree.  This version is a compromise but if you did try my ultimate version with salmon and peas it would total 16 Propoints!

So here is my WeightWatcher friendly Kedgeree, a perfect mid-week meal that comes in at just 12 ProPoints.

You’ll need for 2:

• 2 white fish fillets approx 120g each

• 1 small onion
• Handful of green beans, chopped
• Small pack of baby corn, sliced into discs
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil or rapeseed oil
• 140g dry weight brown basmati rice, cooked then cooled
• 2 medium eggs, hard boiled
• 2 teaspoons mild curry paste, Pataks is good
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Handful of fresh coriander finely chopped
• A cupful of water
• Seasoning

What to do:
It’s best to cook the rice in advance so it’s cooled thoroughly before you stir fry it to prevent it going mushy.  Everything is cooked quite separately so it is just an assembly job at the end, but this also means you can prep a fair amount in advance based around your busy day.

Place the fish on a foil lined baking sheet and season.  Fold the foil up to create a loose parcel and bake for approx 7-10 minutes until just cooked through

At the same time, in a sauce pan boil your eggs for 7 minutes, drain and then cool in cold water.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan or wok and sauté the onion.  Add in your veg and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the curry paste and the water to help loosen the paste.  Cook on high for a minute or two.  Add some seasoning. Add the rice to your wok and stir continuously to coat and heat the rice through.

Everything ‘should’ come together at the same time.  Serve the rice mixture onto a plate.  Remove the fish from the oven.  I like to break the fish up into chunks and stir lightly through the rice but you can serve it as a fillet on top of the rice if you prefer.  Scatter some coriander, chop up and add your egg and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Weight Watchers ProPoints: 12

Chicken, Spinach & Green Bean Curry

I often cook a curry on Monday nights as I tend to spend the afternoon at my parents house and get home late.  I literally have to haul the kids from the car to their beds and need something that can easily be re-heated.  Making curries at mum's is great because

a) I can stick mine in the microwave whilst I tuck the kids in to bed upon arriving home

b) DH plays football on Monday nights so he can re-heat his at 9.30pm while I am generally falling asleep on the sofa

c) Mum's array of spices is better than mine

d) If I dawdle around too much, mum will take over and make it for me

My parents were born and raised in India and their Anglo-Indian heritage means I was raised on a certain type of Indian cuisine that you just don't see in our English style curry houses.   Mum's cooking naturally doesn't require loads of oil or ghee.  A tablespoon of vegetable oil is more than sufficient making it very diet friendly.  Over the years I have learnt a few of my mum's recipes which will feature on here at some point.  For now though, enjoy Monday nights curry for just 12 propoints.

You’ll need for 4 people:

• 500g chicken breast cut into big chunks
• Bag of fresh spinach
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pack of fine, trimmed green beans, cut in half
• 300g dried brown basmati rice or white if you prefer
• 150g pot of low fat or fat free natural yoghurt
• Handful of chopped coriander
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 dsp ground coriander
• 1 dsp cumin
• 1 dsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 dsp garam masala
• 1 tsp lazy garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp mild curry paste (try Pataks, cumin & coriander)
• Squeeze of lemon or a few drops of fresh concentrated lemon juice from a bottle

What to do:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy based saucepan and add the onions
• In a mug add all the spices, curry paste, garlic, ginger and lemon juice and fill with water to the top to form a runny cream like consistency
• When the onions are soft, add the spice mix and fry on a high heat for a few more minutes.  It is important to cook out the spices and you can tell when they are cooked as the oil with rise to the surface of the mixture
• Next add the chicken, stirring thoroughly.  Add some more water, rinsing out the cup you used for the spices to cover the chicken
• Add the natural yoghurt, season and turn down the heat slightly
• Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, Add the green beans and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the spinach a couple of minutes before the end of cooking
• Serve with cooked basmati rice and a sprinkling of fresh coriander

Weightwatchers Propoints: 12