Paella is a bit of a Friday night treat in our house. Usually mid-week suppers consist of something that can be easily prepared in advance with little or no finishing once the kids are in bed. But on a Friday it's nice to eat a bit later, enjoy a nibble on some olives, carrots & reduced fat hummus while I get dinner ready, glass of wine in hand of course. I find on WeightWatchers if I'm really religious during the week, come Friday, I can afford a glass of wine or two along with dinner. I still try to keep to a healthy meal on a Friday (that's 12 ProPoints in my book) but it's usually something that takes a bit longer to prepare.
We are quite traditional in that white wine is largely summer drinking and most definitely when eating fish, and red wine is mostly for the winter and always to accompany red meat. Paella works well with either but a splash of white wine does work particularly well with the stock bringing out more flavour.
My paella uses chicken breast, raw king prawns, lots of red pepper & peas and it wouldn't be Paella without the use of saffron and cayenne pepper! My hubby has an allergy to some seafood but otherwise I would use the bags of frozen mixed seafood containing mussels, squid etc, but use whatever you like to suit your own taste.
You'll need for 2:
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 2-3 tbsp frozen peas, I use petits pois
- 1 medium chicken breast (165g), chopped
- 50g chorizo
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 150g Paella rice
- 1 big vine tomato or a few cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
- Pinch of saffron
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika or normal paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- Liquid chicken stock concentrate or stock pot
- 1 lemon
- 100g (about half a bag) of raw frozen king prawns, defrosted
- Boiling water from the kettle
- Glug of white wine (optional)
- Seasoning
In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and gently saute the onions and garlic until slightly golden. Turn up the heat slightly and add the chorizo and chicken. Brown all over.
Weigh out the rice into a measuring jug and make a note of where it comes up to. Add the rice to the pan and stir frequently to coat the rice. Double the volume of rice with boiling water and chicken stock concentrate into your measuring jug. Add the saffron to the stock and allow to dissolve. Add the white wine if using or if not use a little of the chicken stock.
Add the pepper & tomatoes and stir well. Add about half of the chicken stock, the spices and bay leaf. Give it a good stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the peas.
Keep stirring every now and then and top up on some stock when it starts to look a little dry. It should take about 20-25 minutes for the rice to cook through. A few minutes before the end, add the prawns and a good squeeze of lemon (about half a lemon). Taste and season accordingly. Cook until the prawns are pink throughout and serve up with lemon wedges.
WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 13
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
Oooh I love a good Thai! It's my preference over a Chinese meal any day. Thai food has a wonderful fragrant aroma and the combination of sweet, sour, hot and salty is just sublime. It's also a great one to prepare in advance and can be re-heated very successfully.- 200g chicken breast cut into chunks or 200g raw king prawns
- 1 tsp groundnut oil or any flavourless oil (not olive oil)
- 2 heaped tsp of Thai green curry paste
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- A few kaffir limes, crushed
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
- Handful fresh coriander, chopped
- A few spring onions, sliced
- Approx 90g fine green beans
- Approx 90g of mangetout or sugarsnap peas
- Half a 400g tin of reduced fat coconut milk
- 150g dried brown basmati rice
What to do:
It's pretty straight forward; heat the oil in a wok or a non-stick frying pan. Seal the chicken pieces until golden, turning to sear on all sides. Grate in the ginger and garlic. Add the vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice and stir thoroughly. Add the coconut milk and turn heat down to a simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies still have a slight crunch to them. If you find the sauce is reducing too much, cover the pan so the moisture stays in the pan. It shouldn't take long to cook, perhaps 10-15 minutes. Quicker than a takeaway
Stir in the freshly chopped coriander and spring onions, just before serving with the cooked basmati rice.
WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 13
Today I really am starting to be good. I indulged a little too much (again) this weekend but am determined to lose 2lb this week. It doesn't help when we have an open bottle of wine from Sunday that just has to be finished off on Monday... fortunately hubby and I did the bottle of Red yesterday with his slow cooked veal ragu (v yum indeed) so there is no excuse tonight and no cheeky little glass of wine with our meal.
I think the thought of a stir fry makes you feel healthy. Seeing all those colourful vegetables gives you instant gratification that you are putting something good into your body. I decided to couple my stir fry vegetables with prawns this evening as they are very low in fat and cook quickly. I'm using a bag of frozen raw tiger king prawns from the supermarket which defrost during the day. I've also discovered the convenience of supermarket packs of stir fry veg. The pack I used (from Tesco) had lovely julienne carrots, tenderstem brocolli and pak choy. Dinner tonight was literally thrown together in under 10 minutes!
You'll need for 2:
- 250g raw tiger prawns
- Half a punnet of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 1 supermarket pack of stir fry mixed vegetables
- 120g dried egg noodles or other wheat based noodles (such as Udon)
- 2 tsp sesame oil or groundnut oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp root ginger, finely chopped or grated
- Pinch of chilli flakes or a fresh red chilli depending on how hot you like it
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp dark soy
- 1 tbsp light soy
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted in a hot dry frying pan
What to do:
Place the noodles in a pan with boiling water and cook according to the pack instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
In a wok or frying pan heat the oil. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir. Next add the vegetables and stir fry on a high heat. Add the prawns, the dark soy, honey and rice wine stirring until the prawns have turned pink and are cooked through. Throw in the drained cooked egg noodles and toss together. Finish with by topping with the sesame seeds and serve into bowls.
WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12
