Sesame Prawn Stir Fry

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

Fennel & Paprika Chicken with Roast Veg

There is a whole lotta love for chicken in our household at the moment.  It's filling, healthy, a good source of protein and relatively low in ProPoints. I only buy free range chicken and I often buy corn fed free range chicken with its yellowy tinged skin.  I get very excited (saddo) to spot a pack of organic or free range chicken in the reduced aisle in the supermarket and I snap it up pronto. When I get it home I carefully portion out the chicken breasts into varying weights to cater for all manner of dishes some of which will include kids dinners.  We are also fond of chicken thighs and drumsticks and in every case I remove the skin before cooking.

Having talked about my love affair for chicken, having it 5 days out of 7 can get pretty tedious!  Therefore I am always interested in finding new ways and new flavours to pair up with our everyday bird.  This concoction is my own mix which has been perfected over the last couple of years.  It's really tasty and the flavours penetrate the chicken really well.

You'll need for 2:

• 450g chicken thighs & drumsticks, skin removed, flesh slashed
• 2 tsp runny honey
• 4g fennel seeds, crushed (bizarrely there is 1 PP to 5g tsp of fennel seeds, so use just under a tsp!)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• seasoning
• 1 tsp white wine or cider vinegar

For the Roasted Vegetables:

• 1 potato 200g once peeled
• 2 small - medium courgettes, roughly chopped
• half a butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• Approx 10 cherry tomatoes
• Half a punnet of chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 medium aubergine, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Dried thyme and rosemary

Prepare the chicken by mixing the marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish.  Add a tiny amount of water if you need to thin it out a little.  Toss the chicken ensuring it's fully coated.  Cover and marinade for a good few hours

Prepare all the vegetables and throw into the biggest roasting dish you have.  Season well and scatter over 1 tsp each of the herbs.  Finally add the olive oil and tpss well with your hands to coat all the vegetables.

The vegetables need approx 45-50 minutes in a hot oven (200 fan) and the chicken needs 30 - 40 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.  Ensure the chicken is cooked all the way through.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 12

Cottage Pie

What another miserably wet evening.  It's June!!  What's going on!??  The afternoon looked promising but with more rain as the day wore on I was rather in the mood for a comfort dish for dinner.  You can’t get more comfort than Cottage Pie. It's actually really easy to make this true classic dish healthy without compromising on the taste or comfort! 

My version has (surprise, surprise) lots of vegetables making it very Slimming World friendly.  I also substitute over half of the mashed potato topping for Swede, which is has 0 ProPoints on the WeightWatchers plan, or if you are not following any set diet you can be glad of the fact you are packing 2-3 portions of your 5-a day in this meal alone.  So it’s gotta be good for you!

I always make a 4 portion serving of this which tastes great the next day for leftovers or it freezes really well too.

You’ll need for 4:

• 1 medium onion
• 3-4 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
• Half a punnet chestnut mushrooms
• 500g lean minced beef 12% fat
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 beef stock cube or 1 stock pot
• Few glugs of Worcester sauce
• 400g potatoes, peeled and diced
• 600g swede, peeled diced smaller than the potato
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 leek, washed and diced
• 2 tbsp skimmed milk

What to do:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and sauté until soft on a medium heat.  Add the carrots and mushrooms and continue to sauté for another few minutes. 

Turn the heat up and add the minced beef and stir until browned.  Add the stock and a cup of water until mince and veg is just covered.  Add the tomato puree, Worcester sauce, herbs and black pepper.  I find shop bought stock quite salty therefore I don’t feel the need to add any more, but season to your liking.  Continue to cook for 15 minutes until reduced slightly and the carrots cooked through.

Meanwhile place the potatoes and swede in a large saucepan and cover with cold salted water.  Bring to the boil and continue to simmer until both the potato and swede are soft and suitable for mashing.  The swede takes a little longer so when you are peeling and chopping prepare the swede first and get that in the pan and it helps to have it cut into smaller chunks than the potato.  Once cooked through, drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for a few minutes.

While the potatoes and swede are draining, heat the butter in the same pan and sauté the leek until soft.  Add a little water if it is too dry.  Add the milk and allow to heat slightly.  Remove from the heat and tip in the drained potatoes and swede.  Mash with a masher until smooth and season.

Allow the meat mixture and mash to cool before layering in a dish.  The meat mixture on the bottom and then the mash on top.  Bake in a hot oven (200 -210) for 20 – 25 minutes until bubbling.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 10