Maxx's Spicy Marinara Sauce

I thought it was time to post another recipe and I remembered last night's dinner. This is a recipe that I came up with many years ago when looking for something to eat a couple of days before payday. The cupboards looked bare, and the fridge was almost as bad. All I had was pasta, a carton of passata, an onion and a bell pepper.

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and I needed some dinner. I added some garlic, herbs and a little chilli and really enjoyed the result.

Ingredients

• 500g carton passata
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1½ tbsp basil.
• Pasta - use a shaped pasta that will 'hold' the sauce

How to

1. Saute the onions and peppers in a non-stick pan. Using a good quality pan means you don't have to use oil. If you don't have a good non stick pan, use low calorie spray oil, like FryLight
2. Add the garlic and fry for about  30 - 45 seconds
3. Add the passata, chilli sauce and basil, allow to boil then reduce and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
4. Boil the pasta, as per the packet cooking instructions.
5. Plate up the pasta, spoon over some of the sauce and garnish with a little grated parmesan cheese.

I have a couple of variations of this recipe. If I'm looking to add a some more protein to the dish I'll add chopped bacon (with the fat removed prior to cooking), or chopped ham or if I'm feeling decadent, I'll chop up a Peperami and fry that off with the onions.

I normally keep chopped onions and peppers in the freezer, so making this is really quick, I can be eating in fifteen minutes. That's faster than phoning for a take out.

What I eat

I thought I would post what I ate on a typical day. Whilst I'm basically following the Slimming World plan, I do tweak it a little, and I'm happy with the weight loss. You may see different results if you eat the same as me.

I took a random green day and original day from my food log spread sheet. If you have read earlier posts you will know that I don't eat at set meal times, only when I'm actually hungry. I also typically eat smaller portions that the Slimming World recipes indicate. Once I feel full, I stop eating, if there is food left on my plate, I'll reheat it later for my next meal, or as part of leftovers in the next day's menu.

Green Day

I typically start eating between 10 and 11:30 am. On the day I chose 35g of porridge oats (B healthy extra) made up with 175ml skimmed milk  (1/2A healthy extra)  and 50ml water. I sweeten the porridge with some artificial sweetener and 2 tsp of golden syrup (2 syns). Whilst I wait for the porridge to cool down a little, I have a banana.

After a couple of hours, I had a large handful of grapes and a Muller light yogurt. I know lots people automatically reach for yogurts whilst trying to lose weight, but I actually like the stuff.

My next meal was a Batchelor's cheese, leek and ham flavoured Pasta 'n Sauce (1 syn). I add chopped leek to the packet and once it's cooked I add a handful of dry fried onions, 27g of chopped, well cooked bacon (3 syns - all fat cut off prior to grilling) and 15g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1/2A healthy extra) , with a liberal sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

My last meal of the day was a spicy tomato and bacon pasta. I chopped up an onion and yellow pepper and dry fried them in a sauce pan with a little crushed garlic. Once they were starting to brown, I added 100ml of passata and 55g of grilled bacon (B healthy extra). I also added a dessert spoon of hot sauce and the same of dried basil and simmered for 10 minutes. Whilst this was cooking I boiled up 75g of fusilli lunghi pasta. I garnish with 10g of freshly grated parmesan cheese (2 syns).

Red Day

I prefer eating mostly green day foods, but I find I have a better weight loss if I throw in a red day or two. I do find however red days can be quite high in salt, so I make sure I don't have one too close to weigh in day, as I don't want to be retaining excess water from the extra salt I've eaten.

Yesterday was a particularly enjoyable red day as it included my current favorite food, chicken and bacon quesadillas. So after weigh in, there is a group meeting where the consultant gives us food tips, recipes and a pep talk for the coming week. Feeling peckish half way through, I had an apple and a banana.

I was hungry once I go home at 11:30, but had forgotten to get the bacon out of the freezer the night before. I had a fat free Greek style lemon yogurt (1/2 syns) some fresh pineapple and a banana.

By 2:30 I was ready for food, so I made my chicken and bacon quesadillas, to save a couple of syns I use 45g of cheese (1 A healthy extra and 3 syns). I've also started to add a chopped tomato to the recipe, to increase my veg intake a little. I count the wrap as a B healthy extra where the official plan says it's supposed to by synned. As I mentioned earlier, I tweak the rules slightly, but the tweaks work for me (38 lbs loss in 4 weeks) but this may not work for you.

After spending the afternoon in the garden hacking back the hedge, I had a Slimming World Hi-Fi bar that was given at the group meeting that morning (3 syns). I usually don't bother with these bars as they are quite small for the syn value, but it made a nice change.

By 7pm I was hungry again so I had bacon, syn free sausage, 150g baked beans (B healthy extra) and an omelet made with onion, sweet peppers, cheese (A healthy extra) and a large dash of hot sauce, 1 butter bud (1/2 syn) and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.

I've also gotten into the habit of eating my last meal around 7pm so that I go to bed just as I start to feel hungry again. Your body uses a lot of energy to digest food, going to sleep on a full stomach means your body is working hard whilst it is supposed to be resting and repairing itself.

I know the plan says you can eat unlimited free and super free foods so you never have to feel hungry, but the plan is still basically a simplified way to limit calorie intake. I have taken the time to learn what my body is telling me and to tell the difference between hunger induced by thirst, boredom, emotions and actual hunger. I also make sure I don't over eat at a meal. I try to eat more slowly and stop once I feel full. Being properly hungry when you sit down to eat makes the food seem to taste so much nicer.

Diet coke chicken

I was skeptical when I first heard about this recipe, as far as I was concerned the only thing I ever mixed with coke was vodka. But several friends were raving about the full fat version after trying it at a friends braai (South African BBQ). So after a little research I came up with my own low fat version.

Once it was done it looked like a conventional chicken in a sticky sauce, so I manned up and tried it. I now see what all the fuss was about. The coke turns into a very pleasant sweet sticky sauce, but the Worcestershire and soy sauce take the edge off the sweetness and add depth to the flavour. The addition of the fresh chilli made it perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper, 1 yellow bell peppers, chopped
• 1 sweet red pepper, chopped
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1-2 fresh chillies, finely chopped
• 4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• 8 tbsp passata
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 330ml can diet coke
• 200ml chicken stock
•  

How to:

1. Dry fry the peppers and onion in a large non stick pan for for 2-3 minutes
2. Add the chicken to the pan and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
3. Add the diet coke, stock, passata, tomato purée, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and dried mixed herbs and stir well
4. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the veg is tender
5. Serve with rice and steamed veggies.

This is a simple to make dish that tastes a whole lot better than it sounds. I like spicy foods, so you might want to reduce the amount of chilli you use. It also reheats well, so you could prepare it early in the day and just nuke it in the microwave when it's time to eat.

Healthy Summer Desserts

The sun finally is out and here in the UK, it's supposed to top 25 degrees tomorrow, so I pulled out my recipe notes for a couple of healthy desserts.

I'll be honest, as good as they are, these cooling treats won't beat the classic soft serve 99 from the ice cream van. They are however a healthier, lower calorie alternative. But just because they have fewer calories doesn't mean you can go mad and eat as many as you want. Remember every piece of food your body doesn't need for energy, will get stored as fat.

Lemon Meringue Pi-napple

This has got to be the quickest and simplest dessert on my list. Cut up some fresh pineapple into small cubes, pour over some Müllerlight® Greek Style Luscious Lemon yogurt (other fat free lemon yogurts can be used instead) and then crumble in a small meringue nest and mix. The sharpness of the lemon yogurt works really well with the fresh pineapple and the meringue pieces add a little touch of extravagance to the dessert.

Choc Mint Frozen Yogurt

Take 250g plain yogurt, add ¼ tsp peppermint extract or flavouring, ¼ tsp vanilla essence, 1-3 tbsp sweetener, 20g fresh spinach (trust me on this) and 25g chocolate chips. Pour all the ingredients except the choc chips into a blender and whiz until smooth. Add the chips and whiz again for a second or two, just to break the chips up a little. Pour into a plastic bowl or old ice cream tub, anything with a lid will do. Freeze for about 15 minutes, then stir and place back in the freezer. Keep repeating the stir / freeze routine until you have something the consistency of ice cream. The spinach adds a great colour to the dessert but you really can't taste it.

Fruity Yogurt Pops

This one is simple, take your favourite flavour of fat free yogurt, chop up some fruit that tastes nice with your yogurt, add some sweetener and mix together. When you freeze foods you lose a lot of the sweetness, which is why you need additional sweetener. Pour the mixture into lolly molds, add the sticks and freeze. These treats are very refreshing and a great way to get kids to eat fruit.

Don't forget the sunblock, even in good old Blighty, the sun can still burn.

Healthy Burrito

I've posted before that I love Mexican style food, but good places to eat healthy food are extremely limited. Here in the UK we are limited to one or two chain restaurants and the occasional independent place. So I end up cooking myself.

When I cook chilli, I tend to cook up a big batch and stock up the freezer, that way a fast but filling lunch is quick to make. Today our English summer is not playing ball and I really didn't fancy the salad I'd planned. So a quick rummage through the freezer unearthed a wrap and a portion of chilli. I also had half a tin of baked beans that needed using up, so I have the ingredients for chilli burrito and frijoles refritos.

Ingredients:

For the burrito (serves 1).

200g healthy beef chilli
1 wholemeal wrap
30g cheddar cheese, grated
100ml passata
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp hot chili powder
¼ tsp ground cumin
pinch dried oregano

For the refried beans.

200g cooked pinto beans (half a can of baked beans with the sauce washed off)
½ onion, chopped
3-5 tbsp chicken stock

How to:

1. Stir the herbs and spices into the passata
2. Put the chilli in a line in the center of the wrap and roll it up. Put the wrap in an oven proof dish, with the overlapping seam of the burrito on the bottom side.
3. Pour the sauce over the burrito
4. Sprinkle with cheese, I like to add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper on the cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 20 minutes, or until the cheese had browned.
6. Dry fry the chopped onion until it starts to brown.
7. Add the beans and continue cooking, as the beans soften, mash them roughly with the back of a spoon.
8. Add chicken stock if the mixture becomes too thick.
9. Cook for about five minutes, until the beans are completely heated through

Serve with savoury rice or a simple green salad. I like to add a little hot salsa (½ syn 2 tbsp) and reduced fat sour cream (1 syn per tbsp). On Slimming World, wraps can't really be counted as healthy extras, so you will need to check the syn values as they range from 6½ to 10 syns per wrap.

Chicken and bacon quesadillas

Its a red day, that means plenty of meat and veggies. I usually have a salad for red day lunches, but this week I wanted to try something different. I'd been watching some cooking videos on YouTube and saw a recipe for low fat quesadillas. Their version of what constitutes low fat and mine were a little different, so I took the idea for the recipe and really cut the fat down to Slimming World proportions.

I have to make the following disclaimer, wraps are not yet classed as a healthy extra B choice, but as a single wrap weighs the same as the bread allowance for a B choice, I count it as one. For those of you who disagree, count the wrap as 6.5 syns (your mileage may vary depending on size / brand).

Ingredients

1 wholemeal wrap
30g grated mature cheddar cheese (60g if you want to use 2 x Healthy A)
3 rashers bacon, with all visible fat removed
50g sweet chilli chicken / any kind of spicy fat free chicken, chopped
½ sweet red pepper, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
2 tbsp hot salsa
2-3 squirts fry light spray oil

How to

1. Dry fry your bacon and peppers, cut the bacon into strips, set to one side when cooked.
2. Squirt your frying pan and place the wrap in the pan and cook over a med-high heat for one min.
3. Turn the heat down to medium and spread the salsa on the wrap
4. Sprinkle the cheese onto the wrap
5. Add the onion, peppers, tomato, bacon and chicken to one half of the wrap
6. Fold the wrap in half and cook till the wrap is golden, carefully turn the wrap over and continue cooking until the wrap is golden on the other side too.
7. Cut into 4 'pizza' style slices and serve with a fresh green salad.

My mouth still loves me for making this meal. It feels like a really decadent meal (I used 2 x healthy extra A portions of cheese - 60g) and it was worth every syn. SW have asked that bloggers don't post too many details about their system, as they don't want folks learning the plan for free, but apart from the wrap the rest of the ingredients total less than one syn.

If you are not following SW's plan you could add a couple of table spoons of low fat sour cream, but it really doesn't need it. I think this has beaten out my BBQ pulled pork and coleslaw sandwich for top spot on my all time favorite lunches. I even think it might have toppled Nando's from my ultimate lunch menu.

Savoury rice

On Slimming World green days you can eat most carbs as free foods, so this recipe is great as it's just rice and veg. I add a grilled chicken breast as a healthy B extra and eat as a full meal, or once cold mix in some cooked and chopped Syn free Quorn bacon style rashers to make a quick snack.

Ingredients
 
1 carrot, cut into small cubes
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, cut into small cubes
1 red pepper, cut into small cubes
A handful of frozen peas,
Long grain rice,
1 vegetable stock cube, veggie stock
1 bay leaf,
Mixed herbs.
1/2 tsp Turmeric

How to

1.  Fry onion and garlic in oil until softened, then add celery and carrot and continue to stir for 1 - 2 minutes
2.  Add rice and stir 
3.  Add enough water to cover rice/vegetable mix
4.  Crumble stock cube into water, add bay leaf and mixed herbs (if dried - if using fresh, add close to the end).
5. Stir continuously, adding more water as necessary.
6. After about 5 minutes, stir in chopped pepper
7.  Continue to cook the rice until it is almost done, then add frozen peas and cook for a further 3 minutes

By adding the water slowly, and allowing it to absorb you can judge just how much to put in, as you don't want to end up draining the rice. There should be just enough added in each time to keep it moist, but not drowning in liquid. The great thing about this recipe is that is is so versatile. It goes with a lot of stuff, and can also be eaten on it's own (to which I normally throw some other vegetables in to bulk it up).

Shepardless pie

On Slimming World's green day eating plan, meat is restricted to two portions a day as part of your healthy extra choices. Vegetarian meat substitutes such as Quorn are great as you can make dishes like shepard's pie, spag and chilli without using up one of the precious B choices.

With a few substitutions make a Syn free version of this dish, but I prefer the extra taste so my recipe for shepard's pie does have a few Syns. If you use a non stick pan, you don't need oil. If you do need oil, rather use fry light.

Ingredients:

300g Quorn mince
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, grated
½ courgette, grated
415g tin baked beans (substitute with 400g peas if you prefer) 
400g potatoes
2 Oxo beef stock cubes, (lamb if you prefer)
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 gloves garlic, crushed
2-3 tsp butter or spread
10g Parmesan cheese (2 Syns)
Ground black pepper

Optional
60g grated cheddar cheese (1 healthy extra A choice per serving)

How to:

1. Sweat off the onions, carrot and celery in a large pan.
2. In a frying pan fry off the garlic for 30 seconds then add the Quorn mince. Fry for about five minutes. Add the mince to the veggie pan.
3. Add the beans, courgette, herbs and stock cube to the mince and veg and lower the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Add a little water if the gravy is too thick.
4. Peel and boil your potatoes.
5. Mash your potatoes with the pepper, butter and grated cheese if you are using it. Set it aside to cool.
6. Transfer the mince mixture to an oven proof dish and allow to cool a little.
7. Spread the cooled mash over the mince and sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese.
8. Bake in an oven at 180 °C for 20-30 minutes, or until the mash starts to turn golden.

This dish will serve 2 - 3 people, possibly more if you serve it with extra vegetables. It freezes very well and once defrosted just needs 3 - 4 minutes in the microwave to reheat it.

If you leave out the butter and cheese you can make the dish Syn free. Lakeland sells a product called Butter Buds that add a nice buttery flavour to mash for only ½ Syn per sachet.

Guilt free take out

Friday nights were made for Chinese take away and your favorite series on Netflix. Take out food is not usually an option when it comes to getting fit, so this inspired me to adapt one of the dishes I order regularly, Singapore noodles.

This recipe serves two, but it can be scaled up easily. It also requires the use of a good non stick frying pan or wok to cut down on the amount of oil needed.

100g fine noodles, partially cooked, drained and allowed to cool
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 red chilli finely chopped
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 red pepper, halved and sliced
1 small carrot, cut to matchstick sized pieces
20g snow peas sliced
20-30g bean sprouts
2 chicken breasts, cut to 1-2 cm cubes, seasoned with a dash of soy sauce
100g prawns
1 egg, beaten with a dash of soy

1 tsp oil
2 tsp mild curry powder
1 tsp turmeric

2 spring onions finely chopped
½ tsp sesame seeds

Mix your noodles, oil, curry powder and turmeric and set to one side.

Dry fry your egg into a thin omelet and set aside after cutting it into thin shreds. Then in the same pan fry off the chicken cubes. When the cubes are half way cooked add the prawns. Once the chicken and prawns are almost cooked, set aside with the omelet pieces.


Dry fry the garlic, ginger and chilli for a few seconds then add the onion, pepper and carrot. Once the vegetables are just starting to soften, add the noodles to the pan and keep stirring for two to three minutes. Add the chicken, prawns and egg to the pan for another minute or two. Once everything is cooked through, serve using the spring onion and sesame seeds as a garnish.

If you are not a fan of seafood, substitute the prawns for 100g of sticky pork. (Pork loin cut into strips, marinaded in dark soy, honey, a pinch of chilli powder or 5 spice powder, mustard powder and black pepper and then dry fried.)
 

Meat glorious meat.

If you like meat then you will love red days. Slimming World original plan, nicknamed 'red days' from the colour of the pages in the book, are a carnivores dream. All lean meat, fish and seafood are classed as free food on a red day. Combine meat with your free vegetables and you are set. You get to add one or two portions of dairy, called healthy extra A choices and two healthy extra B portions of pasta, potatoes, rice, cereals or bread, plus 5 - 15 syns.

Whilst it sounds like a dream plan, you must remember that you need to remove ALL visible fat prior to cooking. Unless they are less than 5% fat, sausages, burgers etc all contain syns. Some veg such as beans, peas and lentils are not free, but can be eaten as a healthy extra or as syns.

In my previous post I mentioned that I prefer green days, but have found that having at least one red day each week seems to boost my weight loss. Some of the dishes I really enjoy are;

All day breakfast: Grilled syn free sausages, bacon, grilled garlic mushrooms, sliced tomato, baked beans and a cheesy omelet with onion and bell peppers. As long as you cut all the fat off the bacon and grill everything, limit the cheese in the omelet to 30g and 150g of beans, you can be really extravagant with this meal.

Open club sandwich: Lightly toasted rye bread (60g), low fat mayo (1/2 syn / tbsp), mustard, pastrami, ham, sliced chicken, bacon, tomato, lettuce and spring onion. I like to mix a little English mustard powder into very low fat mayo for this sandwich, or add horseradish sauce if I add sliced beef to the sandwich.

Roast dinner: Roast beef, potatoes (healthy extra), roast squash, carrots, green beans and gravy (a couple of syns depending on brand) and horseradish sauce. If I have spare syns I will indulge in a couple of Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire puddings (3 syns each).  Any lean meat will work with a roast as long as it is as lean as possible.

Jacket potato with chilli: Grab a good size spud (230g raw) and toss in the oven. Make a beef chilli, with lean mince, onion, peppers and seasoning, but skip the beans. Once the spud is ready, split in half and pile on the chilli. Garnish with some grated cheese from your healthy extras. If like me you are not a fan of veg you can add finely chopped veg to your chilli, once they have cooked down, you hardly notice them in there.

Snacking on red days is easy too, in addition to your fruit and veg, you can grab a couple of slices of cooked meat, roll them up and snack. Slice up a couple of syn free sausages and add sliced apple. Wrap slices of ham around a stick of melon or just chow down on a chicken drumstick, but take the skin off first.

It's a green day

Back on track, day two...

I love carbs, so the green day on Slimming World's eating plan suit me best. Although I do suffer with the healthy extras. On the green day plan you can eat all the fruit, veg, pasta, rice and potatoes you like and must limit your protein intake. This is achieved by having one or two portions of dairy and two portions of protein, bread or cereal.

The main problem is that of all the carbs I love most, bread is my best friend. From simple toast and sandwiches to pizza, there are very few times I haven't found a new friend in a loaf of bread. It's unfortunate that bread is limited on this plan, but if it and I were not such close friends, I'd probably not have quite so much weight to lose.

Green days usually start with fruit and yogurt. Cereals are allowed, but they count as one of the two permitted healthy extra B choices. I usually use at least one B choice for protein and the second is flexible between bread, porridge or a second portion of protein. Snacking on green days is easy, fruit. Vegetable crudities are also an option for veg lovers, served with low fat tzatziki dip made from fat free greek yougurt, grated cucumber (with as much juice squeezed out as possible) 1 tsp olive oil (2 syns) and a clove of crushed garlic.

Lunch will normally be a pasta dish with either a healthy extra choice of protein. An easy favorite is Cheese, leek and ham pasta and sauce (Batchelors 1syn when made up with only water) with an extra 1/2 chopped leek and diced ham or bacon. Another simple lunch is pasta shapes served with a half a pepperami diced (3.5 syns) fried with diced onion, diced sweet red peppers and 200g passata, seasoned with garlic and basil. If all else fails, beans on toast.

Dinner choices are limitless, there is very little you can't do with veg, carbs and a portion of meat or fish, except for pizza. Staples are spaghetti bolognaise, chilli and cottage pie, but as long as your recipe doesn't contain oil and fats (unless synned) then you are covered. With syns you can even indulge in dessert or the odd tipple. Personally I'm happy to steer clear of the booze whilst on the plan, I'd rather spend the syns on making the most of the main meals and adding a little extra to the snacks.

The best part of this eating plan, is there is always food to eat, so you never feel hungry. It does however take willpower to break the junk food cravings in the first week or two. I find until I'm well in to the plan and have gotten the sugar rush / crash cycle out of my system, it's easier to not buy in treats like sweets, chocolate and my nemesis, biscuits. For me one biscuit is too many and a whole packet is not enough, so not buying them for the first month is hard, but it's harder to not sneak a couple or six at 2am. Once I'm firmly on the plan and the cravings have passed I'll start adding treats in occasionally. If you have to have your daily sweet fix, buy small amounts which will limit the damage in a moment of weakness. Better still, only buy enough for one day and take a walk to the shop to buy it. 

Red days explained next time.

Poppy seeds

I have started eating more eggs as a source of cheap protein, but I'm not keen on the taste of them, so I scramble them and add other flavourings to help the taste. Whilst looking through our spice rack I found a packet of poppy seeds. I like the taste of them on bread so I experimented with them in my eggs. I was pleasantly surprised with the result, they added a nutty taste that wasn't overpowering.

I decided to investigate these tiny seeds and see if they have any benefits to a healthy diet. It turns out they are packed full of vitamins and minerals. They contain folates, niacin (vitamin B), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin K. They are also a good source of calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc.

Be careful though as they are quite high in calories with 525 calories per 100 grams. They also have over 40 grams of fat, although the fats contained in poppy seeds are good for you and help lower LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. Studies show that diets high in monounsaturated fatty acids, like those contained in poppy seeds, helps to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes. There have also been studies that indicate the oleic acid in the seeds help to combat breast cancer.

Ideas for including poppy seeds into a healthy diet 

 

Other than adding them to dishes like scrambled egg, they work well with lemon and other seeds and nuts.  I have also added them to coleslaw and commercial light or low fat salad dressings.

1. Poppy seed & walnut pasta. Melt 30g butter in a pan, fry 2 large garlic cloves (thinly sliced). Once the garlic is just turning golden, add 25g of poppy seeds and cook for a further minute. Then add 25g of crushed walnuts and cook for another minute. Pour over a ribbon pasta, such as tagliatelle, and then sprinkle over finely grated zest of a large lemon. Toss the pasta to coat it in the mixture, this should serve 4 people. This goes well with a garden salad with no dressing as you already have the delicate flavour of the pasta sauce.
2. Poppy seed broccoli. Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a frying pan and fry 1 tbsp of poppy seeds for a minute to release their flavour. Sprinkle in 1/4 tsp of paprika and then add enough steamed broccoli for four people and stir well to coat the broccoli in the seeds. Dish up the broccoli and garnish with a teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese.
3. Fruit salad with poppy seed dressing. In a blender or food processor, combine 1 banana, 60ml orange juice, 1 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp poppy seeds, 1 tbsp raspberry vinegar, 1/4 tsp olive oil, 30g raspberries, a pinch of salt and pinch of cayenne pepper, and puree until smooth. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to use. Chop up assorted fruit and dress with the poppy seed dressing. There is enough dressing for about 6 - 8 salads.

One thing to note, other than the high oil content of these seeds, they reportedly can provide a false positive on drug tests for opiates. I don't know if this is a myth or not, but it is worth bearing in mind.

Jerk the Chicken

I spent a few years living in Africa, this is where I had my first taste of jerk chicken. Whilst it is typically known as a Jamaican food, it's roots are found in African cooking. The jerk chicken I first tried was in a Jamaican style restaurant, that had given an African twist to it's menu.

I couldn't recreate the recipe from all those years ago, but this is a pretty close approximation, and with the skin and visible fat removed from the chicken, keeps the calories low. One tip, wear gloves when cooking with very strong chillies as if you get any in your eyes, you will know about it for a long time.

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken thighs
60 ml malt vinegar
60 ml lime juice
1 tbsp dark rum
1 Scotch bonnet chilli, with seeds, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tsp (heaped) dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp molasses

How to:

1. Put vinegar, rum, chilli, onion, spring, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and molasses into a blender. Blitz until mostly smooth.
2. Pour lime juice over the chicken and coat well. Add the jerk paste to the chicken pieces and coat well. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Drain the marinade from the chicken into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to use as a basting sauce for the chicken.
4. Preheat oven to 180ºC and cook for approximately 25 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally and basting with marinade. The chicken is cooked through when the juices run clear when a knife tip is inserted into the thigh. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand 15 minutes.
5. Serve with a rice salad.

Serves 4

Meatloaf

Although red meat is supposed to kill us all with an assortment of saturated fat, cholesterol, cancer, heart problems and mad cows disease. Research is showing that lean cuts of red meat, as part of a healthy balanced diet are no worse for us than any other meat. Beef contains plenty of protein, B complex vitamins, zinc and iron, which are both easily absorbed from meat.

New studies are showing that the original link between red meat and heart disease were incorrect, the link has now been made to high levels of the bad, LDL cholestrol, typically associated with diets high in saturated fats. Lean cuts of red meats do contain some saturated fat, but the average 100 gram cut of lean beef contains around 5g of saturated fat, which is about one quarter of your recommended daily amount. This of course varies on which cut of beef you use, but if you stick to lean steaks, lean cuts of meat and less than 5% fat mined beef you should be alright.

We picked up a whole pile of reduced price packs of extra lean beef mince a couple of weeks ago in the supermarket and stocked up the freezer and I was looking for ideas for healthy things to do with it. I found a few ideas but decided on trying this meatloaf recipe. The recipe I found was already healthy, but I managed to tweak it a little further to see if it could be even better.

Ingredients:

1 small courgette, grated
½ a red pepper, finely chopped
1 small onion, minced
1 tbsp water
1 large egg
2 tbsp tomato puree
4 tsp whole-grain mustard
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried marjoram
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
150g rolled oats / porridge, blitzed to look like bread crumbs
600g lean (90% or leaner) beef mince
2 tbsp barbecue sauce

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Spritz a baking sheet or loaf tin (22cm x 12cm x 6cm deep) with cooking spray.
2. Place courgette, red pepper, onion and water in a microwavable bowl, cover and microwave on high for about 4 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. 
3. Drain the vegetables in a sieve, gently pressing out as much moisture as possible; spread out on a large plate to cool slightly.
4. Whisk egg, tomato puree, mustard, Worcestershire, marjoram, salt, paprika and pepper in a large bowl.
5. Add the vegetables and stir together. Next add the oats / porridge and mix.
6. Add beef and gently mix with clean hands to combine with the vegetable mixture, , don't overwork the mixture as it will make the meatloaf tough.
7. Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape on the prepared baking sheet, or fill the loaf tin. Spread the barbecue sauce over the top of the loaf.
8. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. 
9. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6.

We ate this with mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and fried onions. 

Baked beans

The unassuming baked bean is an unrecognised food super hero. It is low in fat, less 7% (1.9g saturated fat) and full of protein and fiber. It has a low GI index, which means your body takes longer to break it down into usable energy and so keeps you full longer.

They can help lower the bad LDL cholesterol, the tomatoes used in the sauce contain lycopene, an antioxidant shown to help prevent heart disease and prostate cancer. They also contain a whole host of essential vitamins and minerals, that contribute to a healthy diet. They are a good source of iron, and when combined with the vitamin C from the tomatoes, the iron is more easily absorbed by the body. Baked beans do however contain a relatively high level of sodium at 422mg per 100g, so it you are eating them with a meal, you really don't need to add salt to either the cooking or your plate.

So apart from throwing them on a slice of toast, what else can we do with them? Well as a side dish to many different meals is the obvious answer but below are a couple of ideas for baked bean recipes.

For those of you who don't like the powdery kidney bean in chilli, throw in a tin of beans instead.

Baked bean & pasta soup, quick and simple, fry off some onions and a bit of garlic, add the beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, basil, oregano and a splash of water and simmer till cooked. Stir in the cooked pasta and server with a grating of cheese and a twist of black pepper.

Curried beans, dry fry curry powder, chopped onion then stir in the beans and heat through, goes well with BBQ

Chilli bean dip, dry fry chilli, minced garlic, chopped onion and cumin, stir in the baked beans and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Blitz in a food processor and serve as a dip.

Stir into the mince when making cottage pie, bulks up the meal and keeps you feeling fuller longer.

Baked bean burrito, Dry fry some onion, garlic, chilli and cumin then add the beans and cook through. Serve in a soft flour wrap, with a little low fat cream cheese, shredded lettuce, spring onion, tomato salsa.

I've even heard that one of my friends blitzes up a tin of sausage and beans to form a thick paste, and uses it as a sandwich paste.

Pulled pork sandwich

When I first started looking into recipes for pork, I kept finding pulled pork recipes cropping up over and over, but I always assumed that it was high in fat and calories so at first dismissed it. But after the pouting reaction from my wife, who loves pork, I read more, on what is now my favorite sandwich of all time.

When stripped of the fat and crackling pulled pork is actually lower in calories and fat than chicken, it's only downfall is it is high in salt. I was very surprised to find that it contains half the fat of chicken and half of the saturated fat. Pulled pork is also half the cholesterol of chicken at only 35mg (11%) per 100g opposed to chicken at 64mg (21%) per 100g. Pulled pork also contains 1.2g of fiber per 100g and vitamin A, B-6, B-12, C, Calcium and magnesium.

Ingredients:

1kg lean shoulder of pork
4 cloves sliced garlic
1 roasting bag
crusty wholewheat rolls
shredded lettuce or baby spinach
dry fried onions

Rub
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
ground black pepper

BBQ sauce
1 finely chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
100g tomato puree
100g malt vinegar
75g honey
1 tsp mustard powder
100ml beef stock (1/2 oxo made up with 100ml water)
Juice from roasting bag with the fat drained off.

Spicy coleslaw
50g shredded cabbage
75g grated carrot
50g finely chopped red onion
2 tbsp low fat mayonaise
2 - 3 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp lime juice (or lemon)
1 tsp soy sauce
ground black pepper


How to:

Pulled pork

1. Combine the rub ingredients well and rub into the pork shoulder and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Place the meat in the roasting bag and sprinkle the garlic slices over the joint. Seal the bag as per the manufactures guidelines and roast in a cool oven at 140-150 degrees for 5 hours, turning the bag once an hour to baste the meat.
3. Carefully open the bag after cooking to test if the pork is easily shredded with a fork, allow to sit in its juice for 20 minutes.
4. Drain off the roasting juices and allow the juice and fat to settle, discard the fat.
5. Pull into shreds with a couple of forks and serve.

BBQ sauce

1. Sweat the onions and garlic in a small pan until just transparent. You don't need oil, just a non stick pan and frequent stirring.
2. Add the vinegar, tomato puree, honey or syrup and stock to the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes till the sauce thickens.
3. Just before serving, pour in the retained roasting juices (minus the fat) into the sauce and simmer for a further 2 minutes.

Spicy coleslaw

1. Throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix.
2. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

To make the sandwich, cut the rolls in half and toast the cut side. Load the open sandwich with a layer of lettuce, a layer of pulled pork, a layer of fried onions and a spoonful of the BBQ sauce. Serve as an open sandwich with a side of spicy coleslaw salad.

I like making this with Tesco Walnut rolls as the nutty taste works well with the flavour of the sandwich.

Serves lots, we got seven good sized portions of meat from the joint.

Peri-peri chicken

The fiery taste of peri peri chicken is hard to beat. The original peri peri is said to come from Africa, when the Portuguese explorers first encountered the pili-pili, which is the Swahili name for the notorious birds eye chilli. They blended it with herbs, spices, lemon and vinegar to form what we know as peri peri.

This is not as good as my favorite Nandos peri peri, but this is a healthy option that I can cook at home.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, skinned and spatchcocked

6 fresh red chillies, more if you want it hotter
1 tbsp garlic, blanched and chopped
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp oregano
½ tbsp paprika
60 ml olive oil
50 ml red wine vinegar



How to:

1. Roast the chillies in a 180°C oven for about 10 minutes and allow to cool.
2. Chop the chillies and mix with the garlic, sea salt, oregano, paprika, olive oil and vinegar in a pan and simmer for 2 -3 minutes.
3. Let the mixture cool and then blitz to a puree.
4. Baste the chicken with half the sauce mix and place in a bowl and cover with film and let it marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.
5. Cook the chicken in a 200°C oven for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the juices run out clear. Basting occasionally with the remaining sauce mix. You can start the chicken off in a griddle pan to add that BBQ look. 
6. Serve with golden rice and a green leafy salad and a side of home made coleslaw.

Serves 4

A healthy fry up?

Is there really such a thing as a healthy fry up? Not really, but there are ways to help make it healthier by reducing the fat levels and upping the dietary fiber with extra veggies.

I love bacon and in its natural form its loaded with fat, most of which is saturated, which is the sort that gives us the bad cholesterol that your doctor loves to worry you about. If you trim ALL of the visible fat from the bacon and grill it, you can significantly reduce the fat and calorie levels to an acceptable level.

Stage two, no more fried eggs, rather scramble them, try poaching them or throw them in an omelet, to restore them to health food status. In either scrambled eggs or omelets I add a generous splash of either Tabasco or hot sauce to pep it up a little. If you want to up your veggie intake via your breakfast 'fry up' then adding chopped onion, peppers and mushrooms and 15g of grated cheddar to the omelet is a tasty way to do it.

Get a big hit of fiber from a portion of baked beans. One serving of beans can be counted as one of your five a day. For preference, choose reduced sugar and salt beans, to further lower the impact of your feast. They are high in protein which your body needs for building new muscle and keeping what muscle you have healthy. They also counter cholesterol and contain antioxidants to fight those pesky free radicals.

Add in a few grilled mushrooms and a grilled tomato on the side.

Finally I add either a slice of wholemeal toast, without butter or spread, as the bean juice is more than enough to soften it up a little. Or more recently I replace the toast with one of my wife's blueberry pancakes topped with a teaspoon of maple syrup, which goes really well with the bacon.

Overall this meal could never be classed as health food, but eaten occasionally as part of a balanced diet, it does go a long way to alleviating the craving for the full fat version.

Don't get blue, get blueberry!

Blueberries increase the production of the feel good chemical dopamine. So when you are feeling blue, reach for the happy berry.

Blueberries also contain catchins, that according to research at Tufts University, when eaten regularly can boost weight loss and increases the amount of abdominal fat lost when consumed as part of a healthy diet.

Blueberries are also reported to have beneficial effects in the brain, protecting it from some environmental toxins. Researchers have dicovered in animal studies, that compounds found in blueberries may reverse some age related memory loss and motor skills decline.

Blueberries contain significant levels of the phytonutrient quercetin, which may reduce the likelihood and severity of allergies. Good news for hay fever sufferers, like me. The little blue fruit also contains salicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin, which is proven to thin the blood. They are a good source of anti-inflammatory chemicals which can reduce age related inflammation and cell damage.

My wife found a good recipe on the web and adapted it slightly to make it a little more healthy. Please note though, these pancakes are not wonder foods, you still need to exercise restraint and only eat them sensibly.

Wholewheat blueberry buttermilk pancakes

Ingredients:

125g wholemeal flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
250ml low fat buttermilk
45g of vegetable oil
85g crushed blueberries

How to:

1. Mix buttermilk, egg and oil and pour into the dry ingredients.
2. Mix lightly until the dry ingredients are all incorporated. Do not over work the mix.
3. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Spritz a heavy bottomed frying pan with Fry light, or other spray oil and set the heat to medium and allow the pan to heat up.
5. Spoon a generous dessert spoon of mixture into the pan and cook until brown on both sides.

 Makes 12 -16 pancakes.

These pancakes freeze well and can be reheated, from frozen, under a grill for a couple of minutes on each side. Serve with a teaspoon of maple syrup on each pancake (around 17 calories for a teaspoon of syrup). I like them as part of a healthier fry up breakfast.



The science:
Tufts Journal: catechins effect on abdominal fat.

Love a spud

Start a diet, cut out potatoes, that's what all the diet gurus seem to say, but lets hold on a moment before we bash the humble spud.

Potatoes are a very good source of complex carbohydrates, the wonderful stuff that gives you that full feeling, and makes sure you feel fuller longer. It is also a very good source of fiber, your average baked 'tater will provide between 10-15% of your daily recommended amount of dietary fiber.

Now we get on to the host of vitamins and essential minerals contained in this humble vegetable. Vitamin B1 or thiamine is used in the body to help digest food and is also used by the brain. B6 next and this is a hard working vitamin, it is used all over the body from digestion, to the nervous system and the blood amongst other uses.

I was surprised to discover the spud provides nearly half as much vitamin C as a fresh orange and almost a quarter more potassium than the banana.

Spuds are good source of Magnesium, Zinc and copper which are all used along with calcium to build strong bones and teeth. They also contain iron, which is needed for healthy blood. Folic acid is needed by the blood and again the potato is a good source.

Our dumpy little friend is one of the ultimate low fat foods, it has about 0.01% fat per 100g, so next time you fancy a nutritious and low fat meal, love a spud.

Low fat wedges

Ingredients:

Potatoes
Fry light
seasoning


How to:

1. Cut the potatoes into wedges, leaving the skin on.
2. Par boil the wedges for about 5 - 10 minutes or until they are just tender.
3. Drain the potatoes and spritz with 3 to 5 squirts of Fry light, or other spray oil.
4. Arrange on a single layer on a baking sheet and spritz the wedges again.
5. Bake in a hot oven (200 degrees) for around 20 or 25 minutes, turning once.

You can add different seasonings before baking, I like adding a dry BBQ seasoning myself, but they work well with all sorts of dry seasoning.

These wedges are low in fat, but just be wary low fat doesn't mean low calorie, so just as with any carbohydrate, they shouldn't take up more that a quarter of your plate.

They are very nice when dipped in cool Tzatziki along with a crisp Greek salad and a good feta cheese.