Has-Bean Cottage Pie

A cottage pie with a difference. I love anything made with minced beef, especially cottage pie. I also love baked beans, so combining the two was a winning combination for me. 

 

Serves 4

Syn Free on Extra Easy

500g extra lean minced beef

3 onions

1 tin baked beans

250ml passata

bouillon powder to taste

1 swede

1 butternut squash

1 tbsp bouillon powder

Sauté the beef and onion in Fry Light until the onion is soft and the beef is cooked. Add the passata, baked beans and bouillon powder.

Peel, dice and boil the swede and squash until tender (the swede will take longer than the squash, so cook them in separate pans), then mash together with a potato masher, adding the bouillon powder and a little of the cooking liquid if the mixture is too dry (unlikely).

Place the beef and bean mix in an oven-proof dish and top with the swede and squash mash. Bake at 220°C for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned on top and cooked through. Serve with vegetables of your choice and Slimming World chips.

Spicy Bean and Tomato Soup

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tun baked beans

2 tsps sweetener

1 tsp bouillon powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsps ground cumin

chilli powder to taste

Whizz the tinned tomatoes in a food processor or liquidiser until smooth. Heat in a pan with the beans, and add the spices. Stir and enjoy.

Potato Cakes with Baked Beans

The half a syn in this recipe comes from the fresh breadcrumbs – I made one small slice into crumbs and used maybe only 1/5 of it. You can of course omit the breadcrumbs to make it syn free. I added some leftover stir fry vegetables to try and get some superfree in – any cooked vegetables would work in this recipe I reckon.

Serves 4

½ syn on Extra Easy (see note above)

450g potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 large onion, chopped

3 tbsp fromage frais

2 egg yolks

1 egg, beaten

1 slice wholemeal bread from a 400g loaf

tin baked beans

leftover cooked vegetables

2-4 tbsp passata

Cook the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes until cooked through. Drain well and mash. Leave to cool a little. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in Fry Light until soft. Stir the onions into the mash with the fromage frais and a little water if necessary to get the consistency right. Mix in the egg yolks and season.

Shape into rounds, then flatten to make approximately 16 patties about 5-6 cm across. Place the patties on a greased baking sheet and brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top (see note above) and bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes until nicely browned.

Heat the baked beans with the added vegetables. Add the passata and a little water to dilute the sauce and serve with the potato cakes. 

 

Breakfast Tian

A tian is a layered dish, usually using food presentation rings. This is just a different way of serving the usual breakfast ingredients. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 potatoes

a little salt and pepper

100g minced pork

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sage

¼ tsp white pepper

a little milk

2 gammon steaks

2 tomatoes

a few mushrooms

2 eggs

tin of baked beans to serve

Peel the potatoes and grate them using the finest part of your grates. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can and mix with the salt and pepper. Using a food ring, make two circular shapes, spray with Fry Light and bake in the oven at 200°C until cooked through and browned and crispy on top.

In a food processor, combine the pork, spices and a little milk from your allowance (or water), ca 1-2 tablespoons. Using the same food rings, shape into circular patties and bake in the oven at 200°C until cooked through.

Using the food rings as cutters, shape the gammon steaks into round disks (save the cut-offs for use in something else) and grill for a few minutes each side until cooked through.

De-seed the tomatoes and chop finely. Heat some Fry Light in a pan and gently cook the tomatoes for a couple of minutes until heated through but not too soft.

Finely chop the mushrooms and cook in Fry Light until cooked to your liking.

Fry the eggs with the food rings to create perfectly round eggs.

Assemble the tian with the potato hash in the bottom, then the gammon, sausage patties, the mushrooms and tomatoes, and finally the egg on top. Serve with the baked beans. 

 

Spicy Mince and Beans

This is comfort food at its very best, combining two of my favourite foods: minced beef and baked beans. I was running late and popped in the supermarket to grab a few things to cook a quick and easy dinner before a night out with the girls, and came up with this. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

250g extra lean minced beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tin baked beans

250ml passata

1 tsp harissa paste

1 pkt ready chopped root vegetables (carrot, swede and potato)

1 tsp bouillon powder

150g runner beans, trimmed

¼ cauliflower, cut into florets

Fry the meat and onions until the meat is browned and the onions soft. Add the baked beans, passata and harissa paste and stir until heated through.

Meanwhile boil the root veg and mash with the bouillon powder. Cook the cauliflower and runner beans to your liking, and serve with the mince. 

 

Jacket Potato with Spicy Beans

It is sometimes a bit of a struggle to ensure that you have your one-third superfree with every meal. I love a jacket potato with beans, but how to get those Slimming World superfrees in? Easy! Onion, tomato and passata. Job done. And very nice it was too.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 large baking potatoes

1 tin baked beans

1 red onion

1 large tomato

200ml passata

1 tsp harissa paste

Bake the potato at 210°C for 90 minutes or until done to your liking. Finely chop the onion and sauté in Fry Light until soft. Add the beans, tomato, passata and harissa paste. Stir until heated through. Serve with the potato. 

 

Sausage and Bean Pie

A slightly different way of serving the usual breakfast ingredients if you're bored with the same old same old. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 cooked Joe's Sausages (I used Olde English)

1 tin baked beans

cooked potatoes, thickly sliced

2 eggs

 

Slice the sausages and place in the bottom of two individual ramekin dishes. I used the slightly larger ones at 10cm diameter, but you can use smaller ones too (although they might get a little full!), and even one large serving dish.

Add the baked beans and top with the sliced potatoes. I used new potatoes, which was probably easier because of the size of them, fitting them into the dish. Spray with Fry Light and bake for 10-15 minutes until everything is heated through.

Top with a poached egg and serve. 

 

Breakfast Hash with Beans

I love a cooked breakfast, and this hash is a great way of using up leftovers. I can't offer you any specific measurements – just use this recipe as a guide or an idea, and create your own hash according to what you have and what you fancy. 

 Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

cooked potatoes, chopped

mushrooms, halved

tomato, de-seeded and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tin baked beans

Sauté the onion in a little Fry Light until soft and add the mushrooms. Stir for a few more minutes, then add all the other ingredients and cook until heated through properly. 

 

My intention was to serve the hash with a fried egg on top, but we'd run out of eggs....

Boston Baked Beans

I love Boston baked beans, and this is the best recipe I have made to date. Even my dad said he enjoyed it, which is really quite rare!

This version is baked in the slow cooker and the meat will be very well done, falling apart at the touch. If you prefer your meat firmer, just add it half way through the cooking time.

Serves 4-6

13 syns for the whole casserole on Extra Easy

250g dried haricot beans

½ tsp ground cloves

2 onions

1 bay leaf

6 tbsp tomato purée

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp molasses sugar

2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

250ml stock

small gammon joint

salt and pepper

Soak the beans for at least eight hours, preferably overnight. Drain, rinse and place half the beans in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cut each onion in eight segments and place on top of the beans. Remove all fat from the gammon and cut in one inch cubes; place in the pot with the beans and onions. Top with the remaining beans.

I a separate bowl, mix together the sugars, bay leaf, mustard, tomato purée and stock. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the beans and meat, adding more water if necessary to almost cover the beans. Turn on the slow cooker to high and cook for 5-6 hours. Serve with potatoes and vegetables of your choice. 

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Punjabi Potato Patties

I do like a bit of spice in the morning to wake me up. I have never understood the significance with certain foods at certain times of the day, and I love the Indian breakfasts when we travel on the Subcontinent – my favourite being paper masala dosa. Having a few leftover potatoes in the vegetable basket, I boiled some up last night and made them into patties which I put in the fridge overnight to save some time this morning. I'm not really a morning person, so I prefer to not have too many things to sort out first thing.

Punjabi Potato Patties

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

250g potatoes

1 medium onion

¼ tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp garam masala

Peel the potatoes and halve or quarter them, depending on how large they are. Boil for ten minutes in plenty of salt water, until cooked but not mushy. Grate the onion, then mash together the potatoes, onion and spices. Form into little patties, spray with Fry Light and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until nicely browned.

I should imagine the people of Punjab would most likely serve the patties with a chutney of some sort, but I had a craving for baked beans this morning. 

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