Kale and Mint Salad

I had some kale in the fridge that needed using up, and I was searching the internet for inspiration when I came across a recipe that I managed to doctor enough to fit in the Slimming World Plan. Normally I would just fry the kale in some Fry Light until crispy, so this was the first time we've had it raw. 

 

Serves 2

Less than ½ syn per person*

* providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A

1 packet kale, picked over to remove the thick hard stems

1 packet of mint, leaves roughly chopped

Dressing

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 small garlic clove, very finely chopped

1 tsp Dijon mustard

¼ tsp red chilli flakes

30g finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp plain fat free yogurt

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and add water until you get a dressing-like consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in to the kale and mint leaves until thoroughly mixed.

I served mine with some chilli and garlic grillsticks from Joe'sSausages for an almost syn free lunch with lots of superfree.

We both found the texture of the raw kale a little unusual, but agreed that its chewy consistency was not unpleasant. I would definitely have it again. 

 

Sausages on Lentils

I had two spare sausages to use up, so had to come up with a recipe with lots of vegetables and one sausage each. This is a good way of using up lots of leftover cooked vegetables should you want to. I used Joe's sausages which are syn free, if you use another type of sausage, be sure to calculate the syn value. I left the beetroot raw for crunch (I prefer them raw to cooked), but you can of course boil yours prior to adding it to the lentils. At the moment I am adding chillies to almost everything as I am still picking several chillies from the plants daily. We both love spicy food, so that suits us fine.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 Joe's Old English Sausages

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

½ cup green lentils

1 tbsp bouillon powder

1 red chilli, chopped (optional)

½ cup cooked carrots, chopped

1 small cooked potato, chopped

1 beetroot, chopped

½ pkt spinach, cooked

Sauté the onion and celery in Fry Light until they begin to soften. Add the lentils, bouillon powder, chilli (if using) and 1.5 cups water. Boil for 10 minutes then turn the heat down and simmer gently for 20-35 minutes, depending on how well you want your lentils done. Keep a check on it to make sure it doesn't boil dry. Meanwhile, grill the sausages to your liking. For the last couple of minutes, add the carrots, potato and beetroot to the lentils. Divide the lentil mixture between two plates, top with the drained spinach and top with one sliced sausage on each. 

 

Spicy Sausage and Cauliflower Pasta

I used the leftover spicy cauliflower from a couple of says ago from this, but below is the instructions on how you would make it from scratch. 

 

Serves 2

½ syn for the entire dish

½ cauliflower

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 fresh red chilli, seeded

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 tub Müllerlight coconut and vanilla yogurt

1 tsp sweetener

1 tsp tamarind powder

3 cooked Joe's sausages, sliced

150g cooked pasta

2 tbsp Greek Basil, Chopped

Trim the stalk from the cauliflower and break into tiny florets. Cook in plenty of salted water for a few minutes until tender. Grind the onion, garlic, chilli and turmeric together in a food processor to form a smooth paste. Stir in yogurt, sweetener, salt and tamarind powder. Add the cauliflower, sausage, pasta and basil. Gently heat in a saucepan without boiling. 

 

Sausages in Tomato Sauce with Tortilla

I had another delivery of Joe's Sausages this week, so wanted to try a recipe or two. I served this with the leftover tortilla from yesterday (you can find the recipe here), but you can serve them with any type of potatoes or even toast. They would also make a nice filling for jacket potatoes. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

3 Joe's Cumberland sausages

200ml passata

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp sweetener

½ tsp bouillon powder

Grilled tomatoes and tortillas to serve

Cut the sausages in slices, about 1.5 cm long. Sauté in Fry Light until cooked through, then add the passata, thyme, sweetener and bouillon powder. Stir well to combine and simmer for a few more minutes before serving with accompaniments of your choice. 

 

Pork Fried Rice

You can of course use just normal, plain pork steaks for this dish. Or coat them with your favourite spice mix before grilling. I just find Joe's meats to be such an easy option when I'm busy.

This was my very first Ajo Hot chilli harvest, and I was disappointed. There was very little heat to it, although it had a nice fruity taste. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 pkt Joe's Chinese Pork Steaks

1 cup rice

2 tsp bouillon powder

1 onion, chopped

handful green beans, chopped

1 pkt beansprouts

100g spinach

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp sweetener

2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 red chilli, finely chopped

Grill the pork steaks until cooked through and slice very finely. Boil the rice in plenty of water with the bouillon. Drain. Sauté the onion and beans in Fry Light until soft. Add the beansprouts , spinach, soy sauce, vinegar, sweetener, rice and chilli. Stir over a low heat until the spinach has wilted and the beansprouts are beginning to get soft. Serve with extra soy soy if you like. 

 

Mega Morning Mustard Mix

This was inspired by a sandwich the canteen at work used to serve, where the bacon, sausage and egg were mashed up into mayonnaise. Lovely flavour, but I wanted a bit more bite and texture, so I decided to roughly chop the ingredients rather than finely grind them. I also added chopped tomato to make sure I got some superfree in. I was initially going to make it into a sandwich, but there was way too much filling, so it became two open faced sandwiches instead. To be honest, there is probably enough there for four people. 

 

Serves 2

1 syn on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the bread as your Healthy Extra B

2 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

2 rashers bacon, all visible fat removed, cooked and chopped

2 Joe's sausages, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 tbsp lighter than light mayonnaise

4 tbsp fat free plain yogurt

¼-½ tsp mustard powder

salt and pepper to taste

4 slices wholemeal bread from a 400g loaf

Mix together the eggs, bacon, sausages and tomato in a bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard powder (to taste), salt and pepper. When thoroughly mixed, stir into the other ingredients. Divide between the four slices of bread and serve. 

 

Breakfast Pizza

On the Slimming World plan, it is only Asda and Co-op pitta breads that count as your healthy Extra B because they are the only ones with sufficient fibre content. I have tried, without any success whatsoever, to locate the Co-op ones, but Asda wholemeal pitta bread is easy to find in larger stores. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra easy*

* Providing you use the bread and cheese as your healthy extras.

2 Asda wholemeal pitta breads

4 tbsp passata

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

2 Joe's Sausages (any flavour), cooked and thinly sliced

2 rashers bacon, all visible fat removed, cooked and chopped

2 hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced

ca 150g cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

90g reduced fat Cheddar cheese, grated

Toast the pitta breads, open the pockets and split in half. Spread the passata on the breads and sprinkle with the basil. Top the pizzas with the sausage, bacon, and egg, in no particular order, then pile on the tomatoes to ensure you get your one-third superfree in. Finally sprinkle the grated cheese over and grill for a few minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbling. 

 

Dirty Rice with Sausages

Dirty rice is a Cajun dish which is traditionally served with chicken livers. This is just a slight variation on a theme to fit in with the Slimming World Plan. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

3 Joe's sausages, cooked and thinly sliced

1 cup rice

2 tsp bouillon powder

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

handful cooked green beans, chopped

1 tbsp (or to taste) paprika

½ cup chopped parlsey

salt and pepper

Boil the rice in stock made with the bouillon powder according to the instructions on the packet. Drain. Meanwhile, sauté the onion, pepper and celery in Fry Light until soft. Add the drained rice, sausages, vegetables, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes. If the mixture is a little dry, add some water. Stir in the parsley and serve. 

 

Egg Fried Rice with Chicken

The Slimming World version is every bit as good as the syn-laden original of this great Chinese take-away.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 pkt Joe's Chinese Chicken

1 cup basmati rice

1 carrot, finely chopped

handful green beans, finely chopped

3 stalk celery, finely chopped

5-6 spring onions, finely chopped

4 eggs

soy sauce to serve

Grill the chicken fillets for ca 10 minutes until cooked through. Finely chop.

Boil the rice in plenty of salted water, adding the carrots, celery and beans for the last few minutes. Drain.

Heat a pan with Fry Light and add all the ingredients except the eggs. Stir well. When the mixture is very hot, add the eggs. Stir to make sure the egg is well incorporated. Once the egg is cooked, serve immediately with soy sauce if using. 

 

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. 

 

Sausage and Potato Salad

A last minute decision to go out for the day today to make the most of the sunshine; meant that I had to think of a picnic lunch to take. As we all love sausages, this seemed like a good idea. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

4 Joe's Sausages (I used Old English), cooked and sliced

100g cooked new potatoes

80g cooked green beans, cut into 2.5cm lenghts

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

½ onion, sliced (I used the leftover cebollas en escabeche from yesterday)

Lettuce leaves, shredded

Combine all the salad ingredients and serve with a dressing of your choice, remembering to calculate the syn value. I made my own:

Spiced Salad Dressing

Serves 2

1 syn on Extra Easy

2 tbsp Hellman's Lighter than Light Mayonnaise

2 tbsp fat free plain yogurt

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp allspice berries

½ tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp oregano

1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

Whizz the spices through a spice grinder or food processor until fairly fine. Add with all the other ingredients in a screw top jar and shake well to combine. Add enough water to make a pouring consistency. 

 

Sausage and Bean Casserole

Sausages are a good fall-back when cooking for my dad, as it's one of the things he really likes. I rarely cook just plain food such as sausage and chips, so I wanted to turn it into something a little more interesting without making it too 'exotic' for my dad's taste.

Serves 3

Syn Free on Extra Easy

6 Joe's Sausages (I used pork and leek)

6 slices bacon, all visible fat removed

1 cup of mixed dried beans, soaked overnight

2 onions

1 green pepper

1 tin tomatoes

1 pkt passata

bouillon powder to taste

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp marjoram

1 tsp sweetener

Drain the beans and place in a saucepan with plenty of salted water and cook according to packet instructions, usually between 1 and 1½ hours. Meanwhile fry the onions in Fry Light until soft. Grill the bacon until crisp, chop and add to the pan with the onion. Grill the sausages until crispy and cooked through. You can either slice the sausages or leave them whole as I did here. Add to the pan. Drain the beans, but retain the liquid. Add the beans to the pan with the passata, tinned tomatoes and seasoning. Add cooking liquid if required, in order to bring the casserole to your preferred consistency.

Serve with vegetables and potatoes of your choice. 

 

Scotch eggs

Makes 4

Syn free on Extra Easy*

* providing you use the bread as your healthy extra B

1 pkt Joe's sausagemeat

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp orgeano

1 tsp sage

1 tsp sweetener

4 eggs

1-2 small slices wholemeal bread

Boil the eggs for ten minutes, run under cold water and remove the shell. Mix the sausage meat with the cumin, ginger, salt, oregano, sage and sweetener. Mix well. Blitz the bread in a food processor until fine crumbs, then dry fry in a pan over medium heat until dried out but not browned. 

 

Coat the eggs with the sausagemeat. I find the easiest way of doing this is by first diving the meat in four, then making a slightly oval patty with each of them. Holding the patty in your hand, place the egg on top and cup your hand around it. Then gently draw and stretch the sausagemeat until it complete covers the egg. 

 

Roll in the dried breadcrumbs and bake at 220°C for 15-20 minutes until the sausagemeat is cooked through. 

 

Serve as part of a finger food buffet (as I am doing on Sunday for the football), or with a salad. Great for taking on picnics or in the lunch box too. 

 

Lentil and Sausage Casserole

I'm a great lover of lentils and have eight or nine different types of dried lentils in my store cupboard. I prefer to use the dried variety for several reasons – there are no added preservatives or salt, less packaging, cheaper and I can use the amount I want not the amount that fits into a can. And unlike dried beans, they don't have to be soaked, so there is no excuse about having forgotten to put them in water the night before. Although he is not so keen, I am lucky in that my husband will eat anything I put in front of him.

It was my Slimming World consultant who introduced me to Joe's Sausages, and I haven't looked back since. They come in a variety of flavours, and are syn free on the plan. I buy them in bulk and stock up my freezer with them. For this recipe I used the chilli and garlic ones.

Lentil and sausage casserole with chilli and garlic

4 sausages, grilled

400g lentils (I used brown)

2 onions

2 carrots

4 sticks celery

1 red pepper

4 cloves garlic

stock made from bouillon powder

1 red chilli

2 green chilli

handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

tub of Total 0% fat yogurt

Finely chop the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and pepper, and sauté in a little Fry Light for a few minutes until soft. Slice the sausages – I like to slice mine thinly as I always feel I am eating more if the pieces are smaller. Add the lentils, chopped chillies and enough stock to cover, and simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked, but still retain a little bite. You will probably want to check from time to time to ensure you have enough liquid. For the last few minutes of cooking, add the sausages and cherry tomatoes. Take the pan off the heat and add the yogurt. Patience has never been one of my strong points, and I added the yogurt just a little bit too early, and it separated. Oh well, the taste is just as good, and you couldn't really see the little white bits as the light was bad tonight. Sometimes I am grateful for grey days and dark evenings. 


Place mats brought back from Bali.