Middle Eastern Duck Salad

It is very difficult to calculate the syn value for this dish, as Slimming World says that orange juice is 1½ syns for 100ml. I am not using orange juice as such in this recipe, just the juice that is left in the orange after segmenting it. I measured mine and from 3 large oranges, I got 50ml leftover juice – that is ¾ syn between three people. Not really worth worrying about. 

 

Serves 2-3

¼ syn on Extra easy (see note above)

2 duck breasts

1 tsp sumac

3 oranges

small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

150g spinach

½ red onion

100g pomegranate

400g anya potatoes

a few prigs of fresh coriander

2 tsp rose water

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

½ tbsp sweetener

2 tsp cumin seeds

Remove the skin and all visible fat from the duck breasts. Make several long slits in the flesh and sprinkle with sumac. Rub the spice in with your fingers and leave to marinate for an hour or so. Fry for around 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Thinly slice.

Dry fry the cumin seeds for a few minutes until fragrant, then coarsely grind using a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar.

Remove the skin and pith from the oranges and cut into segments. Squeeze the remainder of the pithy core into a bowl to get the rest of the juices out. Mix the orange segments with the parsley.

Mix the orange juice with the rose water, vinegar, sweetener and cumin seeds.

Cut the potatoes in fairly thick slices and boil until just cooked. Drain. Sauté in Fry Light over high heat until nicely browned. Add a tablespoon or so of the dressing and mix well, leaving for a couple of minutes to infuse the flavours.

Finely chop the red onion and mix with the pomegranate seeds and coriander.

Place the spinach in the bottom of a shallow salad bowl and add the potatoes, oranges, duck slices and pomegranate seeds, in that order. Drizzle over the rest of the dressing and serve. 

 

Pomegranate Salad

This is great served with a spicy tajine or spicy grilled meat. The fresh sweetness of the pomegranate really cools down the spicy food and the seeds add a delightful crunchy texture too. You can of course buy a whole pomegranate and remove the seeds yourself, but there are some things I am too lazy to do, and this is one of them.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 pkt pomegranate seeds

½ red onion

small bunch coriander leaves, chopped

juice of 1 lime

Slice the onion finely and mix with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper if you like, although I don't think it needs it.

Salmon, Feta and Lentil Salad

Serves 2

Syn Free in Extra Easy providing you use the cheese and olive oil as your Healthy Extras

150g puy lentils

80g pomegranate seeds

80g baby leaf spinach

50g radishes, sliced

80g baby plum tomatoes, halved

½ pack flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

100g feta cheese, chopped

1 tin of pink salmon

Dressing

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tbsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp sweetener

Boil the lentils for 30 minutes or so in some stock until tender. Alternatively, you can use a tin of cooked lentils. Mix together with the pomegranate seeds, spinach, radishes, tomatoes and parsley. Mix up all the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. Carefully stir in the feta cheese and salmon and serve. 

Lamb and Apricot Tajine

A tajine is a Berber dish from North Africa which is named after the earthenware pot it is cooked in. Of course you don't have to own a tajine to cook this dish, any oven proof casserole will do. I always think a large part of the enjoyment of any meal is the visual aspect of it, so I go to great lengths to ensure the table settings look good and the food is presented nicely. I collect plates and other crockery, much to my husband's dismay, as he can never find anywhere to put them. Maybe we need a bigger house?

Lamb and Apricot Tajine with couscous, harissa yogurt and pomegranate salad

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy providing you use the apricots as your Healthy Extra B

300g diced, lean lamb

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp paprika

120g dried apricots, roughly chopped

boiling water

100g couscous

1 carrot

1 courgette

125ml stock

1 tsp mint sauce

1 tub 0% natural yogurt

1 tsp harissa paste

1 packet of pomegranate seeds

½ red onion, thinly sliced

small handful of coriander leaves, chopped

juice of ½ lime

6g toasted almond slivers (optional) – allow 1 syn if using

Sauté the onions and garlic in a little Fry Light until soft. Mix all the spices together and add the lamb, making sure the meat is well covered. Constantly stirring, add the lamb to the onions in the pan and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chopped apricots and enough water to cover. Transfer to an oven-proof dish and bake at 150°C for 2.5 – 3 hours.

Grate the carrot and courgette and place in a pan with the couscous and mint sauce. The instructions on the couscous packet suggests 125ml water or stock, but I always find I need to use more. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring to ensure the couscous doesn't stick to the bottom (my husband always berates me for welding food to the pan – it makes the washing up doubly hard for him).

Lightly stir some harissa paste into the yogurt. I always use much more than a teaspoon, but it depends on your taste and the strength of the harissa – mine is home made and very hot!

Mix together all the ingredients for the pomegranate salad.

Top the lamb tajine with the toasted almonds and serve with the couscous, yogurt and pomegranate salad.

Bob apetit.

I find this is such lovely comfort food, perfect for a cold dark Saturday evening such as today. The seratonin in the chilli always lifts my spirits and I love the combination of flavours, colours and textures.


I bought the tajine in France and brought the mats back from Burkina Faso. The brown plate is from the Range and the red bowls from John Lewis. The gold plated wooden-handled cutlery was bought over the internet. 

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