Smoked Salmon, Scrambled Eggs and Potato Rösti

The breakfast of (European) kings. They were selling smoked salmon at half price in Sainsbury's this week, so I allowed myself a little treat for breakfast this morning. I didn't want to use my Healthy Extra B for bread to go with this, so I decided to make some potato rösti instead. 

 

* I normally add a handful of chopped spring onion tops to my scrambled eggs, but today I didn't have any. I did, however, have some leeks and I did the same thing with the green tops of those and it worked out well.

Serves 2

Syn free on Extra Easy

2 potatoes, peeled and finely grated

1 tsp cumin seeds

4 eggs

spring onion tops (just the green bits), finely chopped*
smoked salmon
tomatoes for grilling, halved

lemon wedges to serve

Mix the grated potato with the cumin seeds and place in four well greased Yorkshire pudding tins. Place on the bottom shelf of the oven and cook at 210°C for 15-20 minutes until golden. 

 

For the last few minutes of the rösti cooking time, place the tomatoes on the top shelf.

Meanwhile scramble the eggs to your liking, using the spring onion tops, chives or even leek tops as I did.

Serve with lemon wedges and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

Eggs Royale

As it is our wedding anniversary today (37 years, I can hardly believe it), Husband wanted to take me out for breakfast. I think there is something really decadent and special about going out for breakfast, it is not something we would normally do unless we are travelling. In all those 37 years I think we've over ever been out for breakfast once! 

Anyway, I decided to make a special breakfast at home instead, and here it is.

A base of wholemeal bread (as they didn't have any wholemeal muffins in our local Tesco), with steamed spinach, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce (2 syns for 1/3 packet + milk from my Healthy Extra A choice)

Served with rocket leaves and grilled tomato for extra superfree.

Buckwheat Kasha

I am totally hooked on buckwheat at the moment, and thought I'd have a go at making a Russian savoury porridge for breakfast. Kasha is a Russian word for toasted buckwheat – I remember the first time I tried it was in one of the former USSR states, in a small hotel in Minsk, Belarus. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

½ cup buckwheat

1 ½ cup stock

1 onion

4 slices bacon, all visible fat removed

1 tbsp chopped basil to serve

Dry toast the buckwheat until starting to brown and becoming fragrant. Add the stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in Fry Light until soft. Grill the bacon and chop. When the kasha is cooked, add the onion and stir well. Serve topped with the chopped bacon and sprinkle over the basil. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Mushroom Melt

I used potrobello mushrooms for this recipe, but any flat cap mushrooms will do. I also used my home dried tomatoes, but it would be equally good with fresh tomatoes.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A

4 portobello mushrooms

1-2 tomatoes (see note above), de-seeded and chopped

100g cooked ham, cubed

1 tube Primula Light Cheese

a few stems of fresh thyme, leaves removed

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop. Spray the caps with Fry Light and bake in the oven at 150°C for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms stalks and tomatoes for a few minutes, then add the ham, cheese and thyme leaves and stir until the cheese has melted and everything is heated through. Place the mushroom caps on two plates and fill each one with the ham and cheese mixture. 

 

Chakchouka Algerienne

Chakchouka is a popular breakfast dish all over North Africa, and this is my adaptation of it. You can of course omit the harissa paste if you don't want it spicy. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 onion

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 tin tomatoes

1 tsp harissa paste

2 eggs

Sauté the onion and peppers in Fry Light until soft. Add the harissa paste and tinned tomatoes and continue simmering for a few more minutes until the mixture has thickened and some of the liquid has evaporated. Divide the mixture between two shallow oven proof dishes and make an indentation in the middle. Carefully crack an egg into each dish and bake in the oven at 220°C for 15-20 minutes or until the egg is cooked to your liking. 

 

Fried Apple Rings with Cinnamon

I made this dish for breakfast, but it would be equally good as a dessert. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the cooked apple as your Healthy Extra B

4 apples, cored and sliced

200ml sugar free appleade

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp sweetener (optional)

To serve:

fromage frais

sweetener

cinnamon

Fry the apple slices for a few minutes in Fry Light, then add the appleade, cinnamon and sweetener if using. Continue to simmer until the apples are tender. Serve with fromage frais mixed with sweetener and cinnamon to taste. 

 

Breakfast Slop

 

Husband was adamant he did not want slop for breakfast, stating that 'he'd get better food in prison'. Not that he meant it, or indeed knows what prison food is like. 

 

The dish was a combination of several leftovers – the Sloppy Toms turkey mix, the chilli sautéed tomatoes, some roasted vegetables and roasted potatoes, all topped with a fried egg. A great syn free start to the day! 

 

Gammon Stuffed Mushrooms

Having some cut-offs of gammon from yesterday's brunch, and a couple of flat mushrooms in the fridge, I came up with this idea.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 cup chopped gammon

2 large flat mushrooms

2 tsp bouillon powder

2 eggs

a pinch of dried tarragon

a pinch of celery salt

2 tomatoes

a pinch dried basil

a few drops balsamic vinegar

Simmer the mushrooms in plenty of water with the bouillon powder added. In a poaching pan, add the eggs with the celery and tarragon. Poach until done to your liking. Halve the tomatoes and top with the basil and a the vinegar. Grill for a few minutes. Sauté the chopped gammon in Fry Light until cooked.

Place the mushroom on two plates, top with the gammon and then the eggs. Serve with the grilled tomatoes. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Vanilla Strawberries with Yogurt

This is just a simple twist on a simple dish, but it makes such a big difference. 

 

Serves 1

Syn Free on Extra Easy

200g strawberries

sweetener to taste

1 tbsp vanilla essence

fat free plain yogurt

Clean, hull and halve the strawberries and place in a bowl. Pour on the vanilla essence and sweetener to taste. Stir well and leave overnight to infuse. It's important to cut the strawberries in half, as it's the cut side that really soaks up the vanilla and sweetener. Serve for breakfast the next morning with the yogurt and added sweetener if desired. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Yogurt and Berries with Popped Amaranth

Amaranth is an ancient grain similar to quinoa used by the Aztecs and Mexicans; it is also used in India to make a sweet. There is very little flavour to amaranth, but when popped it adds a nice texture, similar to puffed rice.

Serves 1

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 pot fat free plain yogurt

150g berries (I used frozen summer berries)

sweetener to taste

1 tbsp amaranth grains

Heat a saucepan without any oil. When hot, add the amaranth and immediately put a lid on the pan. The grains will start popping within seconds. As soon as the popping has stopped, remove the pan from the heat.

Mix the sweetener with the yogurt if using. Place in a bow, top with the berries and the popped amaranth.