Leftover Meatloaf Hash

Mondays are nearly always leftover days, and today I managed to empty no less than eight containers when cooking our lunch – not bad going eh? 

 

This is not a recipe as such, more of an idea of what to do with leftovers. Using the remains of the meatloaf as a base, I added nearly all the leftovers I had in the fridge. The list looks like this:

meatloaf

cooked Jersey Royal potatoes

cooked carrots

cooked baby sweetcorn

cooked tenderstem broccoli

cooked sugarsnap peas

grilled cherry tomatoes

I also had containers with Oriental coleslaw and Vietnamese pickled vegetables which I mixed together, and half a box of salad leaves which I served alongside the hash. 

 

I started off by crushing the potatoes between two palms, then tearing them roughly with my hands. In a large pan sprayed with some Fry Light, I sautéed the potatoes for a few minutes before adding everything else. I found it to be a little dry, so I added some water to make it a smoother consistency and some chilli flakes to zest it up a little. 

I do love leftovers, and the challenge of creating something that tastes good.

Carrot and Ginger Cupcakes

Another variation on my favourite – and immensely popular – butternut squash muffins. These are dangerously moreish, but at just half a syn (less in fact) each, you can really enjoy a couple without feeling guilty. They don't last very well in the fridge or a cake tin; but they freeze well – I have placed mine in containers with six cakes (without the icing) to take out for as and when we want a little treat, without going overboard.

Makes 36

½ syn each*

* providing you use the oats as your Healthy Extra b and cheese as your Healthy Extra A. Nine cakes constitutes one HexB and HexA.

140g porridge oats

2 tubs fat free thick plain Greek yogurt

100g sultanas

2 tsp baking powder

8 eggs, separated

2-3 tbsps mixed spice

½ – 1 cup of sweetener to taste

1 can sugar free ginger beer

3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

a knob of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

300g cream cheese

sweetener to taste

a few drops of rum essence

First of all, in a small bow, place the sultanas and pour over enough ginger beer to cover. Leave to infuse and swell. Next put the oats in a large bowl and mix in the yogurt and the rest of the ginger beer. If you are using a thinner, runnier yogurt, cut down on the amount of liquid you use.

Leave these mixtures to soak for at least a couple of hours, ideally overnight. Boil the carrots with the ginger and leave to cool. Whizz in a food processor until smooth.

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg yolks and add the sweetener, mixed spice and baking powder. (Don't do as I did – thinking that I might forget to add the baking powder – I wasn't following a recipe, I was making it up as I went along – I measured it out when I thought of it earlier and just put it on top of the oat mixture for stirring in later. Wrong! By the time I came to stir it in, the baking powder had drawn the moisture from the oat mix and was one hard, white cake. Oops. I managed to break it up by whisking it in with the egg whites, but it was certainly a learning point!)

Stir the egg yolks and carrot mix into the oat mixture, add the sultanas and gently fold in the egg whites, making sure everything is mixed in well. Spoon into well greased muffin cases. I find I like to keep stirring the mixture while I am putting it into the little muffin cases, as the sultanas tend to sink to the bottom fairly quickly.

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 20-30 minutes, until they are cooked through. They should be springy, not fluffy when you touch them gently with your finger, and a skewer inserted should come out clean.

For the icing, mix together the cream cheese, sweetener and rum essence and spread on top of the cakes.

Enjoy!

Pulled Pork Tortilla Pizza

Having read about pizzas made from tortillas, I was keen to try it for myself, and when I discovered that I could have the Bfree Wheat and Gluten Free Wholegrain Wraps as as a Healthy Extra B choice, the idea was sold. I had terrible trouble finding the said wraps though – they are apparently only available in Asda in this area, but the first Asda I tried was too small, so I ended up driving half way around the West Country to find them. When I finally did, I bought two packets to keep in the freezer.

I used the leftover BBQ pulled pork for my topping, but you could use anything you like, remembering to ensure that you get plenty of superfree foods. My BBQ sauce had onion, cherry tomatoes and passata in it, but even so I decided to serve it with a couple of salads to balance it all out.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A

and the tortilla as you Healthy Extra B

2 Bfree Wheat and Gluten Free Wholegrain Wraps

topping as required

60g grated Parmesan cheese

Salad or vegetables to serve

Place the wraps on a pizza cooking trays and spread the topping over the surface leaving a couple of centimetres around the edges. Scatter the grated cheese over the top and bake in the oven at 210°C for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Keep an eye on them as the edge can burn easily.

Tropical Coleslaw

As I still had some mooli left (those buggers are huge!) I made a tropical coleslaw to go with the pizzas. I tried grating the apricots too, but it just became a soggy mush, so I resorted to chopping them very finely.

finely grated mooli

finely grated carrot

2 apricots, finely chopped

1 tub zero percent plain yogurt

1-2 tsp mint sauce

Sweetener to taste

Mix together all the ingredients for the coleslaw and serve with the pizza. I also served it with a sweet bistro style salad (bought ready packaged from the store. 

 

Caramelised Basa Fillets with Tamarind

Trey kho umpil

We first encountered this Vietnamese dish at a small beach restaurant in Dai Lanh near Nang Tra back in 1997. To reach the restaurant we had to traverse the river on a rickety old wooden footbridge, and the place itself looked run down and maybe not the sort of place I would normally have chosen to eat; but the fish was very fresh and absolutely delicious! The sweet, sour and spicy flavour combination has stayed with me ever since, although this is the first time I have attempted to make it at home. 

 

I'd stocked the freezer with lots of different fish when I went to Morrisons last week, and I asked Husband to take out a random packet of fish for tonight's supper. I was looking on line for inspiration about how to prepare basa fillets when I saw this recipe and the memory of this ramshackle beach café in Vietnam came back to me.

Basa is a type of catfish native to Vietnam and Thailand and has a somewhat unusual consistency but a nice firm flesh and good flavour. We both loved this dish and I shall definitely be cooking it again.

* The recipe called for fish sauce, but as I am not very keen I substituted some extra thick soy sauce. You can of course use normal dark soy sauce, but the consistency will be thinner. You can get it at Chinese supermarkets – I bought mine at Wai Yee Hong OrientalSupermarket in Eastville. 

 

Serves 2

Less than ½ syn per serving

2 basa fillets

2 small onions, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp extra thick soy sauce*

1 tbsp tamarind paste (½ syn)

1 tsp sambal oelek (or lazy chilli)

2 tbsp sweetener

1 bunch of spring onions, sliced diagonally in 1 inch slices

Sauté the onion in Fry Light over a low heat until translucent and soft. Add 200ml water, the soy sauce, sweetener, tamarind paste, garlic and sambal oelek and stir well. Place the basa fillets in the liquid and simmer gently until they are cooked through, some 7-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets, turning half way through to ensure the fish is coated in the mixture. 2-3 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the spring onions.

I served this with brown rice with a handful of frozen chopped vegetables added for the last couple of minutes of the cooking time; tenderstem broccoli and Do Chua Vietnamese pickles. I used a bit of a cheat's recipe for the pickles, as I made them up fresh rather than actually pickling them. Husband said it was very refreshing and went well with the fish. 

 

Do Chua

½ daikon or mooli, grated

1 large carrot, grated

knob of ginger, grated

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp sweetener

Mix all the ingredients together and serve. Any leftovers can be kept for several days in the fridge. 

 

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. 

 

Mulligatawny Soup made from Leftover Chilli Con Carne

Nice and quick, nice and comforting, nice and easy, nice and warming, nice and healthy. What more can you want on a miserable day? 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

1 cup leftover chilli con carne (syn free of course)

½ cup red lentils

2 onions

2 stems celery

2 tsp bouillon powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ cup cooked carrots, chopped

a few drops food colouring

a small handful chopped coriander leaves

1 red chilli (optional), finely chopped

Finely chop the onion and celery and onions and sauté in Fry Light until soft. Add the lentils and bouillon powder and enough water to make it a soup consistency. Boil rapidly for ten minutes. Turn the heat down, add the leftover chilli con carne and spices and simmer for another 15-20 minutes until everything is cooked through and the lentils are soft and mushy. Add the carrots and fresh coriander and heat through. Add a few drops of food colouring if the soup looks a little insipid. Serve topped with some chopped coriander. 

 

Zeytinyağlı Pırasa

This is a Turkish side dish of leeks and carrots with rice, and is very easy to make as well as a good way of ensuring you get some superfree with your meal. 

 

Serves 4

Syn Free on Extra Easy

4 leeks, thickly sliced

1 big onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

¼ cup rice

juice of half a lemon

1 tsp sweetener

salt and pepper

Sauté the onion in Fry Light for a few minutes, then add the carrots and continue frying for 3-4 minutes longer. Add the leeks and stir for a couple more minutes. Add 2/3 cup of water, the sweetener, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then add the rice and lemon juice. Cover and cook on a low heat until the rice is cooked.

Kuku

I am continuing my 'international week' with a tangy chicken stew from Kenya.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2 chicken breasts, each cut into 3 or 4 pieces

1 tsp ground ginger

100g mung beans

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2-3 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped

1 green chilli, seeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup rice

1 carrot, grated

1 courgette, grated

Boil the mung beans in plenty of salted water for 35 minutes, until tender, then mash. Cook the rice with the grated carrot and courgette for 10 minutes. Sauté the chicken pieces and onions in Fry Light for 10-15 minutes, then add the tomatoes, chilli, garlic, ginger and lemon juice. Add the mashed beans and enough water to make a thick sauce. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with the vegetable rice. 

 

Marmalade Soy Chicken with Vegetable Orzo

You can use almost any vegetables you like in with the orzo, just remember to cut them up finely. 

 

Serves 4

1 syn on Extra Easy

3-4 chicken breasts, depending on the size

2 tbsp orange marmalade

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

250g orzo

1 courgette, grated

handful green beans, chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

5-6 mushrooms, finely chopped

1-2 carrots, grated

Cut the chicken into mini fillets and marinade for several hours in the soy sauce and marmalade. Sauté the onion with the green beans until soft, add the carrots and mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes. Cook the orzo according to packet instructions. Mix the vegetables and orzo together and stir well. Grill the chicken mini fillets for 5-10 minutes until cooked through and browned. Serve on top of the vegetable orzo. 

 

Feta Cheese Pannacotta

When I first saw a recipe for a savoury cheese pannacotta, I really wasn't sure how I felt about that concept, but as I had some feta cheese (the original recipe used goat's cheese and was way more complicated), I thought I'd give it a go. I am all for new taste experiences. I am so glad I did, as it was delicious! The saltiness of the feta went really well with the lentils and vegetables. As soon as the pannacotta hits the hot lentils it starts to melt, so make sure you serve it immediately. You could also serve the whole dish cold as a salad. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A

100g feta cheese

1 tub fat free plain yogurt

1 sachet gelatine crystals

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

1 cup puy lentils

1 onion, chopped

1 leek, sliced

100g spinach

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (the finely chopped variety)

1 tbsp bouillon powder

Melt the cheese in the microwave or on the stove. Mix the gelatine with 100ml boiling water and add the hot cheese. Stir thoroughly. Gradually mix in the yogurt until really smooth and add the herbs. Pour mixture into two individual moulds and leave in the fridge to set for at least two hours.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion and leek in Fry Light for a few minutes, then add the lentils, mixed vegetables and bouillon powder with 3 cups of water. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are cooked to your liking. Add the spinach and stir until it has wilted. Serve the lentil and vegetable mix topped with the inverted pannacotta. 

 

Lime Prawn Stir Fry

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

300g cooked king prawns

1 small courgette, sliced

5-6 baby sweetcorn, sliced

1 small carrot, sliced

4-5 asparagus, sliced

1 onion, chopped

pkt rocket, watercress and spinach

1 tbsp soy sauce

juice of 2 limes

1 small chilli, chopped

1 tbsp sweetener

Sauté the onion in Fry Light for a few minutes, then add the carrot, asparagus, babycorn and courgette. Continue stir frying for a few more minutes, then add the soy sauce, lime juice, chilli and sweetener. Stir well, then add the rocket, watercress and spinach. Stir until the salad vegetables are just beginning to wilt. Serve immediately. 

 

Fish Fingers with Wasabi Pea Purée

Ever since seeing an advert last week, Husband has had a craving for fish fingers. I refuse to 'pay' the syn value for shop bought fish fingers, so I promised him I would make my own. Me being me, I couldn't just serve the usual fish fingers, peas and mash – I wanted to put my own original stamp on the recipe. Rather than just plain mushy peas, I added a few extra vegetables to ensure I got my one-third superfree, and to liven the pea purée up a little, I added wasabi paste. Husband loved it! 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the bread as your Healthy Extra B

2-3 frozen cod fillets

2 slices wholemeal bread from a 400g loaf

1 tsp dried dill

1 tsp celery powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

2 cups frozen peas

1 cup green beans, chopped

100g spinach

1 onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

6-8 mint leaves

1-2 tsp wasabi paste

1 carrot

1 courgette

4 tomatoes

Remove the fish fillets from the freezer – leave to thaw slightly for 30 minutes or so, then cut into fingers while still partially frozen.

Tear the bread slices in pieces and place in a food processor. Pule a few times until fine breadcrumbs. Add the dill, celery powder, garlic powder, pepper and salt, and mix well. Spread out on a large baking sheet and place in the oven for 5 minutes on 200°C until crisp and browned.

Dip the fish fingers in the beaten egg, then coat in the breadcrumbs. Bake at 210°C for around ten minutes or so until cooked through, depending on the thickness of the fish.

For the pea purée, boil the peas with the onion, celery, beans, spinach and mint leaves for around ten minutes. Briefly liquidise for a few seconds, and add wasabi paste to taste. 

 

Peel the carrot. Using a cheese slicer or vegetable peeler, thinly slice the carrots and courgette lengthways. Take one slice of each and roll up together, securing with a cocktail stick. Steam for 7-10 minutes. Carefully remove the stick before serving. 

Halve the tomatoes and grill.

Place a large spoonful of pea purée on each plate and top with the fish fingers. Place the vegetable rolls and tomatoes around the edges and serve. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Mustard Glazed Gammon

Serves 3

1½ syns on Extra Easy

500g gammon joint, all visible fat removed

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp demerera sugar

1 large sweet potato

3 carrots, peeled

3 parsnips, peeled

2 leeks, peeled

1 red onion, peeled

200g baby new potatoes

250ml sugar free appleade

Cut all the vegetables into same sized chunks and place in the bottom of a large oven dish. Poor in the appleade and spray the top of the vegetables with Fry Light. Place the gammon on top of the vegetables and spread the meat with mustard, then sprinkle the sugar on top. Bake in the oven at 200°C for an hour until the meat is cooked through. Slice the gammon and serve with the vegetables. 

 

Thai Beef Curry

Serves 2

1½ syn on Extra Easy

250g Beef, cubed

4-5 shallots, sliced

1 red pepper. chopped

small knob ginger, thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 Müllerlight coconut and vanilla yogurts

2 tbsp Thai red curry paste

stock

Fry the beef, shallots, pepper and ginger in Fry Light until the beef is sealed and the onion has softened a little. Add the carrots, squash and curry paste, with enough water to just cover the vegetables. Simmer until the carrots are cooked to your liking. To thicken the sauce, mash a few of the butternut squash pieces with a fork or potato masher. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before adding the yogurt, stirring well to incorporate.

Serve with rice.