Almond Junket

This Chinese dessert is also known as Almond Float, and is super easy to make, especially using Sainsbury's frozen mixed fruit (strawberries, mango, pineapple and peach) which is already cut in perfect sized chunks. You can of course use any fruit you like and cut it up yourself. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the milk as your Healthy Extra A

1 sachet gelatine crystals

300ml skimmed milk

a few drops almond essence

sweetener to taste

200g Sainsbury's frozen Fruit Topper, thawed

Mix the gelatine crystals with 100ml boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Gradually add the milk, almond essence and sweetener to taste. Place in a shallow container (I find the type of container that Chinese takeaways come in perfect for this) in the fridge and leave for at least two hours to set. When set, cut in cubes the same size as the fruit and mix it all together. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Oriental-Style Coleslaw with Chinese-Style Pork

As plans changed today, I was left with no food for this evening, so Joe came to my rescue again – this time in the form of Chinese-style pork. What to serve with it? Hmmm, what's in the fridge....?

This is what I came up with:

Serves 3

Syn Free on Extra Easy

½ red cabbage

1 small onion

2 carrots

small knob ginger

½ pineapple

80g edamame beans

juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp sweetener

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 Joe's Chinese-style pork steaks 

 

Finely slice the cabbage and onion. Peel and cut the carrots and ginger into julienne strips. Peel the pineapple and cut into matchstick sized sticks. Mix the cabbage, carrots, onion, ginger and pineapple with the beans. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sweetener and lime juice. Pour over the salad and mix well.

Meanwhile grill the pork steaks on medium high for 8-10 minutes until cooked through. Serve with the salad. 

 

Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Traditionally you would use a large piece of pork such a belly and cook this slowly in the oven to make it really sticky. This is a much simplified version using thin pork escalopes and sweetener rather than sugar, and is ready in a flash.

Serves 2

1 ½ Syns on Extra Easy

2 pork escalopes

½ tsp five spice powder

2 tbsp sweetener

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

1 tbsp Hoi Sin sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

pkt stir fried vegetables to serve

Mix together all the ingredients except the pork and the vegetables. Marinate the pork steaks for 3 hour or more. Drain the meat (reserve the marinade) and grill (or BBQ) on a very high heat for a few minutes each side until cooked through and nicely brown and sticky. Stir fry the vegetables, adding the reserved marinade. As the sauce has been in contact with raw meat, ensure it is cooked properly before serving.