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. 

 

Pea and Feta Salad

I made this salad to take on our picnic today, and Husband really enjoyed it. I served it with really thick cut Brunswick ham. I found the feta cheese went very well with the ham. I added in the mixed salad leaves from the original recipe, as the dish was lacking in superfree food. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy*

* Providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra A

Serves 4

300g frozen peas

4 slices bacon, all visible fat removed, grilled and chopped

100g feta cheese, cubed

1 small red onion, finely sliced

80g mixed salad leaves (watercress, spinach and rocket)

Cook the peas in salted water for a few minutes, then drain and rinse under running cold water. Mix all the ingredients together and serve with a dressing of your choice.

Beef Larb with Baby Sweetcorn and Spinach

Larb – the traditional dish of Laos – is one of my all time favourite comfort foods. It also has to be one of the quickest and easiest dinners ever. There are as many versions of this dish as there are cooks, so feel free to experiment with your own ingredients.

I used sambal oelek in this recipe for laziness, but you can substitute with a chopped fresh chilli or even chilli flakes. You may wish to vary the amount of chilli used to suit your own taste as we like our food spicy. I used a combination of iceberg lettuce and watercress to serve, but any lettuce or salad leaves will do. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

250g extra lean minced beef

150g baby sweetcorn

100g spinach

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sweetener

2 tbsp sambal oelek

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

shredded lettuce to serve

Sauté the beef with the baby sweetcorn until cooked through. Add the soy sauce, sweetener, vinegar and sambal oelek. Stir well to mix, then add the spinach. Simmer gently until the spinach has wilted. Serve over shredded lettuce. 

 

Green Salad Filled Egg Roll

Thanks to my friend Reiko for the inspiration for this dish.

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

6 eggs

4 spring onions

80g spinach

1 green pepper, roasted and skinned, then sliced

2 tbsp lentil, pea and beans shoots

Watercress or other salad to serve

Whisk the eggs until slightly fluffy. Chop the spring onions and add to the eggs. Cook the eggs like you would a pancake, in two separate pans. When cooked, transfer to two plates, and fill with spinach, pepper and sprouting beans. Roll up like a pancake and serve with the watercress. 

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

Potato Stack

Having got some new food presentation rings today, I was eager to try them out, so decided to create a tian, or layered, potato dish. 

 

Serves 2

Syn Free on Extra Easy

2-3 potatoes, peeled

1 red pepper

100g (ca) spinach leaves

Cut the pepper in half lengthways. Using a cook's torch, char the skin all over and immediately place the pepper halves in a sealed plastic bag. Leave until cool, by which time the skin should scrape off easily under running water. To make a good fit, place the pepper on the work top (it should be fairly pliable now that it is skinless) and using the presentation ring as a cutter, create a piece the same size as the ring.

Cut the potato in very thin slices using a mandolin. Place the food presentation rings on an oven-proof baking sheet, and put a layer of potato slices in the bottom, then the pepper. Add a layer of spinach leaves, then top with a layer of potato slices. Spray the top with Fry Light and bake at 220°C for 20-30 minutes until browned on top and cooked through. Place a tian on each plate, then remove the rings.

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. 

 

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.