Minestrone soup is one of my favourites. The canned versions are quite low in syns if you need lunch in a hurry but I prefer this Slimming World homemade version. It’s syn free and so tasty.
I’ve not put it in this recipe but I think next time we make it, we’ll add some smoked bacon 🙂

Minestrone Soup

Syn free

Ingredients

• 100g dried orecchiette or conchiglie pasta – If you don’t have this type of pasta, any shaped pasta will do.
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and diced
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• ½ small pack fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 500g passata
• 400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• Chopped fresh basil, to serve

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions, then drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, spray a large non-stick saucepan or casserole pan with low-calorie cooking spray and put it over a medium heat. Add the leek, red onion, carrot, celery and red peppers, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary, bay leaves and oregano and cook for 5 minutes more.
3. Crumble in the stock cubes and add the tomato purée, passata and 500ml hot water, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, still covered.
4. Stir in the beans and pasta and return to the boil. Discard the bay leaves, season to taste and scatter over the basil to serve.

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This Szechuan beef recipe has chillis and chilli sauce in it but I think we’re going to leave them out or not add as much because Ella doesn’t like anything spicy.

Szechuan Beef

1.5 syns per serving
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g of lean rump, sirloin or fillet steak, visible fat removed
• 1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 level tsp cornflour
• 2½ cm piece fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 fresh chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• A good pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small red chilli, deseeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced

Method

1. Trim off any fat on the steak and slice the meat thinly.
2. Mix the soy sauce, water, vinegar, salt, cornflour and ginger together in a bowl.
3. Add the strips of steak and turn them in the marinade. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator or a cool place for 30 minutes.
4. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or a deep frying pan, and stir in the garlic, chilli and Chinese five-spice powder. Cook for 1 minute, then add the marinated beef.
5. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until the beef is brown outside but slightly pink and juicy inside. Remove and keep warm.
6. Add the peppers and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then return the steak and any remaining marinade to the wok, together with the chilli sauce. Stir-fry briskly over a medium heat for 1 minute.
7. Season with plenty of black pepper and scatter the chilli and spring onion over the top. Serve immediately.

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No Chinese Fakeaway would be complete without special egg fried rice! The great thing about this special egg fried rice recipe is that you can add any vegetables you’d like and even some prawns.

I have to say, doing these recipe posts is making me very hungry and I’m really looking forward to my Slimming World Hunters Chicken tonight.
It’s from Iceland and it’s the first time I’ve tried it.
We usually cook all our meals from scratch but we have some pigs in blankets to use up after I made a mistake and Christmas and ordered about 50 of them so everyone else is having those and I’m sticking to plan and having syn free hunters chicken with pasta.

Special Egg Fried Rice

Syn Free
Serves 4

Ingredients

• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 350g cooked and cooled long-grain or jasmine/Thai fragrant rice
• 200g frozen peas
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce/tamari
• 400g fresh bean sprouts, rinsed
• 6 spring onions, very finely sliced

Method

1. Spray a wok or large frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat. When it is almost at smoking point, add the cooked rice and stir-fry for about 3 minutes.
2. Add the peas, stir-fry for 5 minutes and season well. Add the beaten eggs and stir-fry for another minute.
3. Stir in the soy sauce, bean sprouts and most of the spring onion and cook for 2 minutes or until the eggs have set.
4. Scatter over the remaining spring onions to serve.

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Slimming World Nacho Style Feast

Slimming World Baked Chicken Risotto

Slimming World Banana Bread

Slimming World BBQ Gammon

Slimming World Sticky 5 Spice Gammon

We’re going to be having a Slimming World Chinese Fakeaway night at the weekend so I thought I’d share the recipes with you.
Our first recipe is for Char Sui Pork Noodles.

Char Sui Pork Noodles

Syn Free
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 5 large garlic cloves
• 30g fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 level tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 400g lean pork loin, visible fat removed, thinly sliced
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tsp paprika
• ½ tbsp rice vinegar
• 250g dried medium egg noodles
• 600g mixed stir-fry vegetables

Method

1. Put the garlic and ginger in a small food processor and blend until fairly smooth.
2. Put one-third of the paste in a wide bowl, add the five-spice and 2 tbsp soy sauce and mix well.
3. Add the pork, stir to coat well and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over medium heat.
5. Add the remaining ginger and garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds.
6. Add the stock cube, tomato purée, paprika and 300ml boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add the vinegar and remaining soy sauce and bring to a boil.
8. Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions and drain well.
9. Spray a non-stick wok or large frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat. Add the pork, fry for 4-5 minutes, or until cooked through, and transfer to a plate.
10. Spray the wok with more low-calorie cooking spray, add the vegetables and a splash of water and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
11. Return the pork to the pan, add the noodles, sauce and a little water and bring to a simmer. Serve piping hot.

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Recipe from Slimming World

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Slimming World Nacho Style Feast

Slimming World Baked Chicken Risotto

Slimming World Banana Bread

Slimming World BBQ Gammon

Slimming World Sticky 5 Spice Gammon

We decided to have our curried veggie burger without the burger bun and served it with Slimming World chips and a side salad.
Not everyone enjoyed it (KayCee and Ella!) but that was ok because it meant there was some leftover for my lunch the next day!

This recipe is great for vegans. You can learn more about the benefits of not eating meat in essays on vegan diet. I hope that over time, more people will begin to devote time to a healthy diet. This will prevent many diseases.

Curried Veggie Burger with Chips

Serves 4
1.5 syns per serving

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• ½ red pepper
• 1-2 tsp mild curry powder
• 2 x 400g can of butter beans, drained
• 110g sweetcorn kernels, drained
• 60g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1 medium egg, beaten (or vegan egg substitute)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 900g Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes
• Frylight
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C Fan/Gas Mark 9.
2. Peel and finely chop the onion.
3. Peel and coarsely grate the carrot
4. Deseed and finely chop the pepper
5. Place onion, carrot and peppers in a pan with the curry powder and 150ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain well.
6. Mash the beans with a fork or blend in a food processor until smooth.
7. Stir in the sweetcorn, vegetables, breadcrumbs, egg and seasoning. Shape into 8 burgers, cover and chill until required.
8. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm thick chips.
9. Place in a pan of lightly salted boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside for 10 minutes to dry.
10. Return the chips to the pan, cover and shake to ”rough up” the edges – this helps make them crisp.
11. Spray a baking tray with Frylight, add the chips, spray again and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden.
12. Arrange the burgers on a foil-lined grill rack, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and place under a medium/hot grill for approximately 5 minutes on each side until golden.
13. Share the chips and burgers between 4 plates. Sprinkle with coriander to serve.

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My Nan-Nan used to make THE best stew when I was younger. I always looked forward to having her homemade stew followed by homemade lemon drizzle cake.
I can’t promise you lemon drizzle cake but this recipe for chunky Winter vegetable stew is very tasty, filling and syn free 🙂

Chunky Winter Vegetable Stew

Serves 4
Syn free

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 425ml vegetable stock
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 turnips, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 275g parsnips, sliced
• 450g potatoes, peeled & chopped
• 75g red lentils
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 225g mushrooms, quartered
• 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp freshly chopped basil
• 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp freshly chopped oregano

Method

1. Place the onion and half of the stock into a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining stock, garlic, turnip, carrots, parsnips and potatoes. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Place back on the heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and lentils are cooked to the desired consistency. Serve immediately.

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