Colcannon is comfort food for me and it’s also a quick and easy dish to make. We served ours with meat-free burgers and roast vegetables.

Title

Ingredients

• 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• ½ Savoy cabbage, cored and shredded
• 100g fat-free natural fromage frais
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for 12-15 minutes, adding the cabbage for the last 5 minutes to soften the leaves.
2. Drain and return to a low heat to dry off any excess moisture.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the fromage frais and mash until smooth. Season to taste and serve hot.

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Recipe from Slimming World

I love anything flavoured with cumin and these cumin scented falafels didn’t disappoint. It’s another vegetarian recipe and we’re serving it with sweet potato wedges and beans.

Cumin Scented Falafels

Serves 4
Syn free

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
• 2x 400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 2cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3 tbsp very finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1 small egg
• Salt
• Low calorie cooking spray
• Paprika and fat-free natural yogurt, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Place the onion, carrot, chickpeas, garlic, ginger, cumin, chilli powder and the ground and fresh coriander in a food processor.
2. Pulse and process for 1-2 minutes until blended but still fairly chunky in texture.
3. Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl. Lightly beat the egg and add to the mixture.
4. Season with salt and, using your fingers, mix thoroughly to combine. Cover and chill in the fridge for 6-8 hours to firm up and allow the flavours to develop.
5. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6.
6. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and spray lightly with low-calorie cooking spray.
7. Shape the chickpea mixture into 24 bite-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheet.
8. Spray lightly with low-calorie cooking spray and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and firm.
9. Serve warm, sprinkled with paprika and the yogurt alongside to dip into.

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Recipe from Slimming World

We had some vegetable burgers from Tesco and everyone loved them, except me because I didn’t want to use 9 syns on a veggie burger so I went without!
With this chunky bean burger recipe, I can have the same as everyone else for zero syns!

Chunky Bean Burgers with Cajun Wedges

Serves 4
Syn free

Ingredients

• 400g can haricot or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small onion or shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 small red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• Bunch of spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 4 large baking potatoes
• 2 tsp dried Cajun seasoning
• 6 tbsp fat-free natural Greek-style yogurt
• 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

Method

1. Place the beans, onion, garlic, chilli, red pepper and half the spring onions into a food processor and whizz to chop roughly.
2. Transfer to a bowl, season lightly and stir in the beaten egg.
3. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape into burgers.
4. Spray a baking tray with low-calorie cooking spray, place the burgers on the tray and chill for 20 minutes.
5. Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.
6. Cut the potatoes into wedges and toss with the Cajun seasoning, then arrange on a baking tray, spray lightly with low-calorie cooking spray and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden.
7. When the wedges have been cooking for about 10 minutes, put the burgers on the oven shelf below them and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.
8. Meanwhile, mix the yogurt, tomatoes and remaining spring onions in a bowl and season lightly.
9. Serve the bean burgers with the wedges, chunky sauce and your favourite salad.

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Recipe from Slimming World

Ella’s not a fan of anything chilli flavoured so we’ll have to make hers without the spices. Everyone else, however, loves chilli so we’ve all been looking forward to this baked couscous with vegetable chunky chilli 🙂

Baked Couscous with Vegetable Chunky Chilli

Serves 4
Syn free

Ingredients

• 225g pre-cooked couscous
• 4 medium eggs, beaten
• 225g fat-free natural fromage frais
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped chives
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large courgette
• 2 baby aubergines
• 150ml vegetable stock
• 400g can chopped tomatoes with garlic
• ½ – 1 tsp hot chilli powder
• Fresh chives to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.
2. Soak the couscous according to the directions on the packet, and then place in a mixing bowl.
3. Stir in the eggs, fromage frais, chives and plenty of seasoning. Mix well and transfer to a small non-stick baking tin lined with baking parchment.
4. Press down well and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until firm and lightly browned. Stand for 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Trim and roughly chop the courgette and aubergines and place in a saucepan with the stock.
6. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the tomatoes, chilli powder to taste and seasoning.
8. Bring to the boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes until thick and tender.
9. Cut the couscous into wedges and serve with the sauce, garnished with fresh chives and sprinkled with more ground black pepper if liked.

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Recipe from Slimming World

This Slimming World bean cassoulet is a lovely comforting dish for cold winter evenings.

Bean Cassoulet

Serves 4
1.5 syns per serving

Ingredients

• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 leek, trimmed and sliced
• 2 level tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp chopped oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 110ml red wine
• 110ml hot vegetable stock
• 4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
• 400g canned haricot beans, drained
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Spray a non-stick saucepan with a little low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and leek and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden.
3. Stir in the tomato purée, oregano, red wine, stock and tomatoes and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce the heat and season lightly.
5. Cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until reduced.
6. Add the soy sauce and cooked beans and continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and richly coloured.
7. Sprinkle the cassoulet with the parsley and serve with your favourite green veg.

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Recipe from Slimming World

We’re cutting down the amount of red meat we eat and making all our family meals vegetarian so we’re starting with this asparagus and mushroom pasta from Slimming World.

Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta

Serves 4
Syn free

Ingredients

• 500g asparagus spears, trimmed
• 500g dried tagliatelle or spaghetti or linguine
• 400g mushrooms, sliced if large
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 roasted red peppers in brine from a jar, drained and sliced

Method

1. Cut off the asparagus tips and set aside. Roughly chop the stalks and cook in a saucepan of boiling water over a high heat for 6 minutes or until tender.
   
2. Remove with a slotted spoon and put in a food processor with 150ml of the cooking liquid. Purée, season to taste and keep warm.
   
3. Top up the pan with boiling water and cook the pasta according to the pack instructions, adding the asparagus tips 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
   
4. Meanwhile, spray a large non-stick frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a high heat.
   
5. Add the mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes then reduce the heat to low, add the garlic and fry for a further 1 minute.
   
6. Drain the pasta and asparagus tips and return to the pan. Stir in the peppers, mushrooms and asparagus sauce and serve in shallow bowls.

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Recipe from Slimming World