Chili Crab Pasta

Hubby called me at work yesterday and said he had a craving for something he must have seen on the TV or in a magazine.  Not something we had ever tried before, but it turned out I already had the ingredients in the cupboard so we thought we would give it a go.

Quick, easy and fresh with a nice little kick and pretty good on the pro point scale.

Chili Crab Pasta

Serves 2, 13 pro points each approx.

2 cans crab meat/chunks in brine

140g pasta, we had spaghetti to hand

1 tbsp oil

1 fresh red chili chopped - or more if you desire

1 small handful of parsley chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 spring onions, sliced on the slant

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Boil up the pasta and drain, In a frying pan heat up the oil and add the garlic and chili and spring onions, cook for a minute or two.  Add the crab and parsley and heat through, Add the pasta, zest the lemon over the top and mix well. Serve.

Coq au Vin

Another recipe gleaned from Weight Watcher website and another one that works so well you would not know it was reduced calorie,  Again I have tinkered with the quantities to suit.

Coq au Vin

Serves 2, 11 pro points per serving

1 cal spray

8 shallots, halved

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

300g chicken thigh, skinless

125ml white wine

150ml stock

100g closed cup mushrooms, halved

1 bay leaf

2 tsp cornflour

S&P

Heat a large pan and squirt with 1 cal spray.  Add the shallots and garlic, sauté for 5 mins until golden and caramelised on the edges.  Push them to one side.

Add the chicken and seal them quickly.  Pour in the wine and bubble it up, add the stock, mushrooms and bay.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Make up the cornflour with a little water and then add it to the pan, increase the heat and stir until thickened. Check the seasoning and serve.

So simple, but with great results, quantities can easily be scaled up.

Banana Pancakes

This is just such a simple recipe that packs in taste and is low on calories. Picked up from Pinterest it was one I had to try because I could not believe it would be any good, I was so wrong.

Banana Pancakes

Makes 12 small pancakes approx at 4 pro points total!

1 soft banana
2 eggs

1 cal spray

Mash the banana, beat in the eggs.

Heat a frying pan and squirt in the 1 cal spray.

Use a desert spoon full of batter and drop into the pan.

Fry for a minute each side and serve!

The little beauties are lovely, they have the texture of fluffy pancakes or drop scones without the flour and are sweet enough not to have any added sugar, which is just as well as they are addictive.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Brown Rice

Ok, this is not the prettiest dish in the world, but it packs a huge comfort hit in a stodge type way.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Brown Rice

Serves 2 very generously 17 Pro points per serving

140g brown rice, dry weight

300g chicken breast - 2 x medium

200ml chicken stock

375ml skimmed milk, split into 200/175

1 onion chopped

200g mushrooms, chopped

3 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Take the chicken stock and 200ml of milk, heat in a saucepan. In a separate bowl whisk the remainder of the milk and flour and gently pour into the heated milk and stock, keep whisking until thickened. Then remove from heat.

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with 1 cal spray. Add the chopped onion, mushrooms, rice and seasoning, lay on the chicken breasts and pour over the milk, stock, flour mix and stir. Cook on high for 4 hours (6 hours for medium).

This was a try it and see what happens dish and it turned out really well, next time I would definitely reduce the amount of rice used as it was just too much for two, it does need more salt seasoning after cooked, but it was easy and comforting dish. The chicken was very tender and the rice soft.