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.

Spiced Turkey Meatballs

This is one of the most tasty and versatile turkey mince recipes I have been able to find so far.  We are having a variation on this pretty much every week at the moment.  The original recipe is from the Weight Watchers website and I have altered it a bit to suit.

Spiced Turkey Meatballs

Serves 4 at 4 PP each or serves 2 at 9 PP each, depending on how greedy you are feeling!

500g turkey mince

2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Mix well all ingredients together and form into balls.

Lay them out on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 200oc for 15-20 minutes.

That's it!

Serving suggestions:

I have served these on a bed of brown rice with lightly pan fried slices of courgette with lemon juice over.
I have made a vegetable sauce of chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, red peppers and a drop of balsamic vinegar all bubbled together and served over the meatballs on a bed of pasta.
With cous-cous or bulgar wheat and stir fried veg the options are endless!

You really will not regret trying this little recipe.

Marmalade Mustard Chicken on Parsnip Mash

This quick and easy recipe is from Weight Watchers and was sweet, sticky and very tasty.

Marmalade & Mustard Chicken with Parsnip Mash

Serves 2 10 pro points each

2 x 150g chicken breast, no skin

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp reduced sugar marmalade

4 large parsnips, peeled and cut into small cubes

2 tbsp low fat fromage frais

Fresh parsley, chopped

Set the parsnips on to boil till soft.

Line a grill pan with foil and place the chicken breasts face down and grill for 10 minutes.

In the meantime mix the mustard and marmalade and at the end of 10 mins turn over the chicken breasts and cover with the mixture, pop back into the grill for a further 10 mins or until the chicken is cooked.

Drain the parsnips and mash, stir in the fromage frais and 1 tbsp of chopped parsley, S&P.

Serve the chicken on a bed of parsnip with a side salad of rocket leaves to take the edge off the sweetness if required.

Low Fat Baked Gnocchi

A quick post about tonight's dinner. Trying to lose the post festive fat but still wanting to feel a bit naughty I came up with this veg packed low fat dish.

Low Fat Baked Gnocchi

Serves 2 WW pro points per serving 14

400g pack gnocchi

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 red pepper chopped

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 bag spinach

1 ball half fat mozzarella

Fresh basil

Oil

Heat a little oil on a pan and fry the onion and garlic, add the pepper and tomatoes, stir in so e ripped up basil leaves and bubble up for a few minutes. Add the gnocchi and continue cooking for a few mins.

In the meantime put the spinach in another pan, pour over boiling water and heat for a minute. Drain, pour over cold water and squeeze the remaining liquid out.

Line an ovenproof dish with the spinach, tip over the gnocchi tomato mix, rip up the mozzarella and place on top with some more basil leaves. Pop into an oven at 180oc for 15 mins.

A very satisfying, quick dish which you can pack full of even more veg should you want.