Whilst it’s an ideal veggie dish, it’s also lovely served with some roasted chicken thighs on the side (which I roasted in a lemony, garlicky, herby marinade) or you can add 200g of lean beef mince to the sauce (fry this off first before you start frying the garlic for the sauce) if you want to bulk it out further. Just remember to tweak the points/calories to suit. Best of all, this dish is quick and easy to prepare and requires minimal chopping!

WW POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4 – per serving = 5 points or 182 cals, 11.6g protein, 7.8g fat, 28g carbs

INGREDIENTS

2 large aubergines, halved

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp each oregano and garlic powder

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Pinch of chilli flakes

400g tin of chopped tomatoes (Mutti are my fav)

1 tsp oregano

½ tsp each white sugar and balsamic vinegar

200g reduced fat feta

Handful of fresh basil, shredded

METHOD

1. Pre heat the oven to 180c.
2. Take each aubergine half and using a sharp knife, lightly score a ‘criss cross’ pattern into the surface. Pop face up in a baking tray and brush with olive. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over 1 tsp oregano and garlic powder. Pop into the oven, uncovered for 45 minutes until the aubergine is soft and juicy.
3. Meanwhile take a small pan, spray with 1kal, heat to medium and gently fry the garlic for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, half a can of water, a further teaspoon of oregano, a pinch of chilli flakes as well as the sugar and balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper and simmer on a medium heat for 20-25 minutes until the sauce is reduced and has started to thicken. Remove from the heat.
4. Once the aubergine is cooked, remove the baking dish from the oven and pour over the reduced tomato sauce. Crumble over the feta and then pop back in the oven for 15 minutes to melt.
5. Remove from the oven and finish with a good sprinkle of fresh basil.

Enjoy!

As always, if you like my recipes. Don’t forget my cookbook ‘Slimming Kitchen Secrets’ is available now!

The post Feta Baked Aubergine first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

As soon as I tasted it, I knew that I had been missing out! After this little revelation, I set out to use it in more dishes where I could, and in place of meat if possible, and that’s where this dish was born. You can serve this stew on its own or, if you want to bulk it out further, I also like to serve it with ready-made couscous, which just needs boiling water added to it. Remember to add the extra calories if you add to the dish.

Tip – If you’d like to make this recipe veggie, replace the normal feta with vegetarian feta cheese.

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4 – per serving = 4 points or 147 cals, 7.4g fat, 14.6g carbs, 6.0g protein

INGREDIENTS

2 large aubergines (around 400g), cut into large chunks

1 red onion, peeled and sliced

2 peppers, deseeded and sliced

1 courgette, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp each of tomato puree and red wine vinegar

2 tbsp harissa paste

½ tbsp honey

1 vegetable stock cube made up with 400ml water

60g feta, crumbled (if vegetarian, use vegetarian feta)

10g each fresh mint and fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 lemon

Low calorie cooking spray

METHOD

1. Take a large saucepan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and fry the aubergine in batches for 2–3 minutes per batch until it is nicely browned on all sides. Remove the aubergine from the pan and pop to one side on a plate.
2. Next, add the onion, peppers, courgette and cumin to the pan and spray with the low-calorie cooking spray. Fry for 3–4 minutes until the onion is soft and then add the aubergine back into the pan.
3. In a jug, mix together the tomato purée, red wine vinegar, harissa paste, honey and vegetable stock. Stir until well combined and then pour into the pan over the veggies.
4. Add a lid and simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and then simmer uncovered for a further 5 minutes (this will reduce the stock down further so the dish is not watery). The lovely flavoured stock should start absorbing nicely into the veggies.
5. Remove from the heat and add half the feta, mint and parsley. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and stir.
6. To serve, dish up and then finish with a sprinkle of the reserved feta, mint, parsley and lemon juice

The post Moroccan Aubergine Stew first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

The first time I tested this recipe I used a ciabatta and it wasn’t my favourite. Since then I’ve tested a few other bread alternatives and my favourites are a good old thin (for 3sp) or an Aldi Brioche Bun (5sp). Use which ever bread/bun you fancy or can get your hands on but be careful to check the points before it goes on your plate. The 9sp included in the recipe title includes use of a Warburton’s thin.

I pop the dressed lettuce into the bun however you could serve this on the side and add some other salad ingredients (such as tomato, cucumber, pepper etc) to bulk it out.

The sauce has a little kick to it but its not too spicy. If you don’t like heat, just omit the crushed chillies.

Meatball Marinara Sub

Serves 4 = 9sp per serving (for the meatballs, salad and cheese – the only points you need to add onto this is for the bread of your choice – I prefer a thin for 3sp which makes the total 9sp)

Ingredients

For the meatballs – 3sp per portion

1 x 300g pack of Quorn Swedish Style Meatballs, frozen (if you prefer to use meat, substitute with up to 140g beef meatballs per person for the same points or turkey meatballs for 0sp)

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

½ tsp each dried oregano, basil and crushed chillies

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

To accompany

1 red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced

40g reduced fat mature cheddar, grated (1sp per 10g serving)

Buns of your choice (add the extra SP’s)

For the salad – dressing is 2sp per serving

½ medium avocado (around 75g flesh), stone removed and flesh removed from skin

1 tbsp light crème fraiche

15g parmesan

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Crunchy lettuce leaf of your choice (I use romaine or iceberg), washed and roughly shredded

Method

Spray a large saucepan with 1kal, add the onion and fry on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes until the onions have started to soften (add a little water if the pan gets dry). Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Next add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, crushed chillies, sugar and salt and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add a lid and bubble for 10 minutes.

Remove the sauce from the heat and blend until smooth. Add the meatballs along with 300ml of water, stir and pop the lid back on. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for 18-20 minutes (until they are piping hot and thoroughly cooked through).

Whilst the meatballs are simmering make the salad dressing. Pop all of the ingredients except the lettuce in a blender and blitz until smooth. Add a little water to loosen the dressing to your desired consistency. Toss the dressing through the lettuce and pop into the fridge until you are ready to plate up.

To assemble, take your bun of choice, pop a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the bun and top with meatballs. Add a little more sauce, cheese, a few slices of red onion and a spoonful of the crunchy lettuce.

Enjoy!

The post Meatball Marinara Sub – 9sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

Serves 4 = 2sp per serving

Ingredients

2 punnets of salad tomatoes, halved (around 12 large salad tomatoes)

4 cloves of garlic, skins on and lightly crushed

1 large onion,  peeled and finely sliced

1/2 jar of roasted peppers, roughly chopped

2 tsp paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 vegetable stock cube

4 tbsp elmlea single cream

Handful of fresh basil, roughly torn

2 tbsp fresh parmesan, grated finely

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

Pop the tomatoes, cut side down into a large roasting tray, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and scatter the garlic cloves into the tray. Roast uncovered in the oven for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, take a large sauce pan, heat to medium and spray with 1kal. Fry the onion until it starts to soften (add a little water if the pan gets a little dry), then add the sliced peppers, paprika, salt and cayenne pepper. Fry for another few minutes and then add the vegetable stock cube with 600ml boiling water.

Remove the roasting tray from the oven and add the tomatoes to the pan. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin, discard the skin and add to the garlic and any juices left in the baking tray into the pan. Bring the soup to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from the heat.

Blend (using either a food processor or stick blender) and then add the elmlea and parmesan. Stir to combine and then add the basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

The post Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup – 2sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

The post Truffled Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pan Fried Thyme Chicken – 11sp  first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Tip: If you don’t have any leftover sweet potato, you can bake one just for the recipe. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan). Rinse a sweet potato in cold water, pierce with a fork, pop on a baking sheet and bake for 30–40minutes until the potato is soft when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven and let it cool before you scoop out the inside to mash up.

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 2 – per serving = 1 point or 195 cals, 7.7g fat, 19.6g carbs, 12.3g protein

Ingredients

150g cooked sweet potato, mashed

40g tinned sweetcorn, drained (or 40g corn, sliced from the cob)

2 spring onions, finely chopped (reserve a few for dressing)

1/4 tsp paprika

Sprinkle of chilli flakes

Handful of coriander, finely chopped

3 medium eggs – 1 beaten and 2 for poaching

1 tbsp plain flour

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Handful of salad leaves

Balsamic glaze or sriracha

Low-calorie cooking spray

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Put the mashed sweet potato, sweetcorn, spring onion, paprika, chilli flakes ,coriander and 1 beaten egg in a large bowl. Mix until the ingredients are well combined and then add the flour, season and mix a little more again until combined.
2. Take a large frying pan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and bring to a medium heat. Take a quarter of the fritter mixture, add to one corner of the pan and flatten into a rounded patty (about 1cm thick). Repeat with the rest of the mixture, so you have four fritters in the pan in total.
3. Fry for 3–4 minutes and then carefully turn over each fritter, frying for another 3–4 minutes on the other side. The fritters should take on a nice golden colour.
4. While the fritters are cooking, poach your eggs in boiling water (with a little white wine vinegar added) for 2½ minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and pop onto a little kitchen paper to soak up any excess liquid.
5. To serve, put some salad leaves onto two plates, top with two fritters, and then add the poached eggs. Finish with either a splash of balsamic glaze or Sriracha chilli sauce and the reserved spring onions, then pop the egg yolks so they ooze all over the fritters.

The post Sweet Potato and Sweetcorn Fritters with Poached Egg first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

I got my beetroot houmous from Sainsbury’s but you can get something similar in most other supermarkets. If you are really struggling to get it, instead, spread the goats cheese on top of the spinach and then add the cubed beetroot.

Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Blinis

Makes 15 = 1sp each )(flex)

Ingredients

15 cocktail blinis

15 spinach leaves

70g roasted beetroot houmous

50g cooked beetroot, chopped into small cubes (I got this in a pack of 4 in Aldi)

50g soft goats cheese, crumbled into pieces

Method

Pre heat the oven to 190c. Pop the blinis on a baking tray and cook for 4 minutes.

While they are cooking, get all the other ingredients ready.

To assemble, pop a little houmous on the blini and then the spinach leaf (to stick it down), add a little more houmous, a few cubes of beetroot and a crumbling of goats cheese. Finish with a twist of salt and black pepper and drizzle over a little balsamic glaze.

Enjoy!

The post Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Blinis – 1sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

That evening we headed to a lovely cottage in the Peak District and some friends made us the most delightful celeriac mash, what a coincidence I thought! I loved the flavour and texture so I was even more set on experimenting with it in the weeks to come. On returning home and heading to Aldi for a ‘big shop’, I was pleasantly surprised to find these bulbous looking vegetables stocked in abundance so, I picked one up and thought I would start my experimentation with a soup.

Celeriac is actually a brilliant option for a low smart points soup as it’s a huge chunky vegetable so it really bulks out the pan and helps to create lots of soup portions for such a low points value. The taste is delicious too with a subtle celery like flavour. The addition of peppery kale and warming cumin and coriander also really bring this easy soup alive.

Celeriac, Kale and Apple Soup – 1sp

Serves 6 = 1sp per serving (flex)

Ingredients

1 white onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celeriac, peeled and chopped into ½ inch chunks

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into rough chunks

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 vegetable stock cube made up with 1.5 litres boiling water

Bag of kale, leaves removed from hard stems

3 tsp each coriander and cumin seeds

2 tsp lurpack lightest

5 tbsp lighted crème fraiche (I used Sainsbury’s Be Good to Yourself as it’s the lowest one I can find)

Salt, black pepper and white pepper to taste

Method

Fill the kettle and pop on to boil.

Take a large saucepan, spray with 1kal and add the onion. Fry for 3-4 minutes until it starts to soften (add a little water if the pan starts getting dry) then add the celeriac, garlic and apple and fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the celeriac is nice and soft. Add the kale leaves and submerge in the soup mixture (add up to 200ml extra boiling water if the kale is not totally covered). Simmer for another 5 minutes and then blend using either a food processor or stick blender (I used a big blender and did it in batches).

Pop the soup back into the sauce pan and keep on a low heat.

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a small dry frying pan (for 2 minutes until you can smell the lovely toasted scent coming off the seeds) then pop into a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder. Add most of the powder to the soup (I keep a little to sprinkle on top).

Add the butter and 4 tbsps of the crème fraiche to the soup, stir through so it is smooth and creamy and season with salt, black pepper and white pepper to taste.

Serve with a ½ tsp crème fraiche swirled through the soup and a sprinkle of the cumin/coriander mix.

Enjoy!

The post Celeriac, Kale and Apple Soup – 1sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

The result was this recipe which I have to say hit the spot. The coconut milk adds a lovely creamy flavour whilst the thyme adds just that hint of herbiness. If you can’t get a hold of the fresh thyme, feel free to leave this out. Just add a little extra fresh coriander at the end!

Spiced Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup  – 4sp

Makes 4 portions = 4sp per portion (Flex)

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into rough medium sized cubes

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Handful of fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped (optional)

1 tbsp curry powder

½ tsp turmeric

1 vegetable stock cube (made up with 800ml boiling water)

1 x 400ml tin lighter coconut milk

Sprinkle of crushed chillies

Handful of fresh coriander

4 tbsp light greek yohurt

Method

Take a large saucepan, spray with 1kal and add the onion. Fry for 4-5 minutes until its starts to soften (add a little water to stop the pan getting dry). Then add the garlic, ginger, fresh thyme leaves, curry powder and turmeric and fry for another 3-4 minutes until the onions are totally softened.

Next add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for around 20 minutes (or until the squash is totally softened). Remove from the heat and pop into a food processor or blitz with a stick blender.  Once smooth, add back to the pan and add the coconut milk, stir and again bring to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper and crushed chillies to taste.

Serve with a final sprinkle of crushed chillis, sprinkle of fresh coriander and 1 tbsp light yoghurt swirled through per person.

Enjoy!

The post Spiced Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup  – 4sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Because this serves 4, the hubbie and I also had this for lunch the next day at work and instead of fish, I added 100g of roasted chicken, shredded before I warmed it up. Perfection!

If you like your curries hot, use a nice hot chilli such as a scotch bonnet. If not and you like a medium heat, go for a regular red chilli. If you are more of a mellow fellow, omit the chilli and just use the chilli flakes.

The ingredients list here might look long but I assure you, the majority of it will already be found in our store cupboard (especially if you’ve made some of my other recipes!!).

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4 – per serving = 3 points or 414 cals, 15.3g fat, 35.3g carbs, 33.7g protein

Ingredients

For the curry

1 tbsp each cumin seeds and coriander seeds

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2-3cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 tbsp curry powder (roasted curry powder if you have it, if not normal is fine)

1 tsp each turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt

½ tsp each cinnamon and chilli flakes

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

200g dried red lentils

1 vegetable stock cube made up with 1 litre of boiling water

200ml light coconut milk

200g fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 lemon

15g fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Low calorie cooking spray

Salt and black pepper

For the fish

1 ½ tsp light butter

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

4 x 90g seabass fillets (with skin), raw

Method

1. Take a large saucepan, pop on the heat and dry toast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds for a minute or two until you can smell the gorgeous aromas coming off them. Pop them in a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder. Leave to one side.
2. Spray the now empty pan with low-calorie cooking spray, add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for 5–6 minutes until the onion is soft, adding a little water if the pan gets too dry. Next, add the crushed cumin and coriander seeds, the curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, cinnamon and chilli flakes. Fry for another minute and then add the tomatoes, lentils and vegetable stock.
3. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are cooked and nice and soft, stirring throughout (otherwise the lentils tend to stick). Add a splash of water if required to stop the sauce dryingout.
4. Once reduced and thickened a little, pour in the coconut milk, add the spinach and keep simmering until the spinach is wilted. Season to taste and then keep the sauce warm while you cook the fish.
5. For the fish, take a small bowl and mix together the butter, turmeric, garlic and coriander until well combined and soft. Rub the mix over the flesh side of your fish fillets (not on the skin side). Season the fish with salt and pepper.
6. Take a large frying pan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and bring to a medium heat. Add the fish to the pan, skin-side down, and fry for 4–5 minutes. Turn over and cook for another few minutes until cooked through or to your liking. This should give you a nice crispy skin and lovely, tender fish flesh.
7. To finish the curry, squeeze over the juice of half the lemon, sprinkle in the coriander and stir. Top with the fish and serve with a small slice of lemon

The post Coconut Lentil Curry with Seabass first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.