POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4 – per serving = 13 points or 509 cals, 9.4g fat, 72.7g carbs, 36.7g protein

Ingredients

600g white fish, diced into nice big chunks

2 limes

1 large onion (white or red), peeled and finely sliced

2 peppers, deseeded and sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

30g fresh coriander (stalks and leaves separated and both roughly chopped)

1 tbsp each ground cumin and paprika

½ tsp each Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes, salt and sugar

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

400ml light coconut milk

1 fish stock cube made up with 400ml boiling water

280g basmati rice (dry weight)

Low calorie cooking spray

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Pop the fish into a large bowl, squeeze over the juice of 1 lime, season with salt and pepper and then pop in the fridge to marinate while you make the sauce for the stew.
2. Take a large saucepan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray, and then fry the onion and peppers on a medium heat for 5–6 minutes until the onion starts to soften.
3. Add the garlic and the chopped coriander stalks and fry for another minute (add a little water to the pan if it gets too dry).
4. Add the cumin, paprika, Cajun, cayenne, chilli, salt and sugar, stir, and fry for another minute. Then add the tomatoes, coconut milk and fish stock. Stir and then simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Pop the rice on to cook while the stew is bubbling away.
6. After 15 minutes, add the fish to the pan and simmer for another 12–15 minutes (or until the fish is cooked through). Remove from the heat and finally add the juice of another lime and the chopped coriander leaves. Serve the stew with the fluffy white rice.

The post Brazilian Fish Stew first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Ingredients

Serves 2 = 13sp each (Flex)

1 onion, finely chopped

2 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped

100ml white wine

100g Arborio rice

700ml vegetable stock (made with 1/2 stock cube)

4 spring onions, sliced

80g frozen garden peas

Large handful of spinach, shredded

120g smoked mackerel, skin removed and flaked (I used Aldi’s)

20g parmesan

Seasoning to taste

Squeeze of fresh lemon

Method

In a large saucepan fry the onion in 1kal until nice and soft (6-7 minutes). Add the garlic and fry for a few more minutes.

Add the rice and wine, stir and simmer for a minute or two and then add half of the vegetable stock and leave to simmer for around 15 minutes adding a little stock at a time when the rice starts absorb the stock. Stir regularly to ensure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Next, add the spring onions, spinach and peas, cook for a further five minutes, again adding a little stock at a time until it is all used up (I used all of it but it varies depending on the heat of your hob).

Next flake in the mackerel, give a good stir and cook for a further five minutes (or until the rice is cooked). Remove from the heat, add the parmesan and a good squeeze of lemon, season to taste and give another stir.

Serve piled high in a nice bowl and enjoy!!

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I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed this one. Every mouthful was packed with flavour and it felt like a real treat. This really is the perfect dinner party dish as it feels a bit fancy but it’s quite cheap to make and fills you up nicely! If you want to lower the points a bit further simply omit the chorizo, this will take the dish down to 9sp per person.

Minted Pea Risotto with Seabass and Asparagus

Ingredients

Serves 2 = 10sp per person (Flex)

For the risotto

½ tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

100g arborio rice

½ chicken stock cube

30g chorizo, roughly chopped

100ml white wine

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tbsp fresh parmesan

Juice of ½ lemon

For the pea puree

80g frozen garden peas

Handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped

Couple of  fresh mint leaves, roughlt chopped

1 tbsp reduced fat crème fraiche

Salt

Pepper

Zest of 1 lemon

Other

2 x 90g seabass fillet (or any white fish), seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon

Pack of asparagus, woody ends removed

Method

Begin by making the base risotto. Heat the oil in a large non stick saucepan and once hot, cook the onion, garlic and chorizo for 3-4 minutes, then add the rice and fry for 2 minutes on a medium heat, allowing the rice to toast into the hot oil. I don’t usually use much oil in my cooking however in risotto I think it’s essential to ensure you get the right texture for the rice. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon.

Pour the wine over the rice and continue to cook for a further minute to allow the alcohol to evaporate.

Make up the stock with 500ml of boiling water and the stock cube. Add a couple of ladles of stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook and stir until all the stock is absorbed.

At this point keep an eye on the pan as you need to keep stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure nothing sticks to it. Pour in the rest of the stock a little at a time, cooking until each addition is absorbed.

You will know the rice is cooked when all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked but still has a slight bite. This takes around 20 minutes (and be careful, you may not need all the stock).

While the rice is cooking you can get it with making the pea puree. Simply pop all of the ingredients in a food processor with a little splash of the stock from the risotto and blend until smooth. This can now be left until the risotto is cooked.

Five minutes before the risotto is cooked, take a griddle pan, spray with 1kal and pan fry the asparagus until cooked to your liking. We like them crunchy so I usually give them 3-4 minutes and squeeze over a little lemon juice.

Remove the asparagus from the pan and then add the seabass, griddling again on each side until cooked to your liking, I cook for 2 minutes per side.

Once the risotto is cooked, remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan and spring onions. Then stir through the pea puree and finish with the juice of ½ a lemon. Pop the risotto in two large bowls, top with the seabass and finish with the asparagus. Serve with a ¼ slice of lemon per person.

Enjoy!

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Prosciutto Wrapped Cod with Lemony Garlic Spinach

Serves 2 = 6sp per person (Flex)

Ingredients

2 x 140g cod fillets, raw

4 x slices of prosciutto ham

2 tsp green pesto

Splash of balsamic vinegar

1 lemon, cut into quarters

Large handful of cherry tomatoes

Small pack of asparagus, woody ends removed

400g bag of spinach

1 tsp light butter

1 clove of garlic

300g new potatoes, halved

Method

Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15-20 minutes until soft.  Preheat the oven to 180c.

Meanwhile, lay two slices of the prosciutto vertically side by side on a chopping board. Repeat with the other two slices leaving a small gap. In the centre of two of the slices lay the cod, season with salt and pepper, squeeze over the juice of ¼ lemon and spread over 1 tsp green pesto. Repeat with the other cod fillet. Wrap the prosciutto around the fish and pop seal side down into a baking dish (sprayed with 1kal).

Scatter the tomatoes and asparagus around the fish, season and splash a little balsamic onto the vegetables (not the fish parcels). Pop in the oven for 12-14 minutes until the cod is cooked through and tomatoes start to pop.

A few minutes before the cod and potatoes are ready take a frying pan, warm to a medium heat, spray with 1kal and add the butter. Once melted add the garlic and juice of ¼ lemon. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. This will only take a few minutes.

To serve pop the spinach in the corner of a plate and top with the fish parcels. Pop the tomatoes and asparagus next to the fish and then add the potatoes. The second time I made this I finished the potatoes off in a griddle pan and fryed in 1kal and a little garlic and parsley salt. This adds a nice crunch for 0sp so give this a try if you have time (the potatoes in the pic have been finished in the griddle pan). Pour the excess fish juices over the dish and fish with a final squeeze of lemon.

Enjoy!

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This recipe is nothing like that. It is both filling, healthy and packed with flavour. I’ve made it at two dinner parties now and no one could believe that it was essentially just a really fancy prawn cocktail!

If you don’t fancy serving the mixture stuffed in the avocado, see my pictures below for another ‘deconstructed’ serving suggestion.

In this recipe it really is worth using some really good quality, large king prawns. I used some from my recent delivery from Ocean Classics and I have to say they were delicious. So meaty and juicy!!

Prawn Stuffed Avocado (Posh Prawn Cocktail)

Serves 2 = 6sp per serving (Flex)

Ingredients

1 medium avocado, halved and destoned (mine was 140g)

½ small red onion, finely diced

½ pepper, deseeded and finely diced

¼ cucumber, finely diced

5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

¼ tsp cumin

Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

3 tbsp extra light mayo

1 tsp hot srichacha chilli sauce

1 lime

90g large King Prawns, uncooked, deshelled and deveined

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 chilli, finely chopped

Handful of salad leaves

Method

In a large bowl combine the red onion, pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, ground cumin and fresh coriander. Mix everything together.  Season with salt and black pepper.

Halve your avocado, remove the stone and peel. Scoop out a little of the centre to make a large well for stuffing, chopping the spare avocado and adding to the vegetable mix above. Squeeze some lime juice over the avocado to stop it going brown.

In a smaller bowl mix the mayo with the chilli sauce and juice of ½ lime. Add most of the sauce to the vegetables and toss to coat. Reserve 2 tsp of the sauce.

Pop to one side (or in the fridge).

Then, take a large frying pan, spray with 1kal and then fry the garlic and chilli until softened but not brown. Add a little water if the pan is dry. Add the prawns and fry on a high heat for 2 minutes on each side (or until cooked through). Turn the heat off the pan.

At this point you are ready to plate up.

Take your plate and pop a handful of salad leaves on each. Top with one half of the avocado, stuff with the vegetable mix and top with the king prawns. Finish with a tsp of the dressing, a sprinkle of the garlic and chilli and a squeeze of lime.

Enjoy!

p.s if you fancy making the deconstructed version, see my pic below. I just sliced the avocado and piled everything next to it!!

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After I set it up I crossed my fingers that it would be just as good and I’m happy to report it really was!  I decided to combine spiralizing my carrot and courgette noodles (the veg I had in the fridge) with a prawn stir fry recipe as I wanted something tasty and filling but VERY low in points – specifically for those days when you accidentally overindulge and need to pull it back in an evening.

The result was delicious. The king prawns were juicy and moist and took on the flavour of the sauce beautifully. The thick sauce coated the noodles perfectly so the dish was packed with a vibrant and fresh flavour.

I had this as per the recipe below – my OH insisted on me adding some regular noodles to his (he wanted man carbs) so ladies, if you are cooking for a hungry/difficult to fill male, you may want to add a handful of egg noodles to his bowl!

Spicy Prawn Stir Fry with Carrot and Courgette Noodles

Serves 2 = 4sp per serving (Flex)

Ingredients

For the sauce

100ml chicken stock (1/2 chicken stock cube made up with 110ml boiling water)

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp hot chilli sauce (I used sriracha)

½ tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp corn flour

For the noodles

2 large carrots, peeled

1 large courgette

For the Stir Fry

1/2 tbsp seasame oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

180g king prawns, raw, deshelled and deveined

Pinch of Crushed Chillies (optional)

1 red onion, sliced

2 peppers, deseeded and sliced

Handful of Mange tout, roughly halved

1 lime, quartered

Method

Begin by combining all the ingredients for the sauce in a measuring jug, stir and pop to one side.

Next chop the ends off the carrot and courgette and then spiralizer until you have lots of nice thick noodles. It will look like you have quite a lot but once cooked they shrink quite a bit. Pop the carrots into a pan of boiling water and boil for 3-4 minutes until they start to soften. The courgette doesn’t need any pre-cooking. Drain the carrots and pop to one side with the courgette.

Next, take a large fry pan, add half the oil (1/2 tbsp) and once hot, fry the garlic and ginger for a minute or two then add the prawns and crushed chillies (if you are having them) and fry until cooked through (so they are nice and pink, about 3 minutes). Remove the prawns from the pan and pop to one side (do not leave in the pan as they will shrink and go to nothing).

In the same pan add the rest of the oil and once hot, add the onion, pepper and mange tout. Fry for around 5 minutes until the veg starts to soften but still retains a little bite. Add the sauce straight into the pan and cook on a high heat for a minute until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the prawns, stir through and then add the carrot and courgette noodles, combining well in the sauce. Warm through for a few minutes until the carrot and courgette have softened and took on some of the sauce.

Squeeze over the juice of half a lime, stir and plate up.

I served mine with a little extra chilli and spring onion and an extra slice of lime.

Enjoy!

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