The meat mixture makes enough to serve four so if you are only making it for two, make a big portion of the mince and then you can either freeze the rest for another time or serve the remainder the next day with some rice or cous cous.

Moroccan Stuffed Butternut Squash 

Serves 4 = 5sp per serving (Flex)

Ingredients

2 x medium butternut squash, halved lengthways and deseeded

400g extra lean beef mince

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely diced

Handful of mushrooms, finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

2 tsp ras el hanout (or Shwartz Moroccan) spice

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp crushed chillies

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp tomato puree

Pinch of sugar

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

80g half fat mature cheddar

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

Take the halved butternut squash and flesh side up, spray with 1 kal and season with salt and pepper. Place flesh side down onto a baking tray and pop into the oven for 30-40 minutes until the flesh roasts nicely and goes nice and soft. While the butternut squash is cooking prepare the sauce.

Take the mince in a large sauce pan and begin to brown. Add the onion and garlic and fry until the onion starts to soften then add the pepper, mushrooms and carrot, stor and fry for another few minutes. Then add all the spices and vegetable stock cue, stir and fry for a minute. Then add the tomato puree, sugar and chopped tomatoes and give a good stir. Add 100ml of cold water, turn the heat down and simmer until the squash is cooked. The sauce at this point should be nice and chunky, not too saucy but still nice and wet.

Take the butternut squash out of the oven and change the oven to a high grill setting. Flip the butternut squash so it is flesh side up and then carve out a little of the flesh to make a nice well, fluffing a little of the butternut squash underneath. Divide the mincemeat mixture between the butternut squash halves, top with the cheese and grill for 3-4 minutes until the cheese goes melty and gooey.

Serve with a nice green salad or, if you fancy it, the Moroccan chickpea and carrot salad that I served mine with (recipe to follow).

Enjoy!

The post Moroccan Stuffed Butternut Squash – 5sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Ingredients

Serves 4 = 6sp per portion (Flex)

300g lean lamb steak, cubed into 2cm pieces

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 peppers, deseeded and sliced

1 tbsp ras-el-hanout (or Shwartz Moroccan Spice Mix)

2 tsp ground coriander

Sprinkle of crushed chillies

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced

100g soft dried apricots, halved

400g can chopped tomatoes

240g chickepeas, drained

500ml lamb (or beef) stock (made with 1 stock cube)

Zest  of 1 lemon

Small bunch coriander, chopped

To serve (add the extra points as required)

Couscous

Natural yogurt with a swirl of harissa

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C.

Heat 1kal in a flameproof casserole dish, add the lamb, season and brown on all sides. Scoop the lamb out the pan and pop to one side. Then in the same pan, spray again with 1kal add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened (add a small splash of water to stock the onions sticking). Then add the garlic, pepper and spices and cook for a few more minutes, adding a splash of water to stop the spices catching and burning.

Add the lamb as well as the squash, apricots and chickpeas to the casserole, pour over the tomatoes and stock, season well and bring to the boil.

Pop the lid on and transfer to the casserole dish to the oven. After 1 hour, stir the tagine and return to the oven, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes.

Sprinkle over the lemon zest and coriander.

Serve with couscous (I used a pack of Ainsley Harriot and added a little lemon juice) and top with a swirl of yogurt and harissa. Finish with a few sprigs of coriander.

Enjoy!

The post Lamb, Butternut Squash and Apricot Tagine – 6sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Ingredients

Serves 4 = 1sp (previously 1sp) each

1 x butternut Squash, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

2 x courgettes, halved and sliced

2 x pepper (colour of your choice, I used red and yellow), roughly sliced

3 x cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

1 x red onion, roughly cut into thickish slices

1 x aubergine, cut into chunks

1 x handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 x bag of mixed leave salad

2 x tablespoons lightest mayonnaise

3 x teaspoons harissa paste

1 x lemon

Good pinch of paprika

Salt and black pepper

Method

Whack all your veg in a roasting tin. Pop 2 teaspoons of harissa on your veg with a good seasoning of salt and pepper and a squirt of lemon juice. Give a good mix and roast in the oven on around 180c for between 45 minutes and an hour (until the butternut squash has started to crisp up a bit). You will need to turn the veg a couple of times to make sure it all gets nicely cooked. You can par boil your butternut squash for 7-8 minutes if you want everything to cook a bit quicker but its less faffy just whacking it straight in. Remove veg from the oven and set aside.

In a large bowl mix your mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of harissa, lemon, black pepper and paprika together and taste. If you like it spicy, add a few crushed chillies. Then pour in your roasted vegetables, give a good mix and leave to cool. I take this to work in a big box and take my bag of salad leaves separately. When I’m about to eat I pop a handful of leaves in the bottom of the bowl, whack the salad on top and give a mix and voila. Yummy salad is served.

If you fancy it, and have it in, whack a tablespoon of houmous on top but remember to add the extra sp.

Enjoy!

The post Harissa Roasted Vegetable Salad – Only 1sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

For 14sp you get two lovely wraps which feel really substantial on your plate. Even my OH, who usually likes extra carbs with his meal, was raving about this recipe. There are so many delicious flavours bursting onto your taste buds so it’s thoroughly satisfying!

Ingredients

Serves 2 = 14pp each

For the wrap = 3sp per wrap, 7sp for 2
130g plain flour (this should make you four medium sized wraps)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of garlic powder, paprika and salt
water, to bind

For the chicken = 2sp each
200g leftover chicken breast (100g per person, 50g in each wrap), shredded
2 tsp Ras El Hanout spice mix
1 lemon, quartered

Butternut Squash Falafels (see previous recipe here) 2 falafels per person (1 falafel in each wrap) = 2sp

Extras
Fresh coriander
Mixed Salad (I used rocket leaves, sliced red onion and sliced orange peppers)
Houmous (I used Aldi’s low fat lemon and coriander houmous with is 4sp for a mini tub/2sp per person). If you use a different variety, adjust for the points)
Tablespoon Greek Yoghurt with a tsp of Harissa paste swirled in (1sp)

If you wanted to bulk up this meal even more you could add a full side salad and some cous cous or even some roasted harissa butternut squash chips, but I don’t think it’s necessary, the wrap is really filling as it is.

Method
To make your wrap, pop all your ingredients into a large bowl, mix and then, adding a few drops of water at a time, bind the mixture together until you have a firm dough. Knead a little until smooth and then separate into four evenly sized balls. Dust you work surface with flour and using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a thin wrap (the thinner the better so it stays nice and pliable). Pop into a dry, hot frying pan for around 2 minutes on each side (or until the side starts to brown a little). Once cooked, pop onto a plate and move onto the next. I make these separately and them give them a minute in the microwave before I construct my wraps just to simplify things.

Next pop your chicken, Ras el Hanout and lemon in a frying pan and fry until piping hot.

Warm up your falafels in the microwave for 30 seconds if you like them hot.

You are now ready to assemble your wrap. You can either display the ingredients in a ‘tear and share’ style and let other people wrap as they please or you can construct the wrap for them but either way I build it as follows: Wrap on the bottom, top with ¼ of the small tub of houmous, then salad leaves, squeeze of lemon, then the chicken, then falafel, then yoghurt with harissa and even a drizzle of mint if you fancy. Wrap together, secure with a cocktail stick and slice in half if you fancy.

Enjoy!

The post Fragrant Moroccan Wrap with Chicken and Falafel! – just 14sp for 2 wraps! first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.