chicken

Chicken Pilau

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Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Pilau

Chicken Pilau

 

Ingredients

  • 3 onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 packet Laziza Yakhni Pilau spice mix
  • 100g 0% Greek yogurt
  • 2 cubes Maggie seasoning (optional)
  • 3 chicken breasts, chopped
  • 2 cups rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes

Method

Spray a large pan with plenty of low calorie cooking spray. Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes.

Add cumin seeds and chilli flakes and continue to cook the onions till golden brown (around 15 minutes). Use hot water if the onions start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken, ginger/garlic paste, Maggie cubes (if using, or use salt to taste) and one packet of the Laziza spice mix. Fry until the chicken has browned all over before adding the yogurt. Cook for 10 minutes then add 4 cups of boiling water to the chicken. Check for seasoning and add the drained water.

Cook the rice on high heat till most of the water has evaporated then place the lid on the pan and cook on a low heat for 25 minutes or until all the water has evaporated and the rice and chicken is cooked.

 

Chicken Fajitas

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This is perfect if you have a fussy family like mine. My girls love this recipe as they get to add whatever they want in their wraps and always have fun trying to stuff it with as many fillings as they can! I use a Weight Watchers wrap for myself which is a healthy extra B choice or 5.5 syns each and use cheese as part of my healthy extra A choice. If you want to save syns, you can use iceberg lettuce leaves instead of wraps. I tend not to use sauces like ketchup or mayo, but if you do use them, remember to syn them accordingly.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut into strips
  • 2 red onions, finely sliced
  • 1 green, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • Juice of 1 lime

Method

Spray a large wok with a free spray oil and place over a medium heat. Add the chicken and stir fry for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is mostly cooked.

Add the peppers and all the spices to coat the chicken spices and cook until the chicken is fully cooked.

Serve on a wrap with salad and cheese.

 

Chicken Tikka Pizza

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A super easy cheat’s pizza ready in less than 20 minutes! This is syn free when using the wrap as healthy extra B choice and the cheese as part of healthy extra A choice. You can add any of your favourite Free Food toppings, I’ve used Haloodies Chicken Tikka slices for this pizza as they are pre-cooked already making this even easier! You can find the syn values for Haloodies products here. The chicken tikka is available in most supermarkets in the halal chilled food section.

I cut these into slices of 8 making it perfect for tasters sessions for Slimming World groups or any other party.

You can get the pizza seasoning from Aldi, I’ve recently picked it up from my local Aldi for a bargain 29p!!! If you can’t find the pizza seasoning then you can use mixed herbs instead as it works quite well too.

I know cottage cheese may sound weird on a pizza but believe me it does not taste like it once cooked. The cottage cheese gives the pizza a lovely effect, it looks like mozarella cheese once cooked!

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Tikka Pizza

Chicken Tikka Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 Weight Watchers white wrap
  • 20g light cheddar cheese
  • Tomato puree
  • Pizza seasoning or mixed herbs
  • Mushrooms
  • Haloodies chicken tikka slices
  • Cottage cheese
  • Spinach
  • Cherry tomatoes

Method

Spread tomato puree all over the wrap and sprinkle some of the pizza seasoning. Add all of your favourite toppings and a dollop some of the cottage cheese around the pizza before sprinkling the cheddar cheese on.

Bake in a pre heated oven on gas mark 6 for around 12-15 minutes till the cheese is melted and golden.

 

Lentil & Chicken Soup

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In one of my groups yesterday one of my lovely members mentioned chicken soup as one of her family’s favourite meal this week. I normally just make this Chicken & Noodle Soup but thought I’d try something different. She said she added a load of different veggies to it, chicken and potatoes. So after I got home from group yesterday, I raided my fridge and checked what veg I had in to make chicken soup. I already had leftover cooked chicken from the day before which made it ideal to use up. I replaced the potatoes with red lentils to make this a high protein packed soup. It turned out amazing!

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, grated and chopped
  • 1 courgette, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 veg stock pot
  • 600 ml hot chicken stock (make more if needed)
  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • Cooked chicken, shredded
  • 1 tsp basar (curry powder)
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
Lentil & Chicken Soup

Lentil & Chicken Soup

Method

Spray a pan with low calorie cooking spray and add all the veg – onion, carrot, courgette and pepper. Cook for around 5-8 minutes till it starts to soften.

Add the fresh parley and the lentils with the spices and the stock. Let the stock come to a boil and reduce the heat and cover the lid on the pan to cook the lentils for about 20-25 minutes. If needed add more stock/water to cook the lentils. You can also add more hot water at the end of cooking if the soup is too thick.

Add the shredded chicken to the cooked lentils and cook for another 10 minutes till the chicken is heated through.

 

Spicy Rice

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I have adapted this recipe I saw online and it turned out delicious! It is supposed to be a ‘fakeaway’ to Nando’s spicy rice, although it doesn’t taste exactly like the Nando’s version, it tastes amazing anyway. We had it with chicken tikka (made using Laziza spice mix, mixed with ginger/garlic paste and lemon juice).

Serves: 6

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30-40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Spicy Rice and Chicken

Spicy Rice and Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled and grated
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
  • 1 vegetable stock pot
  • Handful of frozen peas
  • 2 cups of rice

 

Method

Spray a pan with low calorie oil spray and fry all the veg together in medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the rice to the spices and mix thoroughly so all the rice is coated in the spices and veg.

Add 4 cups of boiling water, the vegetable stock pot and the chicken stock cube to it.

Lower the heat and cover the lid on the pan and cook the rice gently for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes into the cooking, add a handful of frozen peas and gently stir them into the rice and replace the lid again to cook for a further 5 minutes.

 

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

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This is such a delicious meal, we have it normally with wraps but they taste great with potato wedges and a salad. It is perfect if you haven’t much time to cook as it is done in the slow cooker so you can be out all day whilst this is cooking! This is a Slimming World recipe that has been adapted slightly.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 6-8 hours

Difficulty: Easy

BBQ Pulled Chicken Wrap

BBQ Pulled Chicken Wrap

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts

5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard powder

500g passata

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tsp sweetener

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

In a small bowl, mix passata, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweetener, chilli flakes and seasoning. Transfer to a small pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Transfer to a slow cooker coat with the sauce and cook for 6-8 hours on LOW.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Allow the chicken to cool for approximately 15 minutes, then shred into bite-sized pieces using two forks.

Remove the sauce from the pan and set aside to drizzle on the chicken later if needed.

BBQ Pulled Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Chips

BBQ Pulled Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Chips

 

Laziza Biryani Mix

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I’ve had a few people asking me for the biryani recipe I posted on my Instagram a few days ago, so I thought I’d write a post about it so people can refer to it when needed!

Laziza Biryani Mix

Laziza Biryani Mix

 

I use Laziza Biryani Mix spice which is syn free. You can keep the whole dish syn free by replacing the oil with a syn free spray oil or count the syns accordingly if using regular cooking oil. Remember 1 tbsp of oil (regardless of what type – sunflower, vegetable, olive etc) is 6 syns. I know a lot of my members use only water to fry the onions which is possible but may be a little time consuming.

I also use a fat free natural yogurt instead and sometimes I even leave the yogurt step out if I don’t have any and it tastes just as good too!

I cook for a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) and use half of one of the spice packets as that is spicy enough for my family, I don’t use the whole packet. I like my food super spicy so I usually cut up green chillies to add to my food separately.

I follow the recipe on the back of the spice box and once I’ve layered the rice with the chicken/meat, I add a few drops of yellow food colouring to the top of the rice to add some colour to the rice. And that is it! It really is a very easy and simple recipe to follow.

 

I absolutely love the Laziza brand spices as most are syn free and they are very easy to follow, even if you are not a very confident cook. Hope this helps those that were wondering how to make biryani Slimming World friendly 🙂

If you do anything differently please do share how you make yours.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani

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This is one of the easiest ways of making a delicious and syn free biryani. If you don’t use Fry Light you can replace it with oil and just syn accordingly. You can also use any other brand of Biryani masala, I love the Laziza brand plus it is syn free!

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani

Serves: 6

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 60-90 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 onions, finely chopped
  • 4 tomatoes, chopped
  • 750g chicken breast, cubed
  • 1/2 packet Laziza Chicken Biryani mix (use more if you prefer spicier, I keep it mild so the kids can eat it too)
  • 2 cups of basmati rice
  • Yellow food colouring
  • 1/2 bunch each of fresh mint and coriander leaves, finely chopped (optional)
  • Fry Light

Method

Spray lots of Fry Light in a pan and add the onions. Cook them on a moderate-high heat until golden brown. Add boiling water to the onions to stop them sticking to the bottom of the pan as needed. Keep stirring, this should take around 20-30 minutes.

Onions

Onions

Add the chicken, tomatoes and the spice mix and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and the chicken is no longer pink.

Chicken, tomatoes and spice mix

Chicken, tomatoes and spice mix

Lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the rice. Add the rice to double the quantity of boiling salted water and cook till half done, around 8 minutes. Drain the water, rinse it in cold water and set aside till needed.

Once the chicken is cooked you can start to layer it with the rice. Use the pan you’ve used to cook the rice and add a third of the rice to the bottom of the pan. Top it with half of the chicken, then rice again, chicken, and finish off with a layer of rice reserving some to mix with the food colouring to add colour to the rice. Add the mint and coriander if using at this stage.

Cover the pan and cook the biryani on a low heat for 30 minutes.

 

 

Pizza-Topped Chicken

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This is a delicious alternative to pizza, saving you syns without compromise on taste! I served it with white flesh sweet potato chips and a large speedy salad.

Serves: 1
Syns: FREE when using cheese as part of your Healthy Extra A choice
Time Taken: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • Thin chicken breast fillet
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • Sprinkle of oregano
  • Pizza toppings of your choice – red onion, jalapenos, mushrooms are my favourite
  • 20g light cheddar cheese
Pizza-topped Chicken

Pizza-topped Chicken

Method

Place the chicken breast in a frying pan with lots of fry light and fry on both sides for around 5-7 minutes on each side.

Remove from the pan and spread the tomato puree over the top of the chicken. Add the oregano and all your toppings before sprinkling it with the cheese.

Cook in a pre-heated oven on gas mark 6 for around 20 minutes till the chicken is cooked.

BBQ Chicken Marinade

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I have used Crucials BBQ sauce for this recipe which is 0.5 syn per tbsp, if you use any other brand please check the syns before. This recipe can be counted as syn free as I’ve only used 1.5 syns worth of BBQ sauce for 4 people, but to protect your weight loss and to be on the safe side do count 0.5 syn.

Serves: 4

Syns: 0.5 per serving

Time Taken: 30 minutes plus marinade

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp Crucials BBQ Sauce
  • 50ml dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp Chinese 5 Spice powder
  • 1 Maggie seasoning cube (crumbled)
  • 4 chicken thighs (all visible fat removed, no skin)
BBQ Chicken Marinade

BBQ Chicken Marinade

Method

Mix together the BBQ sauce with all the spices and adjust seasoning if needed.

Add the marinade to the chicken and let it marinade for a few hours if time permits.

When ready to cook, place the chicken in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6 and cook for 30 minutes, or more if needed, until the chicken is fully cooked.

You can serve it with anything you like – rice, noodles, chips etc.