vegetarian

Minestrone Soup

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I came across this Jamie Oliver recipe the other day and thought I’d give it a go at making it Slimming World friendly. It was really easy to do and very filling. This recipe would work really well if you are following Extra Easy SP, all you need to do is skip the spaghetti as the rest of the ingredients are all Speed or Protein rich food.

Serves: 6

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

 

Ingredients

  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (without the juice, save the juice for a curry/pasta based dish)
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 3 medium leeks, sliced
  • 5 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 2 red onions, chopped
  • 1 small white cabbage, sliced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1lt chicken/vegetable stock (use more if needed)
  • a handful of spaghetti, cut into small pieces
  • tin of mixed beans
  • a handful of chopped fresh basil
  • chilli flakes, optional
  • 1cal cooking spray oil

Method

Spray a large pan with plenty of 1cal spray oil and cook the carrots, leeks, celery, onion, garlic and rosemary over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil before adding the cabbage and cook for a further 10 minutes, covered on a low heat. Add the spaghetti, the mixed beans and the basil and cook for a further 8-10 minutes till the spaghetti is cooked. Add chilli flakes and season to taste.

 

 

 

Sausage Rolls

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This is another quick and easy recipe perfect for taster sessions in Slimming World groups. These work out at only 1 syn each for a bitesize sausage roll. It only needs 3 ingredients! It can’t get any easier than that.

You can use any sausages of your choice but remember to find out syns before you make them as sausages tend to be quite high in syns!

I have used the Linda McCartney’s vegetarian sausages which are only 0.5 syn each. I am on the lookout for low syn halal sausages, if you know of any, please comment with what you use.

Sausage Rolls

Sausage Rolls

 

Makes: 18

Syns: 1 syn each

Time Taken: less than 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 6 Linda McCartney’s Vegetarian Sausages
  • 3 Kinsmill thins
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

Cook the sausages according to the packet instructions, but don’t fully cook them as you will be cooking them again for a few more minutes later.

Once the sausages are mostly cooked, remove them from the oven and set them aside.

Brush the inside of each Kingsmill thin with the beaten egg. Place a sausage in each half and roll.

Brush the egg all over the outside of the thins and place them in the oven for around 10 minutes (or less) till the rolls are nice and golden.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and cut each sausage roll into 3 pieces.

Broccoli Soup

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Broccoli is one of my favourite veg! I love it simply boiled with my meals but this is another favourite way to enjoy it – in soup!

This is a creamy, comforting soup. You can replace the cream cheese with fat free fromage frais but I personally prefer to use my healthy extra A choice or syns on cream cheese as it makes it more indulging. Another alternative which is equally tasty is the Laughing Cow Blue Cheese triangles, you can have 5 as a healthy extra A choice or count them as 1.5 syns each. 2 triangles are plenty for this soup.

Syns: FREE (if using cream cheese as part of healthy extra A choice)

Serves: 2

Time Taken: 20-25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 whole fresh broccoli, chopped
  • 1 medium baking potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 vegetable stock pot or cube
  • 2 x 35g tubs of Philadelphia light cream cheese (healthy extra A choice)

Method

Place the broccoli, potato, onion and stock pot in a pan of water (place enough water to cover the veg) and boil for about 15 minutes till the potatoes are cooked.

Once all the veg are cooked add the cream cheese and blitz.

Broccoli Soup

Broccoli Soup

Hash Browns

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This is a recipe one of my lovely members shared with the group and I the other day. I always pick up so many new ideas from my members, they are all amazing! The hash browns are so easy to make and were a huge hit even with my fussy eater middle child too!

You can adapt the recipe and add an onion to it as well but I kept it simple.

If you do anything differently please do share!

Makes: 8

Syns: Free

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 tin potatoes
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Seasoning
Hash browns ingredients

Hash browns ingredients

Method

Drain the water off the potatoes and coarsely grate them.

Squeeze out any moisture from the potatoes before adding the egg and season.

Place a large spoonful of the potato mix on a frying pan with lots of fry light and gently fry on each side. Be patient and try not to flip the hash browns too early or you’ll end up with a mess.

Once they are cooked on each side, place the hash browns under the grill for a few minutes till golden brown if you wish.

Serve with a cooked breakfast!

 

Cooked breakfast

Cooked breakfast

Nadiya’s Samosa Hack!

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I thought I’d try Nadiya’s samosa hack from her latest TV show and give it a Slimming World friendly twist!

If you don’t know who Nadiya is, she was the winner of the Great British Bake Off in 2016! A well deserved winner too, all her bakes looked absolutely delicious.

I used potatoes and peas for the filling but you can be more adventurous or just stick to regular samosa fillings such as kheema. Just remember to syn accordingly.

I used mini tortilla wraps from Aldi which are 4.5 syns for each wrap and you can get two samosas out of one wrap, making it only around 2.5 syns each samosa! (See picture below).

Aldi Wrap

Aldi Wrap

You can if you prefer (and can get hold of!) use the Weight Watchers white wraps that can be used as a healthy extra B choice. Your samosas will be slightly bigger though, I prefer using the mini wraps as you can batch cook them and freeze.

If you use any other brand of wrap, please remember to check syns as not all similar products have the same syn values.

Let me know if you’ve come across a lower syn alternative to making samosas!

Adjust spice levels to how spicy you prefer, I made mine quite mild as they were for a taster session in group. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Feel free to tag me in your posts when you’ve made them.

 

Samosa

Samosa

Makes: 16 samosas

Syns: 2.5 syns each

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 pack Aldi mini tortilla wraps
  • 2 medium potatoes, boiled
  • handful of frozen peas, cooked
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red chilies
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

Make samosa filling by boiling the potatoes first. Once the potatoes are boiled and cooled, slightly mash them or you can chop the potatoes in little cubes and boil them if you prefer your potatoes quite chunky rather than mashed.

Mix in cooked peas, ginger/garlic paste, cumin seeds, salt, chilli and garam masala.

Cut each wrap in half so you get a semi-circle shape.

Shape each wrap half into a triangle shape and fill it with your filling. Use the beaten egg to seal all around the edges and egg wash the top of the samosa.

Once all the samosas are filled and egg washed, bake them in a pre heated oven at gas mark 6 for around 12-15 minutes or until they are nice and golden.

You can freeze them once the samosas are cooked and cooled.

Tip: Watch the video here on how to fill the samosas.

Crustless Red Onion and Courgette Quiche

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This is one recipe I haven’t made in absolute ages! Mainly because I don’t really buy courgettes but I was given a mahoosive courgette by one of my members that grows his own veggies in his allotment so the first thing that came to my mind was this easy to make quiche. This recipe is perfect for those following Extra Easy SP (EESP) plan as it is packed with Speed and Protein rich foods. You can serve this with a large salad or butternut squash chips to keep it EESP friendly!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 60 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Crustless Red Onion & Courgette Quiche

Crustless Red Onion & Courgette Quiche

Ingredients

  • 1 large courgette or 2 regular
  • 2 red onions, halved and finely sliced
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 100g low fat natural cottage cheese
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 tsp dried mixed herbs

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.

Coarsely grate the courgette and place in a large sieve. Press down to remove as much liquid as possible and set aside.

Lightly spray a round, shallow baking dish with low calorie cooking spray and set aside.

Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the onions, courgette and chilli and stir-fry for 10 minutes. Season well and transfer to the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly across the base. Spread the cottage cheese over the vegetable mixture.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, season and add the dried mixed herbs. Pour the egg mixture over the cottage cheese.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until set and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Baked Eggs with Spinach & Tomatoes

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I initially came across this recipe when one of my members tagged me in one of those short recipe videos, I can’t remember if it was Tasty Food or something similar! I then saw this on Instagram on this lovely lady’s page (@whatsianeats check her page out for the most amazing plates of foods) and thought why not give it a go myself, it is such an easy way of making egg and beans. I served it with Slimming World chips that were seasoned with JD Seasonings Chips & Wedges seasoning. If you haven’t come across them do check out their website for all other spices and seasonings to add flavour to your meals.

My members absolutely them, there is such a huge range of products to choose from. I tend to buy the same ones, I guess I need to be a bit more adventurous with trying out different seasonings! What is fab about their products is that they are all Syn Free, so it is great for us Slimming World foodies and come with the easiest instructions on how to use them. I have been using the code ‘Slim20’ to get 20% off.

I used chilli baked beans in this recipe but you can replace them with regular beans if you prefer.

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Baked Eggs with Spinach & Tomatoes

Baked Eggs with Spinach & Tomatoes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tin Heinz chilli baked beans
  • Handful of baby spinach
  • 75g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.

In a small shallow baking dish layer the spinach leaves at the bottom, followed by the beans and scatter over the cherry tomatoes.

Make 2 indents with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each.

Scatter the oregano and some black pepper over the whole tray.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until the whites are just set.

Sweetcorn Fritter with Salsa

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This is a recipe from the latest Slimming World magazine. It is so easy to make and it tastes amazing!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Sweetcorn Fritter with Salsa

Sweetcorn Fritter with Salsa

Ingredients

  • 6 large eggs
  • 340g can sweetcorn kernels, drained
  • 6 spring onions, finely diced
  • 1 green pepper, deseeded and diced
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
  • 3 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and diced (optional)
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • Juice of 2 limes

Method

Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the sweetcorn, half the spring onions and the green pepper. Season to taste.

Spray a large frying pan with fry light and pour the egg mixture to it. Cook it on a moderate heat for around 8 minutes. Once cooked on the bottom, place the pan under the grill and cook for a further 8 minutes or until cooked though.

For the salsa place the red pepper, the rest of the spring onions, tomatoes and the red chilli (if using) in a bowl. Mix the tomato puree to the lime juice before adding it to the chopped veg. Season to taste.

 

Chana Daal

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Another really simple and very easy to make recipe. All my recipes that state curry powder, I use a Bassar mixture. You can get it ready made from most Asian supermarkets or make your own! I don’t know how to make my own so I buy ready made. The one I buy is quite spicy hence why I only use a bit. You can adjust the level of spiciness to your taste.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: less than 1 hour plus soaking overnight

Difficulty: Easy

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Ingredients

  • 250g channa daal, soaked in cold water overnight
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1.5 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree

Method

Fry the onion till golden with the cumin seeds. Add the chopped tomato, ginger/garlic paste, tomato puree and curry powder. Fry for around 5 minutes. Add hot water if the spices start to stick to the pan, season to taste.

Drain the water off the daal and add it to the spice mix. Add enough cold water plus a little extra to cover the daal and cook for 30-45 minutes on a low heat. If the daal is too dry, add water accordingly.

Pesto Style Sauce

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This is a really simple way of making a pesto style sauce you can have with pasta or chicken. I don’t have the exact measurements as I knocked this one up really quickly whilst my pasta was cooking. It tasted fine for me but I may tweak it a little bit more in the future, maybe just use the cream cheese with quark possibly? I don’t know yet but will be sure to post on here. I used some of it for my pasta and the leftovers was used for stuffing chicken breasts.

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE if using the cheeses as healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: less than 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

Handful of fresh spinach leaves

Handful of fresh basil leaves

1 x 35g Philadelphia light cream cheese

2 x Laughing Cow Blue Cheese triangles

Garlic powder

Seasoning to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients together adding a little bit of water to it and blitz it altogether using a handheld blender.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto Pasta

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken