SW Yellow (saffron) Spaghetti

Based on a Yellow Spaghetti recipe by Nigella Lawson

Wholewheat spaghetti (f)
Saffron (1/2 tsp) - expensive! (f)
3 eggs (f)
1/2 stock cube (f)

Side veg:
Mushrooms (f)
leeks (sf)

(optional)
15 g or 30g of Grana padano cheese (3.5 or 7 syns)

Put pasta on to boil.
In a small pan, add half a cup of water and the saffron and stock cube.  gently boil.

when pasta is done, add a cup of the starchy pasta water to the sauce. * remove from heat / turn off*.  Crack eggs  and whisk into the yellow sauce. Drain the pasta and place back in the saucepan, and then pour in the sauce and mix thouroughly.

Although the eggs are raw, they will cook and thicken in the heat of the pasta. (if you're worried, warm a little on the stove - whisking hard).

Serve with an extra portion of veg (e.g. mushrooms and onions) and optionally mix in 15g or 30g strong cheese - either as syns or as a healthy extra A.

Basic sauce and pasta are free : made enough for 3 :)

Links - low carb bread?

http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/gluten-free-grain-free-cloud-bread.html

http://www.beautyandthefoodie.com/sneaky-cheesy-garlic-bread-grain-free/

http://www.agirlworthsaving.net/2013/10/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-bread.html

http://withfoodandlove.com/breakfast-brunch/grain-free-lemon-poppy-seed-zucchini-bread/

SW NomNomNominoes Pizza

2 onions (sf)

1 tin tomatoes (sf)
Passata or 1 tube tomato puree (f)
2 tsp Basil (f)
1 tsp Oregano (f)
2 chopped garlic (f)
2 stock cubes (f)
(optional - add to taste :
     1tsp sweetener
     lemon juice
     salt
     pepper
     1 tsp chipotle paste (or chilli powder)

Base:
4 large potatoes (f)

Toppings:
Cooked chicken (f)
Mushrooms (f)
Sliced peppers (sf)

30g cheddar cheese (6 syns) per person, or less to taste.

Chop onions and cook until soft. Add tomatoes, passata and herbs/seasonings and cook on low to simmer and reduce down.

Peel and slice potatoes into 1cm slices. Boil until soft and then mash with 1 tsp salt, no milk or butter.

In a clean non-stick pan, spray with frylight and add a large spoonful of mash and flatten. Cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes, then flip with a spatula. When lightly toasted on both sides, place on a small plate and add a couple of large spoonfuls of the tomato sauce. Top with chopped chicken, mushrooms, any other pizza-style topping.
Add a dusting of finely grated cheese - measure out 30g of grated for 6 syns, 20g for 4, or 10g for 2.
Place under the grill for a couple of minutes to gently brown the top.

Warning : plate may be very hot. Place on top of larger dinner plate to avoid burns.

Tastes pretty good. Rated 7/10 from the non-dieters - would have again.

Made enough for 4.

SW Chicken Tikka Masala

2 large onions (sf)
4 shallots (sf)
3 sticks celery (sf)
lots garlic (f)
1/2 tsp baking powder (0.5 syns)
1 stock cube (f)
1/2 tsp salt (f)
2 tsp sweetener (f)
1 tsp Cinnamon (f)
1 tsp Cumin (f)
2 tsp lemon juice (f)
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder (f)
5 tsp tikka spice mix (f)
1 box tomato passata (sf)
3-4 tbsp fat free fromage frais (f)
1 tsp Coriander (f)
1/4 tsp xanthan gum to stabilise and stop separation (f)

Cooked chicken (f) or cook the chicken separately

Chop onions, celery, shallots, garlic and add to a large non-stick pan. Add half a cup of water and the bicarbonate of soda, and cook for several minutes until very soft and mushy.
Add the salt, stock cube and spices and stir well.
Add the tomato passata and warm through. Add the fromage frais and coriander, and add the chopped chicken, warm through and keep hot.


Serve with rice and plenty of veg. Serves 4 at 0 syns (free)

Based on the original SW Tikka Recipe 

Honey and Mustard chicken

2-3 Cooked chicken breasts (f)
4 tsp honey (+4 syns)
2 tsp mustard powder (f)
2 onions (sf)
1 clove garlic (f)
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum (f)
2 stock cubes (f)
salt and pepper (f)
4-6 tbsp of fat free fromage frais (f)


Finely chop onion and garlic and add to a non-stick pan. Add honey and fry until onion is soft and translucent.

Add Mustard powder, 1/2 cup hot water, and fromage frais and xanthan gum. Stir well.

When well mixed and smooth (if lumps form, stir hard with a whisk), chop the chicken and add to the sauce to warm through.

Serve with SW mash (no milk or butter unless synned) and plenty of vegetables.

We split between 4 so about 1 syn per portion.

Sous-vide - Slimming world lifesaver!

We cook a lot of chicken using the sous-vide method. It sounds posh, but it's just really a version of boil-in-the-bag cooking.

The good things:

• No fat used or any burnt bits (free on SW!)
• Flavour is awesome! really really nice...
• Perfectly cooked every time - soft enough for kids.
• Easy - can be ready whenever the veg is done!
• Will last for several days in sealed bags in the fridge, and can be easily re-heated.
• Easy to bulk-cook.
• Very hard to mess up.

Bad :

• A bit of a faff at first.
• *ideally* you need two machines - a sous vide cooker (£99) and a vacuum sealer and bags(£30-40), and probably a thermometer.
• Meat can sometimes look a bit pale - can be browned off in a hot pan (or with a blowtorch) for that proper 'crispy' outside.
• Needs a bit of planning.
• Most things take a few hours (like a slow cooker)

The theory is simple : seal the food and seasoning inside a plastic bag, and none of the flavour can escape. Then put it in a bath of water at a set temperature, and you can safely cook the food without overcooking, burning it, or causing it to go dry and chewy.

In practice it's pretty much that simple. There are only two things to worry about:

* Air trapped in the bag. If there is a lot of air inside the bag, it tends to float, and also doesn't transfer heat properly - leading to warm and cold spots *see below.

* Temperature control is critical. Nasties grow well in food between about 5C and 50C - with the worst being room temp 22C / body temp 37C - and we want to kill any nasty bacteria, not grow more. 

So, therefore the vacuum sealer (to remove the air) and the sous-vide (to keep the temperature controlled). 

It's possible to cook this way without equipment : for example, you can use a zip-loc bag (or even a good strong bag clip) and either remove the air by squashing the bag, or by placing the bag partly under water (leaving the top out) so the water pushes out the air, then sealing the bag. 

Likewise, it's possible to cook the bags in a slow cooker full of water on low - but I would *highly* recommend you have a thermometer and check the temperature is above 60C every hour or so.

I cooked a few batches in a slow-cooker to start with, and they were successful enough that we invested in a proper water bath. 

There are some really good technical guides and books - worth doing some research if you're interested.

We have it down to a regular routine now:
Saturday - is shopping day, and I get the meat for the week. Mostly chicken breasts from Lidl, and sometimes beef or pork - or turkey works well.
Sunday -  I trim any fat off the meat, and split into meal-sized bags (about 2 large chicken breasts per bag)

 I add about 1/2 to 1 ground up stock cube, and about 2 tsp of seasoning to each bag - for example Korma spice mix, Chargrilled chicken, plain sage, honey and mustard, jamacian jerk - whatever you like.  Close the top of the bag and shake to coat the outside of the chicken.

Vacuum seal the bags, and label so you know which is which :). I also write the 'best before' date on it so I know how long it's been in the fridge.

This is my latest new kitchen gadget - the sous vide cooker. Boil the kettle and fill the tub (saves time waiting for it to warm up) and set the temperature, then throw in the sealed bag.

We cook our chicken at 61C for about 4-5 hours (well over the minimum safety margins).

If not eating straightaway, you take it out and put it in a washing up bowl full of cold water and ice, or ice packs - to cool it down as quickly as possible (leave it for at least half-hour to make sure the centre is cold). Then transfer to the fridge, where a sealed bag will easily keep for a week or two. 

We normally cook a couple of bags for cold chicken lunches, and then 2-3 more for main meals. However, it disappears quickly, so your mileage may vary!

It's delicious straight from the fridge, or you can add it to a hot sauce or gravy to warm up, or put the bag back in the sous-vide cooker to warm for half an hour. If you plan a little bit, you can even put a bag on in the morning and cook while at work - the come in to perfectly cooked meals!

Cooking for 8 hours or more does not affect the result very much - it's still great!

I cannot recommend this method enough. It's one of the easiest ways to get really nice meat without any oil or fat, and really fits well with the slimming world free foods.

Tidyup

Decided it was a bit messy having both a food diary and recipes in the sme blog, so I have split them into a food diary and this one will be dedicated to recipes and slimming world tips.