Chicory can be quite a bitter tasting vegetable, but this recipe perfectly balanced that bitterness by adding the cream  and just a little sugar.

Roasted Chicory Gratin – 123 calories

Preparation Time:       5 minutes

Cooking Time:            25 minutes

Serves:                      4

Calories per serving:   123

Ingredients

Chicory, Fresh, Raw –  2 Heads/300g

Butter, Salted   –  1 Thin Spread/7g

Golden Caster Sugar  –  1 Tsp/5g

Cider Vinegar  –  1 Tbsp/15ml

Breadcrumbs, Natural, Paxo –  20g

Cheese, Parmesan (finely grated) –  2 Tbsps/20g

Creme Fraiche –  40g

Sour Cream –  40g

Method

Fry the chicory cut-side down in a large (lidded) pan with a little butter until they start to brown.

Sprinkle in the sugar, shake the pan and keep cooking as the sugar and butter start to caramelize the chicory.

Add the cider vinegar and turn the chicory over. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes then add a splash of water, put a lid on and cook gently for 10 minutes, or until the chicory is tender.

Spoon into a gratin dish or leave in the pan. Mix together the soured cream and creme fraiche. Drizzle over the chicory, mix breadcrumbs and finely grated Parmesan and sprinkle over chicory.  Lightly brown under a hot grill until the top is bubbling and golden. Rest for 5 minutes.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)   122.7

Protein (g)   3.4

Carbohydrate (g)   7.7

Fat (g)   8.7

Fruit & Veg   1.0

Fibre (g)   0.8

It’s been a while since I shared a recipe on my Blog, but I have been cooking and eating my way through the Covid-19 epidemic and lockdown.

My weight is 8lb less than it was at the start of the lockdown (end of March 2020), so I am really pleased with this achievement.  I’ve managed it by remaining on track and upping my exercise sessions.  I’ve been pretty strict with myself, ensuring that I have done my exercise every morning (apart from two days following a fall).  My day starts with a 1.5 – 2 hour stretch and bounce session.

One of the things I know I’ve not eaten since I started this way of eating over 8 years ago has been chicken Kiev, but this is something I love!  Most shop bought Kiev’s are far too calorific for me to contemplate them.  So today I had a little trial of making my own healthier version, combining different elements and ideas from various on-line recipes.

The result was very pleasing!  I hope that if you try this recipe, yours works as well as mine did.  Please ensure you use FULL FAT soft cheese and none of this low fat nonsense!

Home made chicken Kiev- 398 calories

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

Serves:  1

Calories per serving:  398.5

Ingredients:

Chicken, Breast Fillet Skinless & Boneless, Raw – 130g

Soft Cheese, Full Fat – 30g

Breadcrumbs, Natural (Paxo) – 15g

Garlic, Raw (Peeled and finely diced) – 1 Clove/3g

Mayonnaise  – 10g

Olive Oil  –  3ml

Parsley, Fresh  –  ¼ Tbsp/0.95g

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Finely chop the garlic and add with the dried herbs to the soft cheese, mix well and leave to infuse for up to an hour if you have time.

Cut a pocket into the chicken and stuff the cheese mixture into the pocket. You may wish to use a skewer to close the pocket and keep the filling in place, but this isn’t essential.

Grease a shallow oven-proof dish using the olive oil.  Place the chicken in the dish and bake for 15 minutes.

Keep the oven temperature the same, but change the setting to circo-roast (oven + grill) if you have the option to. Otherwise your crumb may not be as crisp / browned.  You may wish to flash it under a hot grill to achieve this.

Mix the mayonnaise with the breadcrumbs to a paste. Smear over the top of the chicken breast (it doesn’t matter if some falls off) and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.