Sometimes I just go with whatever is in the fridge that needs using up and today it was butternut squash and bacon.

I went with instinct and have to say the end result was rather delicious!

Preparation Time:   15 mins

Cooking Time:   1 hr

Serves:   2

Calories per serving:   313

Ingredients

Olive Oil   –   20ml

Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes  –   500g

Red Onions, half, cut into slices  –   90g

Bacon, Streaky, Smoked cut into bite sized pieces  –   87g

Sumac, Ground  –   ½ Tsp/1g

Ras El Hanout seasoning  –   ½ Tsp/1g

Garlic  –   2 Cloves/6g

Thyme, Dried   –   ½ Tsp/0.5g

Preparation:

Peel and chop the butternut into 3cm cubes. Place the olive oil in a large roasting tin and place into a preheated oven (200 degrees). Peel and chop the onion into slices. Cut the bacon into bite sized pieces. Peel and finely dice the garlic.

Method:

Once the oil is heated, place the butternut squash into the roasting dish, stir to thoroughly coat in the oil and sprinkle with the sumac and ras el hanout seasoning. Cook for 20 mins.

Add the red onion, stir thoroughly and continue to cook for a further 14 minutes.

Add the garlic and bacon pieces and stir to combine. Sprinkle with the thyme.

Cook for a final 15 minutes.

Serve with rice, a dollop of creme fraiche and any other vegetable of your choice. I like mine with tender stem broccoli!

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)  313

Protein (g)  10.9

Carbohydrate (g)  21.8

Fat (g)  20.8

Fibre (g)  4.3

Fruit & Veg  3.4

Why haven’t I made a crustless quiche before now?  Only one pan and a bowl, easy and quick to make, no making and rolling of pastry and full of yummy flavours.  It’s a complete meal (but I’ll be having mine with some veggies on the side…)

Three cheese, spinach and mushroom quiche.

Preparation Time:   10 mins

Cooking Time:   30 mins

Serves:   4

Calories per serving:   390

 

Ingredients

Onions, Raw                                    –      120g

Babyleaf spinach                              –      100g

Coconut Oil, Biona Organic               –      10g

Cheese, Cheddar, Medium                –      90g

Cheese, Cave Aged Goats                –      85g

Cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano          –      25g

Double Cream,                                 –      40ml

Chestnut Mushrooms                        –      25g

Medium Free Range Eggs                 –      6

Method

Peel and dice onion, wipe and slice mushrooms. Grate or chop cheeses into small cubes. Cook the spinach leaves (without water) for 2 minutes covered in the microwave on full power.

In a large frying pan, melt the coconut oil over a medium heat, fry onion and mushrooms in oil until tender.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl, add the cream and whisk gently with a hand whisk until combined. Add salt and pepper if required.

Add the spinach and grated cheese to the egg mixture and combine.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9-in. quiche dish. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes until a knife inserted in centre comes out clean.

 

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)    390

Protein (g)    22.4

Carbohydrate (g)   3.0

Fat (g)    32.0

Fibre (g)   0.9

Fruit & Veg  0.8

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.

Celeriac makes such a lovely change from pasta, rice and potatoes and has many nutritional qualities (now here’s the technical part…)

• Celeriac is very low in calories. 100g root holds just 42 calories.
• Contains many health benefiting plant-nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibre.
• Similar to carrot and other members of Apiaceae family vegetables, celeriac too contains many poly-acetylene anti-oxidants.
• Several research studies from scientists at the University of Newcastle at Tyne found that these compounds possess anti-cancer properties and, thereby, may offer protection from colon cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia amongst other diseases.
• Celeriac is a splendid source of vitamin-K. 100g root provides about 41 µg or 34% of recommended daily intake. Vitamin-K improves bone mineralization by promoting osteoblastic activity in the bones. Research studies suggest that it also has an established role for patients affected by Alzheimer’s by limiting neuronal damage in the brain.
• The root is an excellent source of some of the essential minerals such as phosphorus, iron, calcium, copper, and manganese. Phosphorus is required for cell metabolism, maintaining blood buffer system, bone, and teeth formation. Copper helps restore immunity, prevents anaemia, and is essential for bone metabolism.
• It contains some of the valuable B-complex vitamins such as pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin. Fresh root also provides moderate amounts of vitamin C (8mg/100g).

What’s more, it has a really awesome flavour!  Of course, not to everyones taste, but I love it.  This lovely, healthy and low calorie meal contains just 315 calories!

250g of celeriac dusted with paprika and roasted with 5g of avocado oil (92 calories).  Pan fried sea bass fillet with another 5g of avocado oil (150 calories) and home-made ratatouille (75 calories).

Oh, and 5 calories for the paprika! = 322 calories for the meal.

Quite impressed with the flavour, texture and taste of this “pretend” hoisin duck and will definitely have it again! Far less calories per 75g portion (159 calories) than shredded duck would usually be.

Vegetarian hoisin duck stir fry with wholewheat noodles – 522 calories

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

Calories per serving: 522.3

Ingredients

Linda McCartney Vegetarian Duck, Shredded, Hoisin, Frozen – 2 Servings/150g

Brown Onions -50g

Mange Tout – 50g

Carrots, Peeled -1 Carrot/75g

Hoisin Stir Fry Sauce -1 Packs/139.545g

Wholewheat Noodles, Blue Dragon – 2 Servings/100g

Chestnut Mushrooms -½ Pack/125g

Olive Oil – 2 Tsps/10ml

Red Peppers – 0.33 Med/52.8g

Peas, Frozen – 100g

Method

Put the noodles on to cook as per packet instructions.

Peel and slice the onion. Se-seed and cut the pepper into strips. Peel the carrot and chop into matchstick sized pieces. Wipe and cut the mushrooms into chunks. Defrost the frozen peas.

Place the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the onions carrot, pepper and stir over the heat until softened. Add the mange touts, mushrooms and the vegetarian duck. Stir for a further 5 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and 100ml of water and continue to cook for 10 minutes, lowering the heat.

Drain the noodles, mix in with the stir fry mixture and serve.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 522.3

Protein (g) 30.2

Carbohydrate (g) 66.0

Fat (g) 13.7

Fruit & Veg 3.0

Fibre (g) 13.3

Squash, sage and sourdough bake

It took quite a bit of preparation, but well worth it – we have four portions in the freezer and it was absolutely delicious! We enjoyed it with M&S Italian Style sausages and a small amount of stir-fried leek and cabbage and mashed swede and carrot.

I think many vegetarians would be very happy with this (minus the sausages, of course….)

Preparation Time: 45 mins

Cooking Time: 1 hr 45 mins

Serves: 6

Calories per serving: 246.4

Ingredients

Butternut Squash – 1150g

Olive Oil – 10ml

Red Onions – 220g

Garlic – 4 Cloves/12g

Sourdough Bread – 100g

Chilli Peppers, Red – 2 Peppers/26g

Lemon Zest – 2 Tsps/4g

Double Cream Alternative – 1 50g/50g

Knorr Vegetable Stock Pot – 1 Pot/28g

Water – 300ml

Pecorino Cheese – 100g

Pumpkin Seeds – 1½ Tbsps/15g

Fresh Sage – 2 Tsps/1.6g

Method

Heat oven to 140C. Peel and dice red onion. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Peel the butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise, remove seeds, and slice into semi-circles, keeping the slices as thin as possible. Wash the sage leaves and finely slice. Remove the zest from the lemon. Finely chop the chilli peppers.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry stirring regularly (don’t allow to brown). Once softened, add the garlic and continue to cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Switch off the heat and add the chopped sage, stirring through and set aside.

Take a large shallow casserole dish. Starting with a layer of butternut squash, alternatively layer the sliced butternut squash with the onion/garlic, finishing with a layer of butternut squash.

Make up the stock pot with 300ml of boiling water, stir until dissolved and set aside. Measure the flour into a small bowl, add a few spoonfuls of the stock and mix into a smooth paste. Add the stock a little at a time until completely combined with the flour. Add the cream alternative into the mixture.

Pour the mixture gently over the butternut squash and onion layers.

Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover the dish in foil, place into the oven and bake for 1.5 hours.

Whizz up the sourdough in a food processor using the “pulse” button to make breadcrumbs. Mix with the lemon zest and finely chopped fresh chillies. Finely grate the pecorino and mix in with the breadcrumbs.

Remove the bake from the oven and sprinkle over the breadcrumb/cheese mixture. Top with the pumpkin seeds. Turn up the oven to 180 degrees and continue to cook the bake for a further 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the cheese is melted.

Remove from the oven and allow to settle for a couple of mins before serving.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 246.4

Protein (g) 8.9

Carbohydrate (g) 27.4

Fat (g) 11.4

Fruit & Veg 2.7

Fibre (g) 4.0

Haven’t done a stir-fry for ages, but really fancied one and this pack of prawns in the freezer needed to be used!

A hit with the husband, and we’ll be doing another – perhaps next time with a chilli and garlic sauce, or using strips of steak, chicken or toasted whole cashew nuts.

Serves: 2

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Jumbo King Prawns (cooked, frozen) -1 Pack/240g

Chow Mein Sauce, Asia Specialities, Aldi -1 Pack/120g

Green Peppers – 125g

Red Peppers – 50g

Green Beans – 66g

Chestnut Mushrooms – ¾ Pack/187.5g

Spring Onions – 27g

Avocado Oil – 8ml

Mange Tout – 72g

Wholewheat Noodles – 110g

Preparation

De-seed and de-stalk peppers and cut into strips. Top and tail beans and mange touts and cut in half. Trim spring onions and cut into bite sized slices. Wipe mushrooms and cut into chunks.

Method

Place noodles into a pan of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Put oil in a large wok and heat over a medium heat. Add the peppers, beans, mange tout and onions. Cook for around 10 minutes stirring all the time. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook for a further 5 – 7 minutes.

Ad the sachet of sauce to the vegetables and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

Add the noodles and prawns, combine. Continue to warm through for about 3 – 4 minutes.

Serve.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal)  411.3

Protein (g)  27.9

Carbohydrate (g)  55.9

Fat (g)  7.6

Fruit & Veg  3.4

Fibre (g)   10.3