Author: roeliaschoeman

Corn and Mussel Chowder

| roeliaschoeman

I hang my head in shame – no post in 3 months… crazy!  But I think most people feel like me – this year is simply going too fast.  May, June and July simply seems like a blur!  Phew…  Anyway, time to get back on track!  Here we go 🙂

This soup is super tasty and super easy to prepare!

Corn and Mussel Chowder

150g chopped onion

10ml olive oil (lemon infused – or add a good squirt of lemon juice)

1 chopped chilli (can be omitted)

500ml chicken stock

400g frozen corn (pour boiling water over and leave to stand for a few minutes)

400g potato (cubed)

400g mussel meat

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh coriander or parsley to serve

 

Fry chopped onions in olive oil until soft.  Add potato cubes and chicken stock and simmer until soft.  Add 1/2 of corn and liquidise soup with handblender.  Add rest of corn and mussel meat, season.  Simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes (mussel meat cooks quickly)

Serve with fresh coriander or parsley.

 

Serves 4.

1 Serving = 1 Prot, 2 CC, 1/2 Fat, 1/2 Veg

 

 

 

 

 

Roasted Tomato Soup with Risoni

| roeliaschoeman

A lovely filling and tasty soup!  🙂  I added the risoni (pasta rice or orzo) to add a little more ‘body’ to the soup – you can have some chunky bread or toast with it, but it actually isn’t necessary, it is filling enough as is 🙂

10 ml olive oil

800g cherry/baby tomatoes

1 onion, quartered

Fresh thyme

400ml chicken stock (if vegetarian – use veggie stock)

200g cooked risoni (tip: cook in only for about 8 minutes, it tends to get soggy quite quickly!)

1/2 tsp Garlic and Herb Spice (I use Robertson’s Masterblends)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

To serve:  low fat feta (about 30g per person if serving 2, 15g if serving 4 ‘starter’ portions)  and fresh parsley

Place tomatoes, onions and thyme sprigs on a baking sheet (with foil and non-stick cooking spray) and a drizzle of olive oil.  Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 30 minutes (until tomatoes start to blister)

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Transfer to a pot (medium sized, stove top), and remove some of the thyme sprigs (it can get a little ‘tough’.  Add stock, spice mix, salt and pepper and simmer for about 15 minutes.  You can add more stock if you find it too thick.  Liquidise (I used a stickblender – liquidise the soup in the pot).  Stir in cooked pasta rice.  Simmer for another couple of minutes to make sure the pasta rice is the same temperature than the soup.  Dish up and serve with feta and fresh parsley (I actually wanted to use fresh basil, but we were all out!  The parsley was yummy as well.   And how ‘Italian’ does it look?  :):)

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Tip:  Hubby added blue cheese instead of low fat feta and said it worked well!  Also, if you prefer a more ‘meaty’ meal – serve with some fried bacon bits.

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Makes 2 large portions (that’s how we had it!) – or 4 ‘starter’ portions.

If serving 4:  1 CC, 1/2 Protein, 2 Veg, 1/2 fat

20 Minute Chickpea Curry (with Pumpkin Tagliatelle – and I can’t take credit for ALL that!)

| roeliaschoeman

Okay, I can’t take credit for the Pumpkin Tagliatelle – all the thanks go to Woolies!  But you can make your own using a veggie peeler 🙂  I’ve got a small spiraliser, but I found it works best for veggies like cucumber, baby marrow and carrots – nothing too ‘chunky’….

Anyway – Meatless Thursday – again!  Time sure flies…  😉

 

20-minute (cheat’s!) Chickpea Curry

1 tin chickpeas, drained

1/2 onion, finely chopped

5ml olive oil

1/2 tin tomato and onion mix

1 teaspoon curry powder (I used Woolies’ Korma mix)

1/2 teaspoon garlic and chili paste

1/2 tin lite coconut milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

To serve

Pumpkin “Pasta” – microwave in bag as per instructions for 3 minutes

100g cooked angelhair pasta

Fresh Coriander

 

Fry onions in olive oil for about 2 minutes – top up with a little veggie stock if needed.  Stir in garlic and chili paste, fry for another minute.  Add chickpeas, curry powder, tomato and onion mix.  Simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.  Stir in coconut milk.  And it’s ready to serve!

Mix cooked pumpkin Tagliatelle carefully with cooked pasta. Top with chickpea curry and fresh coriander 🙂

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Serves 2

Cauliflower and Cheese Soup

| roeliaschoeman

Sounds and tastes extremely decadent, but it is so  easy and quick to make and a very healthy and filling meal!  🙂

200g Potato, cubed

300g Cauliflower (I used frozen cauliflower and it worked well)

200ml Chicken stock (or Veggie Stock, if preferred)

250ml Fat free milk

60g finely grated low fat cheese

White Pepper and salt

Smoked Paprika

Boil potato cubes in chicken stock for 10 minutes on medium heat.  Add milk and cauliflower and cook until soft.  Season with salt an d pepper to taste.  Liquidise with handblender.  Stir in grated cheese and dish up in soup bowls.  Sprinkle with a bit of Smoked Paprika and stir through – it gives a lovely colour and taste!

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Serves 2:  1 Serving =  1 CC, 1.5 Veg, 1/2 Milk, 1 Prot

PS:  Make this “Best Choice” by using Low Fat Feta!

Butternut Spaghetti with Bacon and Herbs

| roeliaschoeman

I am, like most people, a little obsessed with spiralised veggies at the moment.  I guess it is the fact that, by simply changing the shape of a veggie, it makes it a little more versatile and ‘fun’ to work (and play) with 🙂  And who doesn’t like pasta-shaped stuff!  😉

This is a super quick meal – honestly, it took about 10 minutes to prepare!

175g lean bacon (I used Eskort Weigh-Less Smoked bacon), cut into strips

5ml lemon infused olive oil (or plain olive oil with a dash of lemon juice if you don’t have infused olive oil)

200g Butternut Spaghetti (super excited about this new product from Woolies!  But again, if you can’t get hold of it, make your own spiralised veggies.  Spiralisers are widely available, I got a very cool one from Clicks, for R99.  You can even use coarsely grated butternut)

20g chinese style noodles (we often make trips to Cyrildene, Johannesburg’s China Town.  Very affordable produce and a very exotic and interesting range of products available.  It is a treat!  If you feel nervous to venture out on your own, join the Chef Ishvara’s group on Facebook – it is called “African Secrets – cultural walks in the inner city of Joburg” and he offers insightful and very interesting tours to the various cultural hotspots in Johannesburg. A true treat!  Look out for his Cyrildene and Fordsburg tours)  Okay, and after all that – you can use angelhair pasta as well!  LOL!

Robertsons Masterblends – Garlic and Rosemary seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh basil to serve

Fry bacon strips in pan coated with non-stick spray – add a few mls of boiling water to prevent from sticking – it will take about 4 minutes.  In the meantime, place the butternut spaghetti in the microwave (can just microwave it in the bag or with a little bit of water) for 2 minutes.  Also cook the pasta in boiling water – the pasta is very thin, so it takes only 5 minutes to cook.  Add a generous sprinkling of Garlic and Rosemary seasoning to the bacon strips.  Stir in drained pasta and butternut strips and season with salt, pepper and infused olive oil.  Fry at high heat for 1 minute (we don’t want the butternut and pasta to get soggy and overcooked)

Serve with fresh basil

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Voila!  10 minute meal!  And it is yummy!

PS:  You can make this a vegetarian option by replacing the bacon with feta.  Cook butternut and pasta as above, mix together, season and serve with basil 🙂

2 Prot, 1 Fat, 2 Veg, 1 CC

Creamy Pumpkin & Herb Pasta with Feta Crumble

| roeliaschoeman

The title of this dish is slightly deceiving because it contains NO cream!  But the pasta sauce has got a lovely ‘creamy’ texture indeed!

100g chopped onions – 1 Veg

10ml olive oil – 2 Fat

1/2 tsp garlic and herb paste

1/2 tsp mixed herbs

400g cooked pumpkin chunks (I bought a prepared pack and just popped it in the microwave for 4 minutes –  are per the instructions) – 4 Veg

10oml prepared chicken stock (or veggie stock)

Salt and pepper to taste

60g crumbed feta mixed with a sprinkling of dried sage and parsley – 2 Prot

Pasta serving according to your formula/daily allowance

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Fry onions in olive oil until soft.  Stir in garlic and herb paste and herbs and fry for a minute or so.  Add pumpkin chunks and chicken stock and cook until pumpkin is soft.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Liquidise if preferred or just mash with a fork.

Stir cooked pasta in (I used linguine) and simmer for a few minutes.

Dish up and serve with a crumbed feta mix.

Serves 2

Coconutty Curried Lentils with geelrys (yellow rice)

| roeliaschoeman

Yes, if it is Thursday night it must be “Vegetarian” night!  Yay!

Needed to put a quick meal together – so this is where meal prepping and planning comes in!  I usually cook and portion food like brown rice and lentils in advance so that it is easy to throw a healthy and wholesome weekday meal together.

So here goes – Coconut Curried Lentils (with geelrys).  Geelrys is a traditional South African dish – directly translated it means ‘yellow rice’.  Rice is cooked with turmeric to give it a lovely, warm yellow colour and is usually served with raisins.  But I left the raisins out this time around – simply because I didn’t have any!  LOL!

First – the Yellow Rice:  I had some pre-cooked brown rice in the fridge, I usually freeze it in 140g portions – 2 CCs.  I popped the frozen rice in a pot, topped it with boiling water and 1/3 tsp turmeric.  Bring to a quick boil, don’t cook it for too long otherwise the rice will become mushy.  Drain and keep aside.

Curried Lentils

100g chopped Onions

5ml Olive Oil

1/2 tsp ginger and garlic paste

1 heaped tsp curry powder (your choice – mild, spicy, hot!  I decided to go with Woolies Cape Malay curry powder – a slightly sweet, mild curry powder)

1/4 tsp turmeric

200g cooked lentils (again, had it pre-cooked and frozen, just put the plastic bag I froze it in, in some hot water for a few minutes to thaw)

100ml chopped tinned tomatoes

80ml coconut milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Fresh coriander to serve

 

Fry onions and spices in olive oil until onions are soft – you can add a few drops of water if the mixture cooks dry.  Stir in rest of ingredients and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked away.  Add yellow rice, stir through and simmer for a minute or two.  Serve with fresh coriander.

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Serves 1 (LARGE portion – you can divide it in two) 2 CC, 2 Prot, 2 Fat, 1 Veg

 

 

Veggie Breakfast Scramble

| roeliaschoeman

Yes, a ‘non-traditional’ option for breakfast, but I must admit, I am a little ‘cerealed’ out.  I know that I can have eggs, lean bacon, etc for breakfast as well, but I prefer to keep my protein portions for a little later during the day.  And, I woke up with a CRAVING for veggies 🙂 So why not incorporate it into the most important meal of the day?  😀  Used mostly ‘free’ veggies as well.

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I discovered some sweet potato ‘noodles’ at Food Lovers Market, but you can just use grated sweet potato or use a spiraliser, if you’ve got one?  I got my spiraliser at Clicks, very affordable and adds a lot of fun on your plate!  🙂  Okay, here goes:

80g sweet potato noodles (‘normal’ grated potato will work great as well!) – I pre-cooked it in the microwave for about 4 minutes.

80g zucchini (baby marrow) noodles (saw it is available at Woolies and Foodlovers’, maybe  a few other places as well – these I just made using my spiraliser)

50g leeks, thinly sliced

50g yellow pepper, chopped

100g chopped tomato

100ml veggie stock

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sweet Chili Sauce

Add all the veggies except the sweet potato in a saucepan, together with the veggie stock and bring to boil.  Cook for a couple of minutes until tomato is soft.  Stir in sweet potato noodles, season and cook for another minute or so.  Serve with a drollop of sweet chili sauce.

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1 Serve = 1 CC and 1 Veg

 

Lentil Spaghetti Bolognaise

| roeliaschoeman

I probably mentioned it before, but think I am an undercover vegetarian.  Simply because I am just naturally attached to the ‘V’ options on the menu.  And that is it!  So when I get the opportunity to have a vegetarian dinner at home, I grab it with both hands 🙂  Thursday nights are my ‘chill nights’ at home.  Just me, our puggies and a duvet!  I try to watch a favourite movie/series and sip on big cups of tea.  But my attention span doesn’t always allow me to finish watching anything!  LOL!  But that, is another story altogether.

Anyway, the aim of this post – LENTIL SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE!  It is your classic, basic bolognaise recipe using lentils instead of minced beef 🙂

100g onion, chopped

10ml olive oil

5ml garlic and herb paste (you can use less if you HAVE to :))

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

300g cooked lentils

5ml Italian Herb mix (dried) – you can use fresh herbs as well, but I was all out!

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 sachet Canderel Sweetener

Fry onions in olive oil until soft, stir in garlic and herb paste.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve with spaghetti according to your formula, and sprinkle with marjoram (dried or fresh!)  Tip:  I often ‘bulk’ up my pasta with zucchini or carrot strips, or even mashed butternut 🙂

Easy. Peasy.

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Serves 3:  1 Serving = 1 Protein, 1.5 Veg, 1 Fat (rounded up)