Grilled Nectarines with Vanilla Yogurt

New month, new goals, new challenges!  My goal for this month – be less lazy and keep this blog updated!  😉

This is a yummy snack or even dessert idea!  Works great on a braai as well – or grilled in the oven if you don’t have a griddle pan.  To be honest, I prefer the ‘oven grilled’ option, not a fan of washing griddle pans!  LOL!!

Anyway!  Here we go!

 

240g sliced, firm nectarines (pineapple works great as well!)

5ml honey, mixed with 15ml boiling water

 

175ml plain, fat free yogurt

2 sachets Vanilla Canderel (or normal sweetener with a few drops of vanilla essence)

 

Heat griddle pan to medium heat, spray with non-stick spray when hot

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Place nectarine slices in the pan to ‘grill’, basting with honey mixture, turn after 2 minutes or when you see it starts to form the griddle lines and is nicely caramelised – not burnt!  Turn and turn off heat – leave on the oven to cool a bit.

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Serve with a big drollop of yogurt and Vanilla Canderel mixed together.

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Serves 2:  1 Fruit, 1/2 Misc, 1/2 Milk

Old-fashioned Bean Soup

I made a LARGE batch, portioned and frozen and ready for autumn.  Or sooner!  🙂

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300g chopped onions

30ml olive oil

10ml garlic paste

600g par-cooked sugar beans (cooked for about 1 1/2 hours)

1 litre beef stock (or veggie stock for vegetarians)

200g carrots, peeled and chopped or grated

400g potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 heaped tablespoons tomato paste

50ml Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons dried parsley or fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Using a large soup pot – fry onions in olive oil until soft.  Stir in garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and fry for another minute.  Add the rest of the ingredients and lower heat to a slow simmer.  Top up with more stock if needed.  Simmer for about an hour, or until all the ingredients are soft.  I liquidised it a bit because I don’t like chunky soup.  Stir in dried parsley (or top with fresh parsley) and serve.

I topped each bowl with oven-baked pork sausages or lean bacon (1 additional protein serve).
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Serves 6

1 Serving = 1 Protein, 1 Veg, 1 CC

 

 

Mini Mushroom “Pizzas”

I’ve been craving pizza – so I decided to make a healthier option 🙂  Lovely tomato, cheese garlic and herb goodness – the ‘legal’ way 😉

 

3 large ‘braai’/brown mushrooms

100g tomato and onion mix/Weigh-Less Chili Tomato Pasta Sauce (I added a bit of garlic and herb paste to jazz it up a bit)

30g cheddar cheese – grated finely, it goes further!

1.5 slice Albany Ultima, grated to make breadcrumbs

10g olives, deseeded and finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

A sprinkling of Mixed Herbs

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Remove the stems of the mushrooms

Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

Stuff mushrooms with tomato mix (tomato base, herbs, breadcrumbs, olives and seasoning mixed together)

Top with cheese and sprinkle with Mixed Herbs

Pop into a pre-heated oven and 180C for about 20 minutes.

 

Serves 1 – 1 Veg (mushrooms = free), 1 Fat, 1 Protein, 1 CC

Carrot and Chickpea Falafel

A lovely vegetarian option!  🙂

 

200g carrots, cooked and mashed (or you can add it raw, finely grated)

75g chickpeas, tinned/cooked

20g fresh Italian Parsley

1/3 tsp chopped garlic

1/4 chopped red onion

10ml olive oil (I used jalapeno infused olive oil)

1/3 tsp Woolies Moroccan Rub (or you can just add a bit of cumin, cayenne pepper and coriander)

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Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend together.

Form little balls (I just used my hands!)

Put on baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray

Bake in pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15 minutes

Be careful when handling it, because there’s no binding agent (like eggs) it can break quite quickly.

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Serve with mint and yogurt dip!  (100ml plain fat free yogurt and a handful of chopped mint leaves)  I had it with a serve of toasted rye bread – very yummy if you mush everything together with the yogurt dip!

 

5-ingredient Yummy Nutty Chicken

400g chicken fillets, cubed

30ml peanut butter (I use the ‘no sugar’ variety)

250ml chicken stock

10ml olive oil

Woolies Coconut, Chili, Lime and Black Sesame Seed Spice

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This is so easy!

Fry chicken pieces in olive oil until pieces are sealed and 1/2 way cooked – add a few drops of water if needed.

Mix peanut butter with hot chicken stock – stir until smooth.

Add peanut butter stock mixture to chicken pieces and simmer slowly for about 10 minutes

Sprinkle with Woolies spice – if you don’t have it, just season with a few drops of lite coconut milk, dried chili flakes and a dash of fresh lime juice 🙂

Serve with fresh coriander, brown rice and stir-fried veggies from formula

Serves 2:  2 Prot, 2 Fat

Thai Mango & Chicken Salad Bowl

This looks sooo pretty (if I do say so myself!) and is quickly to assemble!

20160223_131653.jpg100g cooked angelhair pasta (cooled down)

90g smoked chicken (roughly chopped)

30g carrot and cucumber ribbons (you can make this with your veggie peeler)

10og fresh mango, sliced

A handful of lettuce and fresh herb mix

30g Sweet Chilli Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

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And that is it!

Mushroom and Chickpea Ragoût on Toast

Adapted from recipe seen on The First Mess

 

150g sliced mushrooms

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

50g leeks, chopped

5ml olive oil

1/2 tsp Worchestershire Sauce

1/2 tsp tomato paste

250ml chicken (or veggie) stock

75g chickpeas (cooked/tinned)

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Fry leeks in olive oil until soft, add a bit of chicken stock if needed.  Add mushrooms, fry for another few minutes and add rest of ingredients.  Simmer until most of the liquid has cooked away.  Serve with with warm rye bread toast.

 

Greek Marinated Mushrooms Kebabs

Always looking for a yummy veggie side dish 🙂  This is super easy and quite tasty!

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250g button mushrooms (whole)

25oml plain fat free yogurt

50g  each chopped parsley and chopped coriander

1 heaped teaspoon chopped garlic (or a little less to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste
Place mushrooms in a Ziplock bag or marinating bowl.  Add rest of ingredients, close bag and shake bag to mix – leave to marinate for about 4 hours.  Thread mushrooms on skewers and grill until soft.

 

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“Creamy” Asparagus Soup with Smoked Chicken

I thought the temperatures were going to drop a bit, but no luck!  After all, I guess we are still smack bang in the middle of summer!  I am definitely a ‘winter’ person so I relish every minor drop in temperature!  LOL!  So yes, even if it is just wishful thinking – I love soup any day of the year!

This is a super quick soup – should not take your more than 25 minutes.  I’m also not a fan of ‘chunky’ soup, so I always liquidise my soup and I also don’t use ‘meat/bones’ to make my soup with.

I often make this soup, but most of the time I use cauliflower instead of asparagus.  I just happened to discover a tin of asparagus in my cupboard (like the ‘end of the month Salticrax) and I wasn’t too sure what to do with it!  🙂

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So, here goes:

50g chopped leeks

5 ml olive oil

2ml crushed garlic

200g baby potatoes, peeled and cubed (it cooks quicker that way)

300ml chicken stock

1 tin asparagus (230g drained)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

90g smoked chicken, sliced

Non-stick cooking spray

 

Woolies Coconut, Chilli, Lime and Black Sesame Seed Grind (optional)

 

Fry leeks in olive oil for about 3 minutes.  Add garlic, fry for another minute and add potatoes and chicken stock and boil until soft (add more stock if needed).  Add asparagus and while cooking for another few minutes, put the chicken in the oven (on a baking sheet with tin foil and treated with non-stick cooking spray).  Allow the chicken to heat through and crisp up a little bit.

Liquidise soup mixture.  Serve soup with Coconut, Chilli, Lime and Black Sesame Seed Grind.  If I can be honest, I personally this seasoning works a bit better with a cauliflower soup  – not sure I will use it with asparagus again – but it looked very pretty 🙂

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Spoon crispy smoked chicken on top and enjoy!

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Corn & Pea Salad with Feta

I love a good corn salad – maybe because I am kinda a ‘quanity over quality’ person! LOL!  Okay, not that I’m saying that I don’t value quality – and also I am NOT saying that corn is nothing more than a bowl full of empty quanity!  Hahaha!  So maybe I must just shut up now!  🙂

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200g frozen corn (I just poured boiling water over and leave it to stand for about 10 – 15 minutes, no cooking required)

70 g frozen peas (using the same ‘no-cook’ trick as above!)

1/4 chopped onion

1/4 chopped green pepper

30ml low fat mayo

15ml sweet chili sauce

20g chopped peppadews

Salt and Pepper to taste

30g low fat feta

Lettuce to serve

 

 

1 Serve – 2 CC, 1 Prot, 1 Fat, 2 Veg