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Thai Green Curry

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Thai curry

Thai Green Curry

Many thanks to Mands (mands5781 on Connect/mandst_ww_tortoise on Instagram) for this recipe.

The whole pot is only 4sp and it serves 4 large portions! 

 

It's best made the day before - the flavours are much nicer when cooked in advance and left to infuse! Also, you have a quick easy dinner to ding in the microwave!

 

Mands made hers with white fish (tilapia) and prawns which are 0sp, but you could use chicken breasts (0sp) or any other meat you like and point that. Or keep it simple and use some veggies for a #meatfree version.

 

No Count:1sp

WW Freestyle: 1sp plus points for the rice you serve it with.

 

‍ Ingredients (serves 4 – 6):

  • 2 large white fish fillets
  • 200g raw king prawns
  • a white onion
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 2 inches of root ginger
  • Groovy Food Company coconut cooking spray
  • 45g Waitrose Green Thai curry paste
  • 200ml vegetable stock (made with one vegetable stock cube)
  • a handful of spinach
  • a red pepper
  • 230ml Asda free-from coconut milk (fridge section milk alternative - not tinned)
  • 1 tbsp quark 1sp
  • fresh coriander & lime juice to serve

Method:

  1. Blitz onion, garlic and ginger into a fine dice and sweat in coconut cooking spray.
  2. When softened, add the Thai paste, and a little water to prevent sticking.
  3. When the onions are soft but not too brown, add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
  4. Blitz the handful of spinach to a fine blend and add to the curry - this gives a great green colour and bangs in some extra veg and vitamins for good measure.
  5. Add the chopped red pepper and fish and prawns to poach. Leave to simmer for 12-15mins until the fish is cooked and the peppers are softened but retain a bite.
  6. Add the coconut milk towards the end and remove from the heat.
  7. Just before serving, add a tablespoon of quark, squeeze of lime and some fresh coriander - but do this off the heat and be sure not to boil as the sauce will split.
  8. Enjoy!

 

 

Lasagne Parcels

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Lasagna Parcels Photo

Lasagne Parcels

This is one of Mands’ (@mands5781 on Connect/@mandst_ww_tortoise on Instagram) amazing recipes but I’ve adapted it ever so slightly to suit No Count.  It's a delicious variation of lasagne and well worth trying.

No Count: 1sp

WW Freestyle: 9sp

Ingredients (makes 5):

  • 10 sheets of wholewheat dried lasagne
  • 400g 5% lean beef mince
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1 large onion /carrot /celery chopped finely - soffreito mix if you can get it
  • 1 carton of passata
  • Italian mixed herbs
  • 1 beef oxo cube
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 250g tub of quark
  • 100g WW reduced fat grated cheese
  • a tbsp olive oil (from daily allowance) Use Frylight if following WW freestyle
  • a tsp of garlic granules
  • a tsp of mixed herbs

Method:

  1. Soak the wholewheat dried lasagne in a bowl of cold tap water for about an hour – until it’s flexible. You might want to put a couple of spare sheets in as it will tear if it sticks together. Pat dry with a paper towel as you remove each piece from the water.  (If you’re following WW Freestyle, you’d be better using fresh lasagne sheets.)
  2. Sauté garlic and soffreito mix in a pan with the oil until soft and browned.
  3. Add mince and brown.
  4. Add the passata, stock, herbs and vinegar and simmer until thick and rich.
  5. Mix the garlic granules and mixed herbs with the quark.
  6. Lay out 5 sheets of lasagne lengthways on a baking sheet. Pop half a teaspoon of quark in the middle and then lay the other 5 sheets on top to make a cross.
  7. When the sauce is done, spoon into the middle of the pasta cross. Fold over and cover with the remaining quark.
  8. Sprinkle all the grated cheese over evenly and bake on 190C for about 30mins until the cheese is bubbly and brown.
  9. Served with simple steamed green veg.
  10. Enjoy!

 

Cajun Salmon with Mexican Bean Rice

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Cajun Salmon with Mexican Bean Rice

This week's recipe has kindly been provided by Mands: @mands5781 on Connect/ @mandst_ww_tortoise on Instagram.

I made it this week and absolutely loved it - and so did hubby!  It's definitely one to try:-)

No Count: free

WW Freestyle: 2sp

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 4 salmon fillets
  • Cajun Spice Mix
  • shallots or a red onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • a courgette, diced
  • a red pepper, diced
  • corn off a cob (or a small tin of corn)
  • a tbsp passata
  • a tsp chipotle paste
  • a tsp smoked paprika
  • 300g tin of cooked mixed beans in water
  • 60g brown rice

Method:

  1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the rice. (You can steam the rice if you wish.)
  2. Take the fillets of salmon and sprinkle them with Cajun Spice Mix and bake for 20mins on 190C.
  3. Meanwhile, take a deep pan or wok and heat some coconut cooking spray (from the Groovy Food Company).
  4. Add the shallots (or red onion), garlic, courgette, red pepper and the corn.
  5. Gently cook and add the passata, smoked paprika and chipotle paste after a few minutes.
  6. When cooked, add the mixed beans and season.
  7. Mix the vegetable and bean mix with the rice and serve with the salmon.
  8. Enjoy!

 

Cheese and Onion Pasta with Roasted Veg

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Cheese and Onion Pasta with Roasted Veg

This recipe came about when I had planned to make macaroni cheese but wanted to try to make a more No Count friendly version.  I also had an onion left so decided to combine the two.  Result: a very tasty, very filling meal:-)

No Count: 1sp          WW Freestyle: 7sp

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 120g wholemeal penne
  • 70g quark
  • 32g Philadelphia lightest (16g per person is 0sp)
  • 54g WW reduced fat grated cheese (27g per person is 1sp)
  • a small onion, diced
  • oregano
  • roasting veg – a courgette, a red, yellow and green pepper, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan).
  2. Slice the courgette and peppers and place all the roasting veg on a non-stick oven tray. Spray with a bit of Frylight and cook for 20 – 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and add the pasta.
  4. While the pasta is cooking, fry the onion for about 5 minutes. If following No Count you could use your daily oil allowance (I used a tbsp of olive oil for two of us) or you could use Frylight.
  5. Mix together the quark and Philadelphia, and season. Add this to the pan with the onion and mix together.  Add a tbsp cold water and mix this in too.  Leave this pan on the low heat for a couple of minutes to warm through.
  6. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the onion mixture. Stir and mix together before adding the grated cheese and stirring this through too.
  7. Serve the cheese and onion pasta with the roasted veg. I added a sprinkling of oregano on top too.
  8. Enjoy!

 

 

 

No Count Pasta Sauce

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Marie has very kindly sent in her NC pasta sauce recipe which looks absolutely fantastic: it’s a gorgeous, sweet sauce.  It is free on No Count and just 1sp per serving on WW Flex.

  

Ingredients (serves 4):

1kg of very ripe tomatoes – chopped if large
an onion, medium, cut into wedges
a red pepper, seeds removed and chopped
a tbsp olive oil
a tsp dried basil
half a garlic bulb, not peeled
a tsp granulated sweetener such as Truvia
salt and black pepper

Method:

  1. Put everything in a large roasting tin, lined with baking parchment, drizzle the oil and stir.
  2. Place in a medium oven (160-180C) for 45-60 minutes, check every 20 minutes or so: you want the vegetables soft and just starting to brown on the edges.
  3. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool and take the garlic out.
  4. Put the vegetables in a food processor, squeeze the garlic pulp out of the skin into the sauce and liquidise till thick and smooth.

    This can be used as a basis for your favourite pasta dish or on a pizza. You could add a few chilli flakes for a spicy sauce.
    It’s a great way to use up overripe tomatoes!

Pesto Chicken Burgers

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This new recipe is from my Connect buddy Mands (@mands5781).  She decided to try and pimp up some chicken breast mince to make these burgers as chicken can be quite a bland mince and can go dry easily. This recipe really injects flavour and moisture into them so we hope you’ll like them - they were a real hit with her husband and son.

The recipe makes 10 sizeable burgers that don’t shrink too much and, as you can see, fill a brioche bun properly!!!  You can have 1 for 0sp, 3 for 1sp, 5 for 2sp on #freestyle and they are 0sp each on #nocount.

 

Ingredients (makes 10):

  • 600g chicken breast mince
  • 1 white onion
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 red pepper
  • tsp Italian mixed herbs
  • black pepper
  • 12 leaves fresh basil
  • 5 tbsp Asda reduced fat green pesto
  • 1 slice Warburtons medium sliced wholemeal bread (or a slice of white bread if following #freestyle)

Method:

  1. Blitz the onion, garlic, basil leaves, courgette and red pepper into a fine blitz and mix thoroughly with the mince.
  2. The mixture will give off a little liquid so drain this off if you can, but not too much as you want the moisture from the vegetables to keep the burgers from drying out.
  3. Blitz the slice of bread into a crumb and add this also to the mix with the pesto, black pepper and herbs.
  4. Mix well into the mince mix as it will absorb some of the moisture.
  5. Shape into 10 patties, place on a grease-proofed baking sheet and bake for 20-25mins on 190C - this is a fairly low temperature so that they don’t overcook and go dry.
  6. If following No Count, you can serve it with a Schar gluten-free white ciabatta roll, home-made fries, salad, 4 olives and corn on the cob – all free on No Count!