Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls

Have you heard of Uniform Dating? For those who don't know they are a dating website and whilst I didn't meet my B via there, in these modern times I think dating sites are a great idea to find people with shared interests without having to hang around a bar trying to catch someones eye or some dingy pub batting off the undesirables! I have had my fair share of that and I am so glad to have settled down now! Anyway over the past few months Uniform Dating have been working with Chef Michael Caines to create a new Uniform Foodies dating app, featuring his recipes - and as of today it has my Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls too! It goes live today so do check it out! Its currently only 69p to download in the app store!

Whilst I am not a Nurse, outside of blogging I actually work in a hospital and up until very recently worked as a Healthcare Assistant alongside the Nurses on a busy medical ward, and for my Uniform Foodies recipe challenge I of course chose to create a Nurses favourite meal – which following a national survey by Uniform Dating was salad! (I wont mention how quickly a box of chocolates or biscuits will disappear in when left at the desk!) 

For my salad I wanted to keep it simple but special as when you are working shifts around the clock and often lack time to create something tasty the instant noodle packs become far too appealing – so when planning my salad for the challenge I decided to go with some lean protein – chicken breast and lots of veggies for replacing all those vitamins lost during a busy shift along with some carbs in the form of a tortilla wrap that forms the base of the meal too and kidney beans for extra protein! Its also quick to assemble with fairly normal ingredients to find and can be prepared in advance around your life!

By making my salad a little spicy plus the idea to eat with your hands if desired, you can potentially eat this with your loved one (who you might perhaps find on Uniform dating!) and turn on a bit of caveman instinct getting a little dirty by breaking off chunks of the crispy tortilla to scoop the filling out or simply enjoy by yourself and save the leftovers for lunch the next day! Either way its quick, tasty and super easy to make!

Serves 2

Easy

Ingredients

Bowls:

2 tortilla wraps

Spray oil

Salad:

375g Chicken breast diced into ½ inch chunks

½ red onion finely sliced

120g cooked kidney beans

1 spring onion, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp Lime juice

1 tsp cumin seed

2 tsp Smoked paprika

½ tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

½ Yellow pepper sliced

20g coriander leaves shredded – save the stalkier parts to put with the chicken

6 outer leaves Romaine lettuce

1/6^th Cucumber, halved cored and finely sliced

1 salad Tomato

Salt and pepper

4 heaped tbsp sour cream

Olive oil

Start in advance by making the ‘taco bowls’. There are a few different methods I found on the internet but I used one of our large cereal bowls. Spray with oil soften the wrap in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make pliable and shape around the upturned bowl. Place on a baking tray (it will be easier to get our the oven!) and cook in a hot oven – about 200o for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy. Allow to cool fully and if not using straight away store in a food bag or air tight container.

Marinade the chicken in a bowl with the lime juice, smoked paprika, chilli powder, cumin, ground coriander, season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoon of olive oil and mix well.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, sauté the onion until lightly browned, add the chicken and brown on both sides before adding the pepper, fry for a further 3-4 minutes then stir through the beans and tomato slices, cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the tomato is starting to break up, stir through the spring onion and coriander stalks then turn off the heat and put to one side.

By hand, halve the romaine leaves through the middle. Use the top parts to garnish your taco bowl and finely chop the remainder. Place in a bowl with the cucumber slices and most of the fresh coriander.

Add to the bowl the warm chicken mixture, toss together and fill the taco bowls. Top each bowl with 2 tablespoons of the sour cream and a little remaining coriander to garnish.

My spicy Chilli Chicken Bean Bowls were great fun to make and to eat! I constantly try new things and it ticked the boxes with a tongue tingling chilli kick! Its healthy, affordable and of course very tasty! Don't forget I am on twitter under @anneskitchen and you can also check out other #Uniform foodies on there too!

I am sending my recipe over to this months Cooking with Herbs challenge, held by Lancashire Food this month:

Disclaimer: I received vouchers to cover the cost of ingredients and my time developing the recipe for Uniform Dating

Chargrilled Pepper Stuffed Mushrooms

One of my favourite easy meals for one is making stuffed mushrooms, either as a simple starter with some nice leaves or making a larger portion into a more substantial meal. This particular one was somewhere in-between, the mushrooms needed using up and I ate them over two nights alongside dinner. Any excuse really!

The chargrilled red pepper paste is from Sainsbury's and its addictive stuff! Add's a real depth to dishes especially when chargrilling peppers on an electric hob is a bit of a no-no! I love the earthiness from mushrooms and the the tangy, tasty filling with a delicious cheesy crunch is a winning combination! I first discovered it late last year at a cookery event and its a regular ingredient now, I just wish it came in bigger jars!

Ingredients:

2 large flat mushrooms

2 heaped tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs

2 tsp chargrilled red pepper paste

1 tsp basil paste or a few fresh leaves shredded up

2 tbsp mature cheddar grated

Pre-heat the Oven to 200o 

Easy

Trim and destalk the mushrooms, zap for a minute in the microwave to soften.

Place the cooked mushrooms with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, combine and stuff into the mushrooms.

Spray a little oil on foil lined tray and and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and it smells delicious in your kitchen!

Mushroom, Ricotta and Leek Wholewheat Pasta

Pasta is such a great cupboard item that with a little fairy dust transforms into a delicious, comforting dinner. This particular variety I bought on offer was called Mafalda Corta, which as a rough description as I said to a friend was rectangles with frilly egdes! I am terrible for buying any new pasta I see, even our local Polish shop strangely enough has some great varieties which I am sure will be featuring in the future here! 

I unfortunately regularly work night shifts and do try to have an afternoon nap (though failed today as had late lunch and too much coffee!) which leaves a shorter time for meal prep and this recent pasta dish was quickly assembled in the time it took to cook the pasta - ideal for busy days too! I did admittedly eat it all. And it was huge but it kept me fuelled all night so was ideal - I think it would serve two for lunch next time!

Mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables but sadly not of my boyfriend and so this dish of pasta was very much all for me! To be honest it was so tasty I wouldn't have wanted to share it anyway! This months Pasta Please #11 challenge is also Mushroom themed so I have sent it over for the round-up!

In my pasta dish I used one of my new favourite cheat items that was leftover from the Chickpea burgers recipe last month in the form of Sundried tomato paste. It seems to keep for ages and is great when you only need a small amount, ideal for when cooking smaller portions and for one! Additionally I tested out Divo Italiano's new vegetarian friendly grated parmesan style cheese which worked really well. I am not vegetarian but make a large amount of veggie food so its good to find something I can recommend as a substitute to regular parmesan! The ready toasted pine nuts are great too for speed, I'd not seen them before but my boyfriends mum left them here and needless to say - this was their last goodbye! A great send-off I think!

Serves One 

Easy

Under 15 minutes

Ingredients

75g Mafalda Corta pasta shapes

1 heaped tbsp ricotta cheese

1 dsp Sundried tomato paste

2 tbsp veggie grated hard cheese

1 scant tbsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

4 large sliced chestnut mushrooms

3 inch portion of leek, halved lengthways and sliced

1 tbsp toasted pine nuts

s&p to taste

1) Start by heating the oil and butter together to a moderate heat and gently fry the mushrooms and leeks. Meanwhile cook the pasta as per packet instructions, mine was 11 minutes.

 2) Once the leeks have softened and the mushrooms lightly browned, stir in the paste and ricotta.

 3) When the pasta has cooked through, add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to loosen and gently warm through - if like me you have a electric cooker its best to remove from the heat to stir it all together and then place back on the heat to warm through gently. Add more pasta water if you prefer more sauce. Season to taste and add half the cheese and the pinenuts.

 4) Once warmed through, pile onto a plate or pasta bowl and serve immediately and garnish with  the remaining cheese.

Buon appetito!

Three Ways with Smoked Salmon

Up until about 18 months, perhaps two years ago I really didn't 'get' smoked fish, just could  not understand what the fuss was about. I recall laying out prettily a packet of smoked salmon at a garden party for my auntie when I was probably about ten years old and nibbling it - eurgh what are these people eating!! I guess its like olives - I adore them now but back then noooooooo way!!

Fortunately time has passed, and my taste-bud's have matured - and I am finding myself rather partial now to smoked salmon! It started with trying out smoked mackerel at a restaurant, as it came as part of a seafood starter platter thingy and then progressed onto smoked trout a food forum friend sent me, then finally smoked salmon!

A few weeks back 'The Handpicked Foodstore' sent me a rather delicious packet of their MacGilvray Smoked Salmon and it vanished very quickly! It was buttery soft, carried a gentle smoky flavour and made mine and B's meals that bit more special! Something like this is a rare treat for us, I am a budget queen but its nice to have something like this once in a while!

Lovely layers of Smoked Salmon!

 A honestly perfect way to eat breakfast - Buttered white toast, topped with creamy scrambled eggs and a scattering of smoked salmon strips! Heaven!

We had dinner guests last week, and as typical one of them was running late so I knocked up some quick canapes whilst wating - simply a tub of Divo ricotta cheese, a sprinkling of Divo Parmigianno Reggano seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice, atop a ritz cracker (so classy!) and a twist of smoked salmon and a sliver of cucumber! This dish however was hit and miss - me and the boyfriend really enjoyed it but my dad and brother were not so fond of the creamy filling. Ah well, more for us!

Last but not least - Stir-fried noodles with peppers and mushrooms, with the last few pieces of the smoked salmon. Unfortunately someone knocked at the door, then my phone kept ringing and by the time I ate it, it was lukewarm....was tasty at least still!

Many thanks to The Handpicked Foodstore who supplied me the Smoked Salmon, and to DIVO Italiano for the Ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano

Brie Stuffed Mushrooms with Balsamic Courgettes

Firstly, whilst I've been cooking an awful lot, I've not been really photographing, yet alone making notes, and so in turn the blog has become a little redundant... Over the past few months, my circumstances have evolved for the better, I have completed a course of therapy to help my understanding of me better, and as a result things I used to needlessly prioritize have changed.

I made this delicious recipe up months back, if I recall correctly after Christmas, when we had a glut of brie leftover and my dad bought me a tray of gorgeous flat mushrooms over. Its since been patiently sitting on my 'to post' list. Not sure why I hadn't gotten around to it but like life but finally it is here!

Looking back, I think my blogging became an outlet of sorts, maybe even escapism from a situation where I didn't feel my cooking was appreciated, and allowed me to vent and I suppose seek opinion and reassurance that what was I making, was infact good/ edible etc! Whereas now I know whilst its not always perfect, I can cook well, even quite brilliant at times and I am more accepting of my strengths and weaknesses. Not just in food, pretty much everything in my life really.

I can honestly say, that to anyone who has gone through the ugliness of crippling anxiety and depression - you have my upmost respect and sympathy. Its only when you look back and realise just how many corners of your life that it had crept into, how much power it had over you that you find out how strong you really are, and can start cutting back those weeds, until they eventually clear. Then its a case of the odd sprinkle of weedkiller to keep it at bay. If you ever feel like you might be in the same position - please do seek help - its nothing to be ashamed of!


So getting back to the one that has remained a passion of mine - the food - its been a love hate relationship at times but this was definitely love! The brie goes oozingly meltingly lovely against the earthy mushrooms and it makes a perfect lunch for one, two or more.


Ingredients:
2 heaped tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
6 leaves purple basil (regular will be fine too!)
A small wedge of brie
2 large flat mushrooms
Spray oil

1 courgette
½ tbsp. balsamic vinegar
S&p



Start by preheating the grill, spay the mushrooms with generous chunks of brie, pack with breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper, and add a few torn up basil leaves.



Spray liberally with oil and grill at medium-hot for approx. 10 minutes or until bubbling and golden.

Meanwhile, for the courgettes, slice into 1cm chunks. Pan fry in a little oil over a moderate heat to get some colour on - they should still have some bite to them, season with salt and pepper, swirl in about a tbsp. of balsamic vinegar to coat, serve immediately alongside the mushrooms.

Spiced Lamb Chops with Kala Chana, Cheese and Spinach bake

Woohoo I finally have a working laptop again! It has been nearly a month since she decided to give up the ghost on me, she has been pieced back together, complete with a new hard drive and fortunately I had done a back up just in the nick of time so didn't lose everything..... However it also in the process deleted my Office package, and as I don't have the original discs anymore due to a change of personal circumstances. I have managed to get installed a very ancient version but I can't actually open 90% of my documents until I find someone elses pc to convert them all to pre-historic stage. Oh and it has somehow lost its sensor that moved the cursor up and down  , and the zoomy thing. Not sure why?!

Also quite sadly I have lost all my links to recipes I wanted to try, which after a good 2 years of collecting has upset me somewhat! I thought I was being more eco friendly not printing them out but now am gutted to have lost them all :( I just reinstalled chrome and set my theme and I have them all back! Huge relief!!!

Fortunately its not been all bad in February, I was sent a box full of fabulous lamb from Farmison which helped to soften the blow:

When I was  initially approached about trying out Farmison, it was an easy decision of yes - whilst I hadn't been all that familiar with them as a brand, I have become increasingly wary of buying meat at supermarkets with everything that has been in the press and even more importantly for me - the taste.

After a peruse through their website I liked what I saw. The products looked good quality, the website was easy to use, and I really liked the fact that all their meat comes from higher welfare farms and is mostly free range or organic. Going back to the subject of taste, whilst I try to go to the butchers, I don't unfortunately have one very close to me and I have to go out of my way to go to my favoured one, so being able to purchase online, choosing the exact cuts and products I want delivered to my doorstep is far more ideal.

Then came the choice of what to choose.....I never buy lamb at the supermarket as find the taste frequently off putting, it also isn't the cheapest of meats so its something I only buy as a rare treat from my butchers, and so I decided to test out their lamb as for me it would be a good test of the quality, and I was not disappointed at all. I had a small selection of cuts, and they were all quite perfect. My lamb arrived perfectly packaged, when expected and was a very smooth transaction - always admirable! We all have our share of horror deliveries I am sure and fortunately this was not one of them!

Out of the four dishes I made, this recipe was my favourite and wanted to blog about it first but I daresay the other three recipes will follow in due course! This made a really quite wonderful lunch, and for something so simple it really was quite divine.

One of the ingredients I used was a bit of a cheat - I buy from Lidl jars of pre-marinated cheese cubes and olives which come in a herby oil - great for throwing into salads too. If you are unable to source, it would be easy enough to combine something like feta or salad cheese cubes with a few olives and some dried herbs, with a little oil. In fact I could make my own easily enough but as I said above - they are my cheat ingredient!! The jar is 300g, and I used roughly half of it.

Spiced Lamb chops with Chickpea, Cheese and Spinach Bake

Serves two
Easy

Ingredients:

2 large lamb chops
200g frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tin kala chana (brown chickpeas)
1 red romana pepper, sliced
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
150g jar of cheese cubes & olives in herb oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
S&P to taste

Start by toasting the spices and then grinding them finely, either in a mill or using a pestle and mortar. Please don't be tempted to buy them ready ground! It really doesn't take more than 5 minutes whilst you get on with other things, like making a nice cup of tea and it makes so much difference!

Combine the ground spices with the oil, rub all over the chops thoroughly and leave somewhere cool for a good hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 200o

Heat a heavy based frying pan big enough to fit the chops, add the chops when hot and fry for 3 minutes each side. Meanwhile, when the chops start releasing some oil, throw in the peppers and stir well - you want to get a little colour on them.

Toss together the kala chana, spinach, cheese cubes with 2 tbsp of the oil from the cheese jar and spread out into a small roasting tin.

place the chops and peppers on top and transfer to the oven. Roast for ten minutes, allow to stand for 5 minutes and then its time to eat!!

Your kitchen should smell rather lovely and you will be itching to get your photos taken so you can get your knife and fork into it!!

Many thanks to Farmison and and Laura at Riva PR

Potato, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Melt

Its a little over due this post but just before Christmas I was sent a bag of some lovely red skinned Rudolph Potatoes, which in turn got turned into a few different potato based dishes!

Whilst these snow white centred beauties made excellent mini roast potatoes - one of my favourite ways to cook potatoes - simply tossed in oil - in this case Mr Hugh's Extra Virgin Rapeseed oil, sea salt and some freshly chopped rosemary sprigs:

However, a new personal favourite was this proper fridge raid supper, and in about 20 minutes I had this gorgeous mini roasting pan full of my favourite foods, grilled until meltingly delicious! 

Just before Christmas I treated myself to a small hardy non-stick roasting pan - ideal for one or two portions, if not use a small gratin style or small shallow casserole dish

2 medium sized rudolph potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks

4 chestnut mushrooms, sliced

A few sliced green olives - mine were leftover from Boxing day

Small wedge of gorganzola cheese

S&P

1) Start by boiling the potatoes until just tender – about 12 minutes. 

2) Meanwhile fry the mushrooms in a little oil until nicely browned. 

3) Drain the potatoes well, place in a greased non-stick roasting pan in an even layer, dot over the olives, scattering of the cheese, mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Place until a hot grill until everything is starting to brown and the cheese has melted nicely. 

Serve garnished with fresh parsley and your choice of vegetable – mine was my Christmas favourite of spiced red cabbage, which I made a job lot of before Christmas - it freezes a treat!

Thanks to both Rudolph Potatoes and Mr Hugh's oil for the Samples

Marmite Noodle Soup and its Variations...

In an effort to fit into not one, but two bridesmaid dresses at the end of last year, drast action was needed as what with winter approaching vs bad knees; resulting in a distinct lack of exercise, and thus resulting in being a little curvier than the dresses required, this soup became my trusty dieting friend – and hooray the dresses both did up perfectly!

This is a soup that lacks finesse but makes up for on flavour! I love the savoury kick the marmite gives it, if however you are not a fan, you could substitute soy sauce. It is also a staple meal of mine post working late shift when you are hungry but don't want a heavy meal sitting on your stomach. 

Method:

Start by grabbing your intended serving bowl, fill with water, transfer to a pan and bring to the boil

Then stir in 1 tsp marmite and ½ tsp vegetable bouillon powder, add a handful of soup pasta/ noodles and add in either of the following

Half a grated carrot
Half a grated courgette 

Sliced mushrooms (lightly fry first in the pan)
Handful frozen mixed vegetables
Frozen peas
Sliced peppers 
etc!

Then reduce the heat to a moderate simmer for about five minutes or until the pasta is cooked through. 

If you prefer a thicker soup, add a little cornflour slackened with water to the boiling soup and stir vigorously. You can now serve up or turn it into a more protein boosted version with these optional extras:

Courgette version

Egg versions:

Turn off the heat, crack in an egg, don’t touch for 30 seconds then lightly whisk with a fork and serve immediately, preferably garnished with a little fresh coriander and a twist of black pepper. It doesn't look pretty but it tastes good!

Or quickly fry a one egg omelette, shred into the cooked soup

Prawn:
Once the soup is almost cooked, throw in a small handful of cooked peeled prawns, a little fresh coriander here too is welcome. 

Mushroom and Egg version

Basically the list is endless! Leftover scraps of meat work perfectly well too. It is a great way of using up fridge leftovers and super frugal!

I am also sending this over to Credit Crunch Munch created between Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and also held this month by Helen

Turkey and Black Olive Roulade

Some nights I eat relatively quick and simple meals..some nights I feel like making more of an effort, and this was one of them! However it still was ready in under 20 minutes so not really too much effort was needed!

Serving meals up that look good on the plate always help I think, you do eat with your eyes after all as the saying goes! Also most importantly when cooking for one, you really do have artistic licence and you should make a little effort to treat yourself! Recently on a food forum we were discussing the highs and lows of cooking for one, and its a constant balancing act, however this is a perfect meal for one - you don't have leftovers for three days or even more tupperware to squeeze into the freezer and as it looks pretty, it feels that bit more special. As I used the rice water to poach it in, it also equalled less washing up - never a bad thing!

Prior to this I’d never made a roulade before and not even sure why I thought about it at the time, however I was glad I did. It actually was very easy to make, the only scary bit was trying work out how long it would take before it was cooked through due to my inexperience! Luckily my judgement paid off and the turkey was beautifully moist. This would also work really well with chicken breasts.

Ingredients:

1 turkey breast fillet, 

Heaped tbsp black olive pate

Couple of freshly basil leaves

Method:

Start by covering the turkey in cling film and bash with a rolling pin evenly, until about 1/2cm thick and spread with the pate, tear over a couple of the basil leaves

Carefully roll up the turkey really tightly in the cling film, a little like a Christmas sweetie and firmly pinch/ tie the ends together.

I was cooking rice anyway to go alongside the turkey, so also went in the roulade and boiled gently for about ten minutes, then very gently unwrap on a paper towel lined board. Alternatively simmer in boiling water.

Once the cling film has been removed, then brown the roulade in a hot lightly oiled pan to make it look pretty and golden all over. 

Slice the roulade into rounds and serve with whatever you fancy. I had rice and roasted vegetables with a little onion gravy, which worked very well. Making nice gravy too can be a bit of effort for a single serving, however I tart up instant with a spoonful of onion marmalade - works a treat!

N.b. The olive pate was one of my random purchases for 75p reduced from about £3 – I do love a bargain! If you can't lay your hands on some, something like tapenade would be suitable.

Another week..another omelette! Black forest Ham and Courgette & Omelette

Thank heavens for flatmates, especially one that leaves gifts! Mine went on holiday recently, and when I returned home at night I found ‘my’ shelf in the fridge now also contained a tomato, 2 loose eggs and a yoghurt!

Having found myself rather hungry, after working a very long shift I was deciding what to eat VS state of mind I proceeded with my fall back meal – omelette! I had some smoky black forest ham left in the fridge, along with half a courgette left from another of my other fallback recipe of marmite soup (will blog soon!), and quickly knocked up a ham and courgette omelette, served with balsamic tomatoes on the side.

Less than 10 minutes to table and a content stomach! Start by grating and gently frying the courgette for about 3 minutes just to soften, remove from the pan. Then the way I always do mine - as per the weight watchers recipe that simply uses a tablespoon of water, whisked in with s&p, into a hot pan with a little spray oil, add the eggy mixture, let it sit for fifteen seconds or so, then gently loosen the sides and use a wooden spatula to fluff up the middle until just set, add the courgette and roughly torn ham, warm through for about a minute or so, flip over one side to seal and serve! For the tomatoes, simply cut into quarters and drizzle with balsamic crème.

The omelette was delicious, with the smoky ham and tender sweet courgette flavours working in harmony together.

Turkey Escalopes...with Marmite love!

I know when it comes to Marmite, you either love it - me me me - or hate it - there are strange folk out there!! It has this weird, enticing lure. Savoury and delicious. Nothing really does compare!

Twice this week I have managed to include heavenly marmite in my cooking - I finally tried Nigella's marmite spaghetti, albeit with vermicelli pasta, which was quite simple and yet simply heavenly, and secondly the old brain went a bit awol (oh the joy of shift work), and I had seen the marmite jar earlier that day.... Saw my turkey steak. And thought hmmm......could I ...really?!

You see that night I had not planned to actually do anything remotely turkey related. My meal planner (ha)  said frittata but I really did not fancy frittata. Also I had been food shopping for the week that afternoon, and had randomly picked up 3 turkey breast steaks reduced for a measly £1.50..how could I say no? This despite having a freezer full of food....

On a separate note earlier on that particular day I had made some ginger biscuits (nice but not blog worthy), which involved only the egg yolk, and was left with the white, hence the frittata idea. But then ~I thought what about coating something - in this case the turkey was to hand - and went from there!

My steak was a bit chunky and I was worried about it drying out in the pan, so I sliced it though horizontally into two thin steaks, dried off with kitchen paper, massaged with marmite, floured, bathed in beaten egg white, then pressed into a good handful of breadcrumbs (top frugal tip - never throw away that end bit of crusty bread - blitz and freeze for future meal making!) and then fried in a drizzle of olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Super quick!

And the result? These turkey escalopes were a zillion times better than the ones I was brought up on! The marmite added a deliciously savoury note, and this is in no way the end of my love affair with having marmite other than on my toast!

This in no way a sponsored post. Just a marmite addict at the helm.

Ham and Mushroom Omelette, Weight Watchers style

As previously promised in my semi-recent Weight Watchers posting, and in my other omelette post I have made my first recipe from the book. Well sort of anyway! As with most recipes I use, I tweaked it a little as to what I had in but the basic elements are the same, and it was really good! Adding water to eggs admittedly had my brain questioning slightly but I kept my faith and actually produced I think one of the nicest omelettes I’ve ever made. The fact it was also cooked in a rather battered inherited frying pan, on the ancient electric cooker that belongs to the property I’ve just moved into, was even more of a good surprise!

It made a perfect lunch, not too heavy and yet very satisfying. Definitely a keeper. The original recipe uses soft cheese but I only had some natural yoghurt to hand and sneaked in a tsp of grated cheese instead! Whilst cheese isn't sadly high up on the list of health foods, I use a coarse grater for small amounts and find a little goes a long way (nearly 18 months on I am still completely in love with my Jamie one!). Since making this one, I have made many an omelette using this method. They are a perfectly quick and light meal for one, and full of goodness.

Adapted from 'The Complete Kitchen' by Weight Watchers, which is available now to buy

Ham and Mushroom omelette

2 large eggs, whisked with 1 tbsp cold water and black pepper to taste
1 slice good quality ham, any visible fat removed and roughly chopped up
Spray cooking oil
2 Tbsp low fat plain yoghurt
1 tsp or so grated cheese
4 chestnut mushrooms, sliced thickly

Heat a frying pan, spray with oil and fry the mushrooms until cooked to your liking, transfer to a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and season with black pepper.

Spray a little more oil into the pan, add the beaten egg mixture and leave for around 20 seconds to set, gently scrape in the sides and level out, when the egg is almost set on top, sprinkle over the ham. 

Carry on cooking gently, spoon the mushroom mixture over half of the omelette, sprinkle over the cheese and carefully fold over the other half to form your omelette, transfer to a plate and serve with a nice green salad. And pickles if desired. I have a thing for pickled red cabbage!

Many thanks to Juliette at Shiny Red for the review copy.

Turkey steaks with Mushroom and Mustard sauce

Do you have any leftover Turkey still from Christmas? Hopefully not! If however you did stash some away unto the depths of the freezer and can't face another turkey curry/ sandwich etc then my quick and easy mustard sauce will be a quick salvation for you!

I often use yoghurt nowadays for making both sweet and savoury sauces, ever since I had a job lot of Total yoghurt a few years back it really made me think about using yoghurt in cooking, and not just for breakfast! You could easily interchange the yoghurt for a light cream cheese or even fromage frais would probably work. Maybe even some naughty double cream for those not making January a healthy month! Don't feel you have to be too precise on the measurements - this was very a much judged by eye, than spoon!

You can use any type of plain natural yoghurt in this, this batch was made with a probiotic low fat one..as long as its not strawberry flavoured you can’t really go too wrong! Its such a quick and tasty dinner with very little effort involved. Perfect for busy evenings when you want something fast, but without lacking on flavour. I had dinner on the table in under 15 minutes, which is always good especially when it tastes great too! Better still it cooks in one pan so less washing up to do as well! 

Serves one - easily up-scaled though 

Simply heat a good solid based pan, fry a turkey breast steak in a little garlic oil for a couple of minutes both sides, until just cooked through, reserve and keep warm. Try and get a little colour on the turkey. 

Using the same pan, return to the heat, add a handful of sliced chestnut mushrooms and brown over a moderate heat for 4-5 minutes - you will want some of the juices for the sauce so don't cook over too high a heat but enough to brown them. Stir in 1 heaped tsp of wholegrain mustard and 2 tbsp of yoghurt, reduce the heat and return the turkey to the pan, gently heat everything through and serve immediately topped with the sauce. Easy as that! 

I served mine with spinach and orzo but any green vegetables would be good here!


*If you want to make it a little healthier, use spray oil in lieu of the garlic oil and add a little garlic puree to the mushrooms. Though turkey is pretty healthy anyway and I only used a smidge of oil so totally up to you!*