Chicken Jambalya

 Serves 1

Syns per portion: Extra Easy 1 syn

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, chopped
• 2 Tesco lighter choice cumberland sausages (1 syn), sliced
• 65g long grain rice
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 200ml chicken stock
• 100g passata
• 1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning
•  Frylight

Method

1. Add a few spray of frylight to a large pan. Add the chicken and sausages and leave to brown for 5 min.
2. Add the peppers, onion, cajun seasoning and garlic and brown for 5 more minutes. Stir often but don't worry if it sticks a little as this will help to add flavour to the dish.
3. Add the passata, stock and rice. Give the ingredients a good stir and scrap of any browned parts from the bottom of the pan. Cover and leave to simmer on a low heat for 20-25 min.
4. Give the pot a good stir and make sure the water has been absorbed and rice is cooked. Serve.

 I have never had Jambalaya before but I always wanted to try it as I love a good one pot dish. It tasted superb and was so filling, it's really hard to believe this is 'diet' food. I used tesco lighter choice sausages but if you have syn free sausages then it would make this whole meal free.  I was a bit worried about using 'easy cook' rice as most basic recipes I seen just had long grain rice stated as an ingredient, but my dish worked out perfectly and the rice was nice and tender and not soggy. Enjoy.

Vegetable Risotto

Serves 1

Syns per portion: Extra Easy Free , Green Free

Ingredients

• 75g arborio rice
• 100g broccoli florets
• 50g pea
• 50g sweetcorn
• 1/4 medium onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 2 dairylea cheese triangles
•  Frylight

Method

1. If using frozen veg cook first until ready, cut broccoli into small pieces and set aside.
2. Add a few sprays of frylight in a pan and cook the onion over a medium heat until softened. Add the garlic and rice and cook for a further minute.
3. Add 50ml of the hot stock and boil until the liquid has been absorbed. Pour in 125ml of the remaining stock and simmer on low for 10 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the broccoli, sweetcorn and peas along withe the remaining stock. Heat and stir for another 5 minutes until the liquid has almost been absorbed and the rice is tender but still has a sloppy consistency.
5. Add the cheese triangles and stir into rice mix until melted. Serve.

 This is one of my favourite recipes even when I'm not following slimming world. Not only is it very quick, easy and very tasty but it also costs very little per portion so great for those who are looking for great meals on a budget. It's also a great meal foe those who only have access to a microwave at work but don't want to succumb to eating packet meals.
Enjoy.

Cajun Pork

Serves 1

Syns per portion: Extra Easy Free

Ingredients

• 1pork loin
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2green bell pepper
• 1/4 of medium onion
• 1 tsp Schwartz 'perfect shake' Cajun spice mix
• 45g rice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Chop all the ingredients into small chunks.
3. Place all the chopped veg and pork into an oven bake bag and add the cajun spices, coating the contents of the bag evenly. (If you don't have an oven bag you can use tinfoil in a high sided baking tray, make sure it covers the top of all the ingredients so they don't dry out when cooking.).
4. Place the bag in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile boil the rice and drain once cooked to desired consistency.
6. Remove the tray from the oven and mix the ingredients well into any juices and spice mix. Serve.

I love this recipes because it so easy and requires very little effort, yet it tastes so good. The 'perfect shake' spice mixes from schwartz are fantastic and great for jazzing up a meal. I love the cajun one and I've also tried the piri piri one, which is also great. I had a lonely little pork loin in the freezer and needed a way to use it up and thought this recipe would be perfect, and it didn't disappoint. Enjoy.

Spicy Rice

Serves 1

Syns per portion*: Extra Easy Free, Red 12 , Green Free

Ingredients

• 50g rice
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1/4 green  pepper
• 1/4 yellow pepper
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 chicken stock cube
• 200ml water
•  Frylight

Method

1. Chop the peppers into small chunks
2. Place the rice into a pan and  give 3 sprays of frylight. Set at medium heat and stir rice until it begins to brown.
3. Add 100ml of water, stock cube and chilli flakes. Reduce heat to low-medium and stir occasionally until rice absorbs the water, be careful not to let it stick to the pan.
4. Once rice has absorbed water  add the chopped peppers, garam masala, soy sauce and remaining 100ml of water.
5. Set on a low heat and stir occasionally until all water has been absorbed. Serve.

Today my husband returned with some marinated chicken breasts for dinner which were nice and slimming world friendly. I decided I wanted to have rice with the chicken, however I though it would need jazzed up a bit otherwise it would be quite dry. So I whipped up this little dish and it was rather tasty. Just as a word of warning you may want to add the chilli flakes slowly until you reach the desired heat as  I about blew my heat off by adding to much!

Enjoy.

NB. The marinated chicken in the 'The Cook Menu' cajun marinade chicken from Marks and Spencers.

Vegetable Curry

Serves 1

Syns per portion: Extra Easy Free, Red Free (without rice), Green Free

Ingredients

• Selection of vegetables (I used broccoli, red pepper, cauliflower, peas, potato, courgette)
• 1/4 onion
• 100g passata
• 100ml veg stock
• 1 heaped teaspoon of curry powder
• 1 level teaspoon garam masala
• Frylight

Method

1. Cook any frozen or root vegetables until ready and cut into bite size pieces. If using fresh veg such as peppers or courgette there is no need to cook first.
2. Meanwhile fry onion in a large pan with a few sprays of frylight.
3. Add the curry powder, garam masala and veg stock and simmer for a few minutes till the liquid is reduced by half. 
4. Add all the vegetables and stir through the stock.
5. Add the passata and stir though. Reduce the heat and allow mixture to cook and thicken to desired consistency.
6. Garnish with some coriander and serve with rice.

When i'm cooking meals I love the colours of naturals foods as well as tantalising smells which make you want to devour the dish as soon as it's ready. This dish certainly ticks these boxes for me with its wonderful array of greens and reds of the ingredients and the gorgeous aroma of the curry spices. This dish was yummy and very simple to make. Perfect for vegetarians or if you're like me and just prefer a meat free meal every now and then.

Here are a few notes I made about this recipe:

• Other veg that can be used is butternut squash, baby sweetcorn, mushrooms

• I used Tescos medium curry powder, but you can get spices milder or hotter versions in most supermarket.
• Remember to syn your ice if using this on a red day

Enjoy x.