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Archive for May, 2012

Black Bean Chilli with Guacamole and Garlic Ciabatta

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 7 May 2012| 3 Comments »

We love finding new variations of Chilli and this one has made our list of repeatable recipes. This is really filling and at less than 500 calories per portion also suitable for us dieters. We promise we’ll go back to normal in a few weeks time!

Black bean chilli with guacamole and garlic ciabatta – to serve 4

  • olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, 2 crushed and 1 left whole
  • 2 green peppers, chopped
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • 2 large avocados
  • 2 limes, zested and juiced
  • 4 scallions, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 8 slices ciabatta, toasted

Heat a tbsp of oil in a wide pan. Add the onions, crushed garlic and peppers, and cook for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the spices and some salt and cook for another minute. Tip in the beans, tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the flesh form the avocados with a spoon into a bowl. Add the lime zest and juice, scallions, chilli and seasoning, and mix with a fork to lightly mash the avocado.

Cut the whole garlic clove in half and use it to rub all over the ciabatta toasts. Drizzle with olive oil and pile the guacamole onto the toasts.

Serve the guacamole and garlic ciabatta with the chilli.

Wine Suggestion: We really like beer with chilli. If your not a fan of beer a light, fruity Grenache would work.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Easy Creamy Swedish Meatballs

Posted in Food, Healthy, Pork, tagged , , , , , , on 6 May 2012| 4 Comments »

These are lovely and low-calorie (just 236 calories per serving to be exact). The creamy sauce gives them a nice richness too. Great with tagliatelle for a mid-week meal.

Creamy Swedish Meatballs  – to serve 4

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 450g lean minced pork
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 sprigs dill, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3-4 tbsp soured cream
Mix the onion, pork, egg yolk and half the dill in a bowl and season well. Lightly wet your hands, then make 12 golf-ball sized meatballs.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the meatballs, turning often, for about 12-15 minutes or until nicely coloured all over. Mix together the sour cream and the rest of the dill and spoon over the meatballs.

Serve with tagliatelle or mashed potato.

Wine Suggestion: We’d probably go for a light red here, perhaps a Dolcetto from north-west Italy or a light Zinfandel/Primativo.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Creamy Seafood Stew

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , on 5 May 2012| 1 Comment »

This is a lovely, warming dish, despite being both low-fat and low-calorie. The garlic bread works a treat so don’t leave it out.

Creamy seafood stew – to serve 4

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 175ml white wine
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with 1 tbsp cold water
  • 400g mixed seafood, we used some defrosted prawns and some cubed salmon but frozen mixed seafood would work well
  • small bunch dill, chopped
  • 5 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche
  • garlic bread, to serve

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion and celery for about 10 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine and simmer on a high heat until it has almost evaporated.

Pour in the stock and cornflour mix and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly until thickened. Season and add the seafood and most of the dill. Simmer for a few minutes until piping hot, then stir in the crème fraîche.

Meanwhile, cook your garlic bread according to the pack. We find shop bought garlic bread way to garlicky so we buy a part-baked baguette and make our own garlic butter. Just mix some softened butter with one crushed garlic clove and lots of chopped parsley and some seasoning. Cut slices into the baguette and stuff in the butter. Bake in the oven according to the pack.

Serve the stew in bowls and scatter with the rest of the dill. Serve with the garlic bread.

Wine Suggestion: Careful not to go for anything too light and crisp with this dish as it is quite creamy and rich. We had a chardonnay which worked really well.

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Spicy Tomato Soup

Posted in Food, Healthy, Soup, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 5 May 2012| Leave a Comment »

We’re officially on a diet 😦 but we’re trying to turn it into an opportunity and cook lots of tasty, healthy stuff. We can’t back out either as we’re in a little competition with some of our friends… a bit like weight watchers, just as humiliating but not as expensive! So for the next 6 weeks you can expect lots of low-calorie recipes. If you’re also struggling to fit into your summer clothes you might like to join us.

Spicy tomato soup – to serve 2

  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp red lentils
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • large handful of coriander, chopped
  • natural yoghurt, to serve (only if you have some)

Put all the ingredients (except the coriander and yoghurt) in a pot, bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until the lentils are soft. Add the coriander and cook for a minute. Use a stick blender to roughly whizz together. Stir in a little natural yoghurt to serve if you like that sort of thing.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Green beans with shallots

Posted in Food, Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 2 May 2012| Leave a Comment »

This is an easy and absolutely delicious way to serve green beans. It even perked up ones that had flown from very far away as our local shop hasn’t got the new season ones yet…any day now we hope!

Green beans with shallots – to serve 6 as a side dish

  • 400g green beans
  • 25g butter
  • 3 shallots, finely chopped

Cook the green beans in boiling, salted water for a few minutes, until just tender. Drain and cool under cold running water. (You can do this up to a day before and keep them in a plastic bag in the fridge).

Heat the butter in a large frying pan until foaming, add the shallots and cook for 4-5 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Throw in the beans and toss to coat, then cook for a final couple of minutes until heated through, then season.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Potato & Leek Soup

Posted in Food, Irish Food, Potato, Soup, tagged , , , , , on 1 May 2012| 1 Comment »

Wholesome and heart warming lunch when family drop by. We like to only partially blend or soups sometimes as it gives a great smooth consistency and keeps some of the flavoursome lumps.

Leek and potato soup – serves 6-8

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 2 medium onions
  • 400g leeks
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 400g potatoes
  • olive oil
  • 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes

Peel and roughly chop the carrots and onions and slice the celery and garlic. Quarter the leeks lengthways and cut into 1cm slices.

Put a large pot over a high heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add all the chopped and sliced ingredients and mix well, then cook for 10 to 15 minutes, partially covered, until the carrots have softened and the onions have started to turn golden.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 cm dice. Add 1.8 litres of boiling water to the stock cubes, then add to the vegetables along with the potatoes.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on.

Season and serve or blend until smooth, or give it a half-hearted whizz like we did.

(Original recipe from Jamie’s Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver, Penguin 2008.)

 

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