Split Pea Soup

This is fab just as it is, which is why I labelled it as vegetarian, but since I still had some gammon in the freezer I added that and had a meaty version

Ingredients (serves 4)
250g Yellow Split Peas
1 onion, diced
1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp sunflower oil
150g roast gammon, cubed (optional)

* heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion, leek and carrot. Cook for around 5 minutes then add the garlic and cook for a further minute
* stir in the split peas, stock and thyme
* cover and simmer for 1 hour
* if using gammon, stir it in about 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Nutritional info
Calories: 236, Fat: 6.4g, Carbs: 26g, Protein: 19.1g

Cauliflower Rice

I've come across cauliflower rice on a number of websites lately. The idea is to use cauliflower as a lower calorie and lower carb alternative to rice, so I thought it was worth a try. The version I used came from nomnompaleo although I used sunflower oil rather than coconut.

Ingredients (serves 1)
1/2 cauliflower (approx 200g) chopped into medium chunks
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp sunflower oil
Salt/pepper

* heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes until translucent
* grate the cauliflower. Blitzing it in a food processor would be quicker, but I don't have one.
* add the cauliflower to the pan, season and stir well then cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
* serve in place of rice

Obviously it doesn't actually taste like rice, it tastes of cauliflower, but the texture is pretty good.

Nutritional info
Calories: 92, Carbs: 11g, Fat: 5g, Protein: 3g

Sausage Stew

This was a 'what's lurking in the fridge that needs using up?' creation. The tomatoes were left from the chicken stew I had the other night, the sausages had been in the freezer since christmas and then I just added veggies.

Ingredients (serves 1)
6 cocktail sausages
1/4 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 leek, sliced
1/2 courgette, sliced
2 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp ketchup

* heat a little oil in a pan, add the veg and sausages and fry for 5 minutes or so.
* add the tomatoes, herbs and spices
* cover and simmer for 15 minutes

Nutritional information (calculated on myfitnesspal)
Calories: 329, Fat: 16.7g, Carbs: 25.5g, Protein: 17.2g

Nutritional information

For about the last year I've been tracking my diet and exercise using a website called myfitnesspal. One of the really nifty features is a recipe builder, where you can enter all the ingredients you are using and it calculates the nutritional content per portion.

Since I enter a lot of my meals into myfitnesspal anyway, I thought I would start giving the nutritional information as well just in case anyone is interested. So look out for that on future recipes. In fact I just went back and added it to last night's chicken and quinoa stew. :-)

Chicken and Quinoa Stew

I saw this recipe somewhere online, but forgot to bookmark it and now I can't find the same one, so this is my own version. I think the original included aubergine which I'm not too keen on, so I used courgette.

Ingredients (serves 1)
1 small chicken breast, cubed
35g dry quinoa
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 courgette, sliced
2 mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sweet chilli sauce

* heat a little oil in a pan and saute the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes
* add the chicken and fry until browned
* add the other veg, tomatoes, quinoa and herbs/spices. Add some water, cover and cook for around 20 minutes until the quinoa is cooked through.

Nutritional info (calculated using the recipe builder on www.myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 442, Carbs: 57g, Fat: 3g, Protein: 32g

Pork Chilli

I made my chilli with pork purely because, at Tesco anyway, you get so much more for your money compared to beef mince. It would work equally well with any meat though, or make a veggie version by using quorn or soya mince.
This is a great meal for bulk cooking and freezing.

Ingredients (serves 6)
850g pack pork mince
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
Big squirt tomato ketchup
1 tsp very lazy red chilli

* in a large pan, dry fry the mince. Drain off the fat and add the onion and garlic
* add the tomatoes and kidney beans
* Add all the herbs and chilli plus the ketchup. Season well with salt and pepper
* stir well and simmer for 45 minutes
* serve with rice or on a baked potato