Fanta Chicken

This is a recipe that does the rounds in Slimming World. I must admit when hearing about this and the diet coke chicken I was pretty skeptical, but this is delicious.

This creates a sweet and sour type meal, which I think rivals anything you'd get in a jar in the supermarket minus the calories and syns you'd find in those. I'm already looking forward to having it again.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 chicken breasts

Your choice of vegetables (I used pepper, onion, mushrooms and baby sweetcorn)

330ml diet Fanta (or any substitute fizzy orange drink)

250g passata 

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Fry the onion and chicken in some fry light until the chicken turns white. Don't overlook as it will cook in the sauce

2) Add your vegetables and fry for a few minutes

3) Mix the Fanta, passata, 5 spice and Worcester sauce in a jug, and add to the saucepan bringing to the boil.

4) Season before turning the saucepan down to simmer. Cook until the sauce is reduced and thickened (about 30 minutes).

5) Add some fresh pineapple and stir through (don't cook or this will add syns), then serve with the accompaniment of your choice.

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

I'm so bad at keeping this up to date; I always take pictures of the food we cook ready to put them up and then get otherwise distracted. It doesn't help that the Blogger app on iPhone isn't the best when you want to edit your posts so I need to wait until I have a spare 5 minutes on the computer. I've since been told off so here's a new post.
I don't eat seafood, so the thought of a paella never appealed to me. However, this recipe I came across in my Desperate Housewives cookbook and, without the prawns and mussels, instantly tickled my tastebuds. This is another recipe that is loved by everyone I've made it for: to the point that my Mum used my DH cookbook so much she had to buy me a new one as she ruined the page for this recipe.
Conversion of cups isn't the easiest, so would be useful if you had measuring cups too!

Ingredients (serves 4):
1/2 cup (about 120 ml) dry white wine
1 tsp saffron
2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 chorizo ring, sliced (or 6 links if you buy them uncooked)
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (about 280g) rice (paella rice or long grain white)
3 cups (about 700 ml) chicken stock
1 cup (about 150g) frozen peas

Instructions:
1. Pour the wine over the saffron in a small bowl. Let stand while preparing the paella.

2. Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the chicken and chorizo. Cook, turning as necessary, until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides. With a slotted spoon, scoop the chicken and chorizo into a bowl and cover.

3. Add the onion, red pepper and cayenne if using to the pan. (Note: cayenne pepper is really spicy - so miss this out, or reduce the quantities if you don't want it too spicy). Cook until the vegetables are wilted, stirring regularly.

4. Add the rice and cook for a minute. Then add the white wine mixture, and cook until the liquid has all evaporated.

5. Add the chicken and chorizo back to the pan and stir.

6. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil, until the level of liquid reaches the rice. Season to taste and cover.

7. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the stock is absorbed; this will take about 15 minutes.

8. Scatter the peas over the paella and stir through. Serve straight away.

Chinese Chicken

This is actually called Sweet and Sour Chicken, and is from one of my SW cookbooks but I think of this more as Chinese chicken. Don't be under any illusions that it tastes like your local Chinese takeaway - it doesn't - but it is EASILY my favourite SW recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4):

100ml passata

4 chicken breast fillet

6 spring onions

2 garlic cloves

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp sweetener

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

Instructions:

1. Dice and place chicken in a bowl. Add chopped spring onions, garlic, seasoning and light soy sauce. Mix well and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Spray a pan with fry light and cook chicken mixture for 5 minutes.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, and stir well. Bring to the boil.

4. Reduce the heat and cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve with rice or noodles, and garnish with sliced spring onions.

Note: I also like to add vegetables - stir fry before adding the sauce mixture. 

Cheesecake - Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

This is a recipe which was first discovered by my best friend on BBC Good Food, and then by me on the box of my new cake tins. Obviously meant to be! I don't know anyone who doesn't love this cheesecake - even people who don't like cheesecake have eaten, and loved, this - and now it's a staple at every social gathering we have.

Ingredients:
250g digestive biscuits
100g butter
600g full fat soft cheese
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
284ml double cream

Instructions:
1. Place the digestives in a sandwich bag and beat with a rolling pin until crushed. Place the biscuit crumbs in a mixing bowl and melt the butter over a low heat. Pour the melted butter over the biscuit and mix well ensuring that all crumbs are covered.

2. Line the base of a cake tin (between 22 and 24" in size) with baking parchment. (A springform tin is best for this recipe if available). Add the biscuit to the base of the tin, and distribute evenly, pressing down with your fingertips. Place the base in the fridge for at least an hour.

3. Using an electric whisk, whisk together the cheese and icing sugar. Add the cream and vanilla and whisk again until just combined. Do not over whisk the mixture as it can become runny due to the heat generated.

4. Pour the cheese mixture into the tin, and spread using a spatula. Top with a chocolate or fruit of your choice and refrigerate overnight.

5. Remove from the fridge about half an hour before serving, and be careful removing from the tin.

Note: Don't be tempted to use elmlea in replacement of the double cream - it doesn't work! Trust me on that one ;-)

Pasta in Bacon, Tomato and Red Wine Sauce

I love carbs. I could go without meat but I could not do without pasta or potatoes. Part of this is the reason I love Slimming World - I don't have to sacrifice my carbohydrates in order to lose weight. After a binge at Christmas, or rather just in the last 6 months or so, I'm back at group weighing in weekly to help me lose the extra pounds, so this is a dish I cooked up on Sunday as part of my plan. The red wine is 1/2 syn per serving and I used the Parmesan as my healthy extra (though you can have 30g in one serving and I certainly didn't use that!). I made up two portions so I could heat it up for lunch the next day, which worked well, and I'm sure you could freeze it too! My apologies for the messy photo - I'd started eating before I even thought about a picture.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 onion
1 clove garlic
4 rashers of bacon
8 mushrooms
50ml red wine
1 can tinned tomatoes
1 tsp chilli powder
200g pasta

Instructions:
1. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry the onion in Fry Light for 5 minutes till soft, then add the garlic and fry for another minute

2. Slice the bacon removing all visible fat and add to the onion, frying until cooked through

3. Add the mushrooms and red wine, and cook until the wine is just about evaporated. Then add the tinned tomatoes and chilli powder, season to taste, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes or so

4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per the packet instructions. Once cooked, drain well and stir in to the tomato sauce. Add some more chilli powder if you like a bit more spice!

5. Serve, covering with a sprinkle of Parmesan

Sausage Casserole

Yesterday I was feeling very autumnal. I went shopping early, we bought a new lamp, I got some Christmas decorations and then by midday was back in my PJs with no intention of leaving the house again. I felt this was an appropriate winter-warmer to have for tea, and one that I could prepare in the afternoon and just serve at tea time.
This is a recipe that Emma and I discovered whilst at university and attempting to cook more for ourselves. We would each pick a new meal and cook for the rest of the house once a week (something that wasn't really embraced by our pizza cooking housemate), and this was one such meal. Hard to believe that was now nearly 10 years ago - however, this is still a meal that I love!

Ingredients (serves 4):
8 pork sausages (I use standard sausages but I'm sure this would also taste nice with a Cumberland sausage.)
8 rashers bacon
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
Vinegar
2 tsp chilli powder

Instructions:
1. Cook the sausages in the grill. Remove when done and slice.

2. Heat some FryLight (or oil) in a large saucepan. Chop the bacon, and cook in the oil. Drain any excess fat and add the sausages.

3. Dice the pepper and onion, and add to the meat. Stir through.

4. Add the tinned tomatoes (you could substitute one tin for a tin of beans which works just as well). Add a few drops of vinegar and the chilli powder. Stir well.

5. Cover the saucepan and heat on high until boiling. Once boiling, turn down on to a low temperature and cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring often. (If at any point it looks a bit dry, add a few tablespoons of water.)

6. Serve with cheesy mash, and enjoy!

Mexican Chilli Bean Soup

When I went to university, my Dad bought me a student cookbook by Fiona Beckett as I'd never really done much cooking at home.  Neither had he for that matter, so I don't know where his perceptions of being the next Gordon Ramsey come from.  I’ve been through a number of different phases of food including a vegetarian phase more than once, so this year he bought me Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Veg Every Day cookbook… I struggle to cook many things from there due to Rhys’s inability to eat a meal without meat in it, but there’s so many lovely looking dishes. This recipe is a combination of one of his soups and one of Fiona Becketts… with my own little twist naturally.
Anyway, it appears a number of the people accessing Nom-Appetite are actually my students (hello!), many of whom are on diets as well, so after making this soup on Monday evening and finding that it is absolutely delicious (not that it looks particularly appetising), I thought I would share it with them. I think the gem in this recipe is that it's so cheap (and easy) but it’ll feed a good number of mouths which makes it easy to make friends with.

Ingredients:

2 red onions

1 green pepper

2 cloves garlic

1-2 red chillies (depending on your preference for heat)

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli powder

400 ml passata

600 ml vegetable stock

1 can red kidney beans (drained well and rinsed)

1 can baked beans

1 small can sweetcorn

Instructions:

1. Finely dice the onions and pepper. Add to a large saucepan with FryLight and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Crush the garlic and finely chop the chillies. Add to the saucepan along with the cumin and chilli powder and cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the passata and vegetable stock, and bring to the boil.

4. Drain the kidney beans and rinse them well, before adding them to the pan. Boil for 10 minutes, and turn down to simmer.

5. Add the baked beans and sweetcorn and simmer for a few minutes (try not to overdo this stage as you don’t want mushy beans).

6. Serve immediately (Hugh recommends a scoop of sour cream on top, Fiona recommends with tortilla chips) or keep for later – your choice.