Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Another really nice dish from the Feb 2012 edition of Weight Watchers Magazine, I think next time I make this dish I will substitute the chicken for pork, I did have fun bashing the chicken though! :) enjoy! 


SERVES 4 
Pro Points 6 


Ingredients
3/4 cup (195g) chopped canned pineapple in natural juice, drained
1 long fresh red chilli, finely chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I forgot to put it in!) 
2 tbs small fresh mint leaves 
2 tbs small fresh basil leaves
1 tbs olive oil 
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed 
400g baby (chat) potatoes, halved 
200g snow peas, halved
200g green beans, halved
4 x 150g lean chicken breast fillets, fat trimmed (I used thigh pieces as that is what I had) 

Method 

Combine pineapple, chilli, onion, mint and basil in a small bowl. In another small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and garlic. 

Place potato halves in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat and cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until just tender. Add beans and snow peas and continue to cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until tender. Drain and then transfer to a large bowl and drizzle over lemon dressing, tossing gently to combine. 

Meanwhile, flatten the chicken, on a board with a meat mallet (can you believe I don't have one?? how have I ever managed without one?? so I bashed it with my big wooden rolling pin and I think it got the message lol) until even in thickness. Lightly spray a large non stick frying pan with oil and heat over moderately high heat. Cook chicken for 2 - 3 minutes each side or until browned and cooked. (again I had Daniel cook this on the BBQ, I am getting good at this getting out of doing the cooking lark hehe) 

Serve chicken with pineapple salsa and potato salad. 

Barbecued Beef with Lentil Salad

There are a few things I can say about this dish lol the first is that I looked at the recipe and went hhmmm lentils....dunno...ok I will give it a try! and I am glad I did! The second thing I would say is that the meat was REALLY expensive! AU$45 a kilo! but it was SO SO delicious, and I don't see why you couldn't substitute pork or chicken in this recipe to make it a lot more cost friendly :) the 3rd thing is that Daniel got to cook it on the BBQ and that means I didn't have to cook it lol yay! I really didn't think that Daniel would be into the lentils, but he actually really loved the salad so this dish will be going on rotation in our house :) This recipe is also from the Feb 2012 edition of Weight Watchers Magazine 

SERVES 4

Pro Points 8

Ingredients 

600g lean beef eye fillet, fat trimmed

400g can brown lentils, rinsed & drained

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

80g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

2 cups (40g) baby spinach leaves

1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

1 tbs olive oil (I didn't add) 

2 tbs balsamic glaze

Method

Preheat a BBQ or char-grill pan over high heat. Lightly spray beef with oil and season with salt an freshly ground pepper. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes each side or until browned, then reduce heat to medium and cook for a further 6 - 8 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking (I LOVE my beef rare) Transfer meat to a plate, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing. 

Place lentils, red onion, tomatoes, spinach and parsley in a medium bowl, mixing well to combine. Drizzle with olive oil (I didn't add olive oil as the sun-dried tomatoes had enough on them) and balsamic glaze, tossing gently to combine. 

Serve barbecued beef with lentil salad 

Roasted Vegetable Deep-Dish Quiche

We thoroughly enjoyed this vegetarian dish, it took a bit longer to cook than what the recipe advises so just keep an eye on it when cooking. It also used 2 sheets of pre-made pastry sheets instead of the 1 as in the recipe. This recipe also comes from the Feb edition of Weight Watchers Magazine. 


SERVES 4 
Pro Points 8 

Ingredients


1 sheet reduced fat shortcrust pastry, partially thawed (I used 2) 
500g Jap pumpkin peeled, cut into 2cm pieces 
1 medium red capsicum, thickly sliced
1 medium red onion, thickly sliced (I cut into wedges) 
120g cherry tomatoes, halved (oops I used a whole punnet 250g)
6 eggs, lightly whisked
1/3 (80ml) cup light cream (I used the Philadelphia 60% reduced fat cream for cooking) 
2 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup (65g) reduced fat fresh ricotta cheese
2 tbs fresh thyme leaves


Method


Preheat oven to 200c or 180c for fan forced, lightly spray a 20cm round springform pan with oil, then line base and sides with pastry. Trim edges, then refrigerate for 10 minutes.


Place pumpkin, capsicum and red onion on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil (I sprayed) and scatter the thyme over the top (I added the thyme to the recipe) season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper . Cook for 35 - 40 minutes or until vegetables are softened & Caramelised. Remove and allow to cool.


Reduce oven to 180c or 160c fan forced. Place eggs and cream in a medium bowl, mixing well to combine. Add roasted vegetables, cherry tomatoes, spinach and ricotta and gently mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into pastry shell and bake for 30 - 35 minutes (I found it took 45 minutes) or until quiche is cooked and golden.


Serve with a big green leafy salad. 

Lemon Mussels with Shoestring Fries

Daniel and I both love going out for Chilli Mussels! one of our all time favourite dishes :) This is a bit of a variation that I found in The Feb 2012 Weight Watchers Magazine, I added a couple of things, we really enjoyed them :) Now it will be Mussels at home on a regular basis.


SERVES 4 
Pro Points 7 

Ingredients 
4 small desiree potatoes, peeled
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium brown onion, finely diced (I used red onion as that is what I had) 
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbs grated lemon rind
1 seeded and finely diced red chilli
1 cup diced tinned tomatoes
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 kg pot ready mussels
1 cup (250ml) white wine
1/3 cup fresh fat leaf parsley leaves

Method


Preheat oven to 200c or 180c fan forced. Cut potatoes into thin fries and place on large baking tray in a single layer. Lightly spray with oil and bake, turning occasionally for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden. 


Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, lemon rind and chilli, cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add mussels, white wine and diced tomatoes & lemon juice stirring until well combined.Cover and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, shaking pan occasionally until mussels have all opened. 


To serve sprinkle mussels with parsley and serve with lemon wedges and shoestring fries. 

Chicken & Haloumi with Brown Rice

This recipe was originally meant to be made with Quinoa, however after hunting every where for it I had to settle for brown rice...I really enjoyed this dish! It also comes from the Feb issue of Weight Watchers Magazine. And as a bonus the chicken and haloumi were cooked on the BBQ, and as we all know that is a blokes job! woo hoo I only had to make the vege & rice part lol 


I am also very pleased to tell you that after a week of being on my healthy eating plan that I have lost 3.4 kg! yay for me :) 


SERVES 4 (We halved the recipe) 
Pro Points 9 

Ingredients

1 (180g) cup quinoa, rinsed drained (or 2 cups brown rice) 

1/2 cup (65g) marinated red pepper strips, drained

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup fresh flat leaf Italian parsley leaves, chopped finely

400g lean chicken tenderloins 

100g haloumi cheese, thinly sliced

Method

Pace quinoa and 2 cups (500ml) water in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12 - 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add pepper strips, tomatoes and parsley, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. OR you can do what I did and buy 2 cups brown rice in the microwave pack and bung it in the microwave for 2 minutes and mix in the rest when it bings!! 

Meanwhile, preheat a chargrill or BBQ over high heat. Cook chicken in batches, turning occasionally for 6 - 8 minutes or until browned. Lightly spray haloumi with cooking oil and cook for 1 - 2 minutes each side or until golden.

Serve quinoa (or rice) topped with chicken and haloumi. 

Barbecued Chicken & Hokkien Salad

I seem to be stuck on the same magazine for my healthy meals at the moment! :) yet another recipe from Jan 2012 Weight Watchers Magazine. 


This meal had all the right ingredients, it was big! it was crunchy! but it just lacked something....I think if I make it again perhaps a zingier dressing...decide for your self :) 


SERVES:4 (looks like this is my lunch for the next 2 days lol) 
Pro Points 9

Ingredients
400g Hokkien noodles
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1 medium red capsicum, thinly sliced
150g snow peas , thinly sliced 
150g wombok (Chinese cabbage), shredded
400g barbecued skinless chicken, shredded (I used the breast meat) 


Dressing
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves finely chopped


Method
Prepare the noodles following the packet instructions, or until tender. Rinse under cold water, then drain well. 


Place noodles, carrots, red onion, capsicum, snow peas, wombok and chicken in a large serving bowl and mix well to combine. drizzle  with dressing and mix to combine again


Serve sprinkled with coriander. 

Spinach Quiche

Day 3 of my healthy eating challenge for the 1 million kilo challenge :) Tonight we went an vegetarian option and this dish was really delicious! I recommend that you give it a try. 

There is half of this quiche left over so it will also do us for lunch tomorrow! cheap!

Again this recipe is straight out of the pages of Weight Watchers Magazine Jan 2012 

and any thing I have added to the recipe is marked in red

SERVES 4 

6 ProPoints 

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil 

1 medium red onion, cut into rings

4 sheets filo pastry

200g baby spinach leaves

3/4 cup (90g) Bega So Extra Light Tasty Grated Cheese

5 eggs 

1/4 cup (60ml) skim milk 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180c or 160c fan forced. Heat oil in a small non stick frying pan over low heat. Add onion and cook stirring occasionally for 12 - 15 minutes or until soft. 

Meanwhile lightly spray a 20cm round spring form tin with oil to help prevent sticking. Lay one sheet of filo on a flat surface and lightly spray with oil. Top with another, turned on a 45 degree angle, and lightly spray with oil. Repeat layering with remaining filo at different angles. Gently ease pastry into prepared tin and fold the overhanging pastry back into the tin. Place on a baking tray. 

Place spinach in a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Drain and rinse under cold water (I covered for 30 seconds and then scooped the spinach out and plunged it into iced water). Drain again and pat dry with paper towels. 

Arrange spinach, onion and cheese in pastry shell. Whisk eggs and milk in a medium bowl, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper> Pour mixture over filling. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until set and golden. Stand in tin for 5 minutes. Release sides, cut quiche and serve either hot or cold with a Greek salad.