Leek and potato soup that I made today
(massive, needs a cauldron, halve quantities for just a saucepan full)

1 v large onion
4 large leeks
4 cloves garlic
3-4 medium potatoes
2 chicken and 1 veg stock cube
water
250g TOTAL yoghurt (other yoghurt would probably work TBH)

Finely chop onion, put into pan with a glug of oil, start to fry gently. Chop, wash, and add leeks, crush garlic and put it in, peel and ice the potatoes and throw them in too. Fry gently for a bit, til the onions/leek mix is fairly soft. Put in just enough water to cover, add stock cubes, and simmer as low as you can until the potatoes are soft. Blend with hand blender, stir in yoghurt, add salt and pepper to taste and eat.

Possible nice additions: chives are traditional, right?

Lamb rogan josh - stew style

Fry 1 v large or 2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
sq inch of ginger, finely chopped
3 chillies, finely chopped

cut 500g stewing lamb into chunks and coat with ground spices:
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp black pepper

in a casserole dish mix lamb
onion mix
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100g red lentils
red pepper, chopped
top up with water til covered

put in oven on lowish (150C) for 3-4 hours

top with chopped fresh coriander
stir in some yoghurt if you like it creamy

Brownie Recipe

10oz marg (softened)
13oz caster sugar
4 eggs
3oz cocoa powder
4oz self-raising flour
4oz chocolate chips

traybake tin or roasting tin (12x9x1 1/2)

Grease tin and line with non stick paper.

Bung everything (apart from chocolate chips) into a bowl and whizz on high speed with hand mixer until evenly mixed. Add chocolate chips (I have done it without them and the brownies still taste nice)

Wack in the oven at 180 or 160 fan for about 40 mins.

Pepper and lentil soup (this one is more of a proper meal)

Serves 6, 165cals, 2.7g fat (0.5g saturates) 26.5g carbohydrates, 0.5g salt per serving

1 tbsp oil
1 med onion, finely chopped,
1 celery stick, chopped
1 leek, trimmed and chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and diced
225g (8oz)red lentils
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 litre hot light veg stock
25g flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt and black pepper

1) Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion, celery, leek and carrot, cook for 10-15mins until soft.

2)Add the peppers and cook for 5 mins. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes and stock and season with salt and pepper.

3) Cover the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook uncovered for 25mins until the lentils are soft, and veg is tender.

4)Stir in the parsley, then serve

Thank you Good Housekeeping

As promised, a couple of low fat/low calorie soups (hope i don't get done for copyright )

Sweet Potato Soup

Serves 8, 78cals, 2gfat (trace saturates) 14g carbohydrates, 0.8g salt per serving

1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
2tsp coriander seeds, crushed
2 fresh red chillis, seeded and chopped
1 butternut squash (about 750g) peeled and roughly chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, skinned and diced
1.7lires (3 pints) hot vegetable stock

1)heat the oil in a large pan over a gentle heat and fry onion for 10mins til soft. Add coriander seeds and chillies to pan and cook for 1-2mins

2)Add the squash, sweet potatoes and tomatoes, and cook for 5mins. Add the hot stock, cover, bring to the boil, then simmer until vegetables are soft. Leave to cool slightly, then blend (in batches) until smooth. Reheat and serve

Kedgeree

250g smoked haddock
150ml milk
150ml water
1 bay leaf
1 tsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp mild curry powder
125g bamati rice, rinsed
2 eggs, boiled until still a little soft inside
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
S&P

Put milk, water, bay leaf and fish into lidded pan and simmer for 2 mins
Remove from heat, set aside liquid and flake the fish
Heat the butter in a pan, add onions and sweat for 5 mins. Stir in curry powder and rinsed rice and 225ml of the reserved cooking liquid
Bring to the boil and simmer very gently with the lid on for 15 mins
Fluff up the rice, add the fish, half the coriander, S&P
Spoon into bowls and add segments of egg, toppped with remaining coriander

Nutrition: serves 2, Per portion: 522 calories, 11g fat

Red Onion Marmalade

85ml olive oil
1.5kg red onions very finely sliced
120 ml sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons of creme de cassis
S&P

Heat oil, add onions & cook slowly until the onions are very soft and the sugary juices have caramelised and look thick, dark & sticky (about 1-1.5 hrs)
Add vinegar, creme de cassis and cook for 10 mins
Spoon into sterilised jars and top with a little oil to seal

Should last 6-8 weeks according to the recipe. I have kept mine for longer but normally gets demolished or handed to friends/family much quicker than that!

Lemon or Lime Chicken

OK, there are no measurements, I just put in what 'looks' ok to my taste.

Chicken breast chopped into rough cubes
Garlic (chopped)
Olive Oil (enough to marinate the meat)
Chopped Basil (coriander works too)
Rind of half a lemon (or lime)
Juice of a few lemons (or limes)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix everything in a bowl apart from the chicken. Add the chicken when it is all mixed and give it a good stir, making sure the chicken is covered in the marinade, cover with cling film. Put in the fridge for a few hours. Take it out, give it another stir and put the chicken into a heated frying pan and add the leftover marinade to add moisture to the chicken if/as needed. Fry till the marinated bits of the chicken go sticky brown and voila, ready.

**If you don't want to fry it, you can skewer the chicken and grill or BBQ and just keep brushing on marinade*

Serve with rice and a Riatta type dip.

Carbonara a la Trills (for 2)
bacon (half a packet)
egg (2 yolks, 1 whole)
parmesan (as much as seems right, maybe 50g? who knows?)
pepper
cream is optional
half a small glass of wine is also optional
a spoonful of half-fat creme fraiche is good instead of the cream though
200g pasta if no-one is on a diet, less if they are

put kettle on to boil
chop bacon small, fry
put pasta in boiling water, boil for 10 mins
'deglaze' bacon pan with wine if using, with a bit of the pasta water if not
drain pasta, put in bacon pan (off heat), swirl around, add egg and parmesan and pepper and cream/creme fraiche if using
the heat of the pasta cooks the egg enough, if you put it on the heat you'll get scrambly eggs, not so nice

This was delicious, I halved the ingredients and made a huge amount for DH and me. Served with rice it has a total WW point score of 6.5.

Prawn, pea and tomato curry

Serves 4, 3 of 5 a day

1tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions halved each cut into 6 wedges
large knob of ginger chopped
6 garlic cloves roughly chopped
3 tbsp curry ( I used tikka masala paste)
400g shelled raw prawns
250g frozen peas
small bunch of coriander

Heat the oil in the frying pan, then fry the onions over a medium heat until soft and beginning to brown. Meanwhile reserve 8 of the tomato wedges then whizz the remainder in a food processor with the ginger and garlic.

Add the curry paste to the pan for 30secs. Stir through the tomato mix and remaining tomato wedges, then bubble over a high heat for 5 mins stirring so the sauce doesn't catch. Mix in the prawns and peas simmer until the prawns are cooked through. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice.

236 kcals
sat fat 1g