Recipe: Mushroom Spinach & Chickpea Curry - 210 calories per portion

I love curries. They're always thought of as being quite calorific - and to be fair, my favourite kinds are usually full of butter, cream, coconut milk or almonds - but this doesn't have to be the case. So I thought I'd try and make a curry for under 250 cals and this is what I came up with.....

Mushroom, Spinach & Chickpea Curry (makes three big portions)

Ingredients:

10 sprays One-Cal olive oil

1 large onion

2 tsps frozen chopped garlic

2 tsps frozen chopped ginger

2 tbsp curry powder (I used Morrisons balti curry powder)

0.5 tsp crushed dried chilli

400g tin chickpeas in water (drained)

300g frozen spinach

1 tin chopped tomatoes

250g mushrooms (wiped and quartered)

100g leaf spinach

Bunch fresh coriander

Method:

Spray oil into a big saucepan and add the onions, chopped up into a mix of fine dice and decent sized chunks, gently fry off until translucent, but not coloured.

Next add in the curry powder and chilli and fry off slightly. Stir in the tinned tomatoes, then once it's simmering, add in the frozen spinach

Once the spinach has all defrosted through and is mixed through into the sauce, add in the chickpeas and mushrooms and bring back to the boil, and let it simmer for 5-10 mins. You may want to add some more water to the pan at this stage depending on how saucy you like your curries, also maybe a squidge of tomato paste. Taste, and season accordingly, you might want to add a bit more curry powder or chilli at this point, depending on your taste.

Just before serving, throw in your fresh spinach and most of your coriander (save a bit for garnishing) and stir it until the spinach is just wilting.

Slap it all in a massive bowl and garnish with coriander, grab a spoon and dig in!

This recipe is for three large portions if you eat it on its own, but if you serve it with some rice, naan, chapati or roti (probably on a non-fast day) then it should comfortably serve at least 5.

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 210
Fat: 5g
Carbs: 26g
Protein: 14g
Sugar: 7g

Recipe: Quorn 'n' Corn Chilli - 179 calories per portion

Another fast day comes around and, in spite of the sunshine today, I still fancied something hot and spicy for my tea. It's OH's grocery shopping day tomorrow so not a lot fresh in, other than some slightly sorry looking mushrooms in the fridge. I went on a bit of a freezer raid, and found Quorn mince and a big bag of sweetcorn, so decided to make a chilli.

I served my chilli on top of roasted red pepper halves and, as it's so low calorie, I could even afford some grated cheese on the top, and it was still only 265 calories for the whole plateful.

Quorn 'n' Corn Chilli (makes three generous portions)

Ingredients:

Few sprays One-Cal olive oil

100g frozen diced onion

150g frozen Quorn mince

150g frozen sweetcorn

1 tin chopped tomatoes

40g tomato purée

130g closed cup mushrooms, diced

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 dash Tabasco sauce

Method:

Spray a few sprays of oil into a large saucepan then add the onion and fry off.

Add the mince and sweetcorn and continue to fry off for a few minutes

Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and tomato purée and stir through, add a bit of water from the kettle if it's too dry and you'd like it a bit saucier. Next, stir in the paprika, chilli flakes and Tabasco sauce.

Simmer for about 10 minutes then taste to assess seasoning - add more paprika, chilli, Tabasco, salt or pepper to taste, then simmer gently for about another 5 mins.

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 179
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 26g
Protein: 12g
Sugar: 14g

Variations:

This would be lovely on a non-fasting day on tortilla chips with nice big dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Guess what I'm having for tea tomorrow then!!

Recipe: Chilli & Garlic Mushrooms - 41 calories per portion

Mushrooms are just super for fast days. They bulk out a dish nicely for very few calories and can be cooked using a bit of water rather than having to use oil.

Tonight I made Chilli & Garlic Mushrooms as a side dish for my Scrummy Stuffed Peppers, and very nice they were too for under 50 calories!

Chilli & Garlic Mushrooms (makes one generous portion)

Ingredients:

125g closed cup mushrooms

1 tsp frozen chopped garlic

5g light spread (I used Utterley Butterly Light)

Salt Chilli & Garlic grinder

Method:

Clean and quarter the mushrooms, and place in a saucepan with the garlic and 2-3 tablespoons of water over a low heat, allow to steam for about 10 mins, taking care not to let the pan boil dry, add a bit more water if you need to

Once the mushrooms are cooked as much as you like them to be, drain off any excess liquid and add in the spread and season to taste using the Salt Chilli & Garlic grinder, and pepper if you like. Warm through until the spread has melted then you're ready to serve