Recipe: Smoky Tomato & Chickpea Stew - 112 calories per portion

I fancied something with a bit of heat and smokiness for my tea tonight so decided on a tomato & chickpea stew flavoured with chilli & paprika. When I checked the fridge, I also saw I had a courgette to use up to so figured I'd bung that in too.

As it's so low calorie, I decided to serve it with a small portion of quinoa on the side. I really struggle to cook quinoa - it always just ends up a bit wet and soggy. I've tried the two-parts stock to one part quinoa, and Ive tried just cooking it in a big pan of water then draining, nothing seems to work! My friend Ally has also blogged about cooking quinoa too, we'll keep on practicing and let you know if we come up with a fool-proof method. If you have any top tips then please do share!

I used 30g (dry weight) of quinoa, which is about 110 calories, so a sub-250 calorie meal, perfect for a fast day, and plenty of leftovers for tomorrow. I have some ideas for non-fast days too - see variations below.

Smoky Tomato & Chickpea Stew (makes four portions)

Ingredients:

Few sprays One-Cal olive oil

75g frozen diced onion

1 tsp frozen chopped garlic

1 courgette, sliced then cut into quarters

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin chickpeas in water

1 tbsp double concentrated tomato purée

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes 

Method:

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

Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and tomato purée and stir through, then stir in the paprika and chilli flakes.

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

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 112
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 15g
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 5g

Variations:

I'm already planning ahead with how I'm going to use the leftovers for tea tomorrow on a non-fasting day. This would be delicious with some chorizo in, and as luck would have it, I bought some at the fabulous Kirkstall Deli Market this weekend just gone, I think I'll also add in some chunks of chicken breast too, and maybe serve it with a nice hunk or warm crusty bread. YUM!

Recipe: Thai Green Veg Curry - 237 calories per portion

Even though yesterday wasn't a fast day, I'd kind of pigged out on the amazing Raspberry Mojito cake that my pal Ally made and bought into work, so I thought I'd try and make something under 250 cals for my tea, then I could have the leftovers today, which actually *is* my fast day!

I was in the mood for something a bit spicy and fragrant last night, and as my lovely OH had done the grocery shopping on Tuesday, we had some yummy veg to use, so I decided to cook up a big pan of Thai green curry.

I've made Thai green curries before and they're so easy peasy. I bought a fairly big pot of green curry paste a while ago from the ace Hang Sing Hong oriental supermarket in Leeds city centre, and we still had some left in the fridge. I couldn't actually remember how much to use so plumped for 100g, turns out that was probably a bit much as crikey it was HOT! Might drop it to 75g next time!

Also, I discovered when logging the recipe in MyFitnessPal that there is such a think as LIGHT coconut milk, so will endeavour to find this lower-cal lower-fat alternative when I next go shopping to replace the can I used last night!

Thai Green Veg Curry (makes five portions)

Ingredients:

100g Green Curry Paste (from oriental supermarket - I used Mae Ploy)
400ml tin Coconut Milk

1 red onion, chunkily diced
350g courgette, sliced
350g sweet potato, diced into bite sized chunks
100g frozen edamame beans

Method:

Warm a large saucepan and add the curry paste. Next, add in all the veg except the edamame beans, and stir through to coat them and start to fry off in the paste.

Tip in the tin of coconut milk and stir through. Then use a bit of boiling water to swill out the can (about half a tin) and add in to thin it down a touch. Let it simmer for about 15 mins or until the sweet potato is just cooked through.

Add in the edamame beans and simmer for another 5 minutes or so until they are cooked, and then serve in a nice big bowl.

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 237
Fat: 13g
Carbs: 25g
Protein: 5g
Sugar: 8g

Variations:

For a meaty dish, you could add in some chunks of fresh chicken breast just before you add the coconut milk, obviously this will up the calories a bit, but if you use light coconut milk (and maybe a bit less curry paste!) and reduce the amount of sweet potato a bit then you'd still have a filling meal for under 300 calories. YUMMY!

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

Recipe: Scrummy Stuffed Peppers - 271 calories per portion

So I used a portion of the leftover Quorn Pasta Sauce that OH made last night to make a filling but low calorie fast day tea tonight.

Yes that's right that's even CHEESE on the top - cheese on a fast day is the height of luxury! Pictured with a side of Chilli & Garlic Mushrooms to give a total calorie count of 312 calories for my evening meal - perfect for a fast day!

Scrummy Stuffed Peppers (makes one portion)

Ingredients:

1 red pepper, halved & seeds removed
25g (dry weight) easy cook rice
1 portion Quorn Pasta Sauce
10g mature cheese, grated

Method:

Place the pepper halves on a baking sheet and put in a preheated 200ºC oven for 15 mins

Meanwhile, cook the rice in plenty of boiling water, until it is just under done, still with a slight bite.

Drain the rice and return to the pan, adding in a portion of the Quorn Pasta Sauce. Heat through until simmering.

By now the pepper halves should be ready to fill so remove them from the oven and stuff with the rice/sauce mix. Top with grated cheese and return to the oven for another 10-15 mins until the cheese is all melty and golden and the pepper is soft and sweet.

Nutritional Information (per portion):

Calories: 271
Fat: 5g
Carbs: 41g
Protein: 13g
Sugar: 14g

Recipe: Quorn Pasta Sauce - 88 calories per portion

My lovely Other Half is brilliant, and super supportive of my efforts to lose weight. He's been on a bit of a weight loss journey of his own and has become really conscious of calorie content, getting more veg into our diets, and generally eating more healthily.

His 'thing' with cooking is creating one-pot pan-fulls of tasty stews and casseroles. I've convinced him more recently to switch to lean cuts of meat, up the veg content, and bulk out with beans and chickpeas and the like to get more for our budget - both financial and in terms of calories.

Yesterday he made a cracking pan of pasta sauce with Quorn and veg and it was lovely. We ate it with pasta (75g dry weight) giving a total calorie count for the meal of 353 calories. Four portions left over too - 2 for the fridge and 2 for the freezer. A pretty versatile sauce too, plenty of different ways to use it, in fact I used it in a different way for my tea tonight too, but more on that later!

Anyway here's the recipe....

Quorn Pasta Sauce (makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

20 sprays One-Cal olive oil spray
1 red onion, diced
1 tsp frozen chopped garlic
100g frozen sliced mixed peppers
250g frozen chargrilled mediterranean vegetables
130g frozen quorn mince
1 tin chopped tomoatoes
1/3 tube tomato puree
2 veg stock cubes, made up with boiling water
1 tsp paprika

Method:

In a big saucepan, fry off the diced red onion and garlic. Chuck in the rest of the ingredients and simmer until delicious. Season with plenty of turns of the Salt Chilli & Garlic grinder, and a few turns from the pepper mill

Nutritional Info per serving:

Calories: 88
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 12g
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 8g