Tangy Caraway King Prawns

This vibrant dish is a slimmer's dream. It's packed full of flavour - the caraway and fresh coriander give it a very distinctive taste that will stick in the memory. If you want something more substantial, you could add some cooked spaghetti or linguine when you stir in the prawns.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 green pepper, finely diced

400g can of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp tomato puree

215g raw king prawns

1 tbsp fresh coriander, torn

Salt and pepper

Optional: 100g spaghetti or linguine

Method:

Firstly, cook your prawns by bringing a pan of lightly salted water to the boil, adding the prawns and reduce the temperature to medium. The prawns will turn pink and most will start to float when cooked (not all though). Don't let them curl up too tightly or they will be tough! Stop them from continuing to cook by draining and rinsing them under cold water. Score them all a few times on each side with a sharp knife, just using the weight of the knife as you run the blade across them. This will give them more flavour when they take on the sauce. Set aside the prawns until the end.

If you are adding pasta, cook this according to the pack minus 1 minute, rinse under cold water and set aside until the end.

Brush a medium sized saucepan with the oil and bring to a low heat. Gently fry the garlic for a couple of minutes, then add the caraway seeds and chilli flakes, stir and fry for a further minute.

Increase the heat, stir in the green pepper and fry for another minute before adding the tomatoes and puree, salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and the peppers softened.

Stir in the prawns (and pasta, if using) and heat gently for 2 more minutes, stirring to make sure that they are well coated with sauce. Serve in bowls with some fresh coriander scattered atop.

Smoked Mackerel Florentine

This ridiculously healthy dish can be made in just 10 minutes and it is dead easy! It's full of vitamins, looks great and is surprisingly filling for it's size. What more needs to be said?

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
1 smoked mackerel fillet, cut in half
100g fresh spinach
Black pepper

Method:

1. Place the fish halves in a small pan and pour over just enough water to cover the fish. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5-6 mins.

2. Meanwhile, start to bring a shallow pan of water to the boil. Also, wash the spinach leaves in a colander, then place the still wet leaves into an empty saucepan and cook over a medium heat until they have all wilted and look a little soggy. Sieve and pat down with the back of a spoon to drain any excess water.

3. When the shallow pan starts to bubble gently, stir to make an eddy and pour your eggs in. I always break my eggs into 2 separate cups to begin with to both ensure that the eggs are fresh and that I don't break the yolk, as well as to be able to put both eggs in to the pan fairly quickly after one another. Skim off any scrum that forms on the surface of the water and remove the eggs once the white has set right up to the yolk. Lift out with a slotted spoon.

4. The dish should be arranged spinach on the bottom, followed by fish (remove the skin first) and sit the poached egg on top. Season with plenty of black pepper and serve while the egg is hot and yolk nice and leaky.

Ras el hanout Chicken with Tabbouleh

This is a super easy (and healthy) meal that we frequently have for lunch or supper throughout the summer months. In my opinion, nothing beats the fresh bold flavours of a tabbouleh. Technically, the recipe for this tabbouleh has been stolen from my brother but he won't mind. Anyway, this time I have used bulgur wheat instead of couscous, so 'technically' it is a different recipe! The lightly spiced chicken breast and spoonful of natural yoghurt (low-fat, of course) complete this dish perfectly.
Ras el hanout is actually a special blend of spices from Morocco that can vary considerably from household to household. You can have a go at making your own if you like, or you can just go down the local shop. Most supermarkets will stock at least one version, but they can vary from quite sweet to very spicy, so be wary if you can't handle the hot stuff!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, all visible fat trimmed
4 tbsp ras el hanout
100g bulgur wheat
175g cherry tomatoes, quartered (or halved, if small)
1/4 cucumber, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
a handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 tbsp low-fat natural yoghurt

Method:

Preheat your grill to 200C.

Meanwhile, cook your bulgur wheat in a saucepan that has a lid by covering the bulgur wheat with plenty of cold water and bringing to the boil. Stir once, put the lid on and reduce the heat to low, and don't take the lid off for 15 mins. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside to drain thoroughly.

Place your chicken breasts between two sheets of cling film and hit (not too heavily) with the end of a rolling pin to flatten them so that they cook evenly throughout. Using a sharp knife, score the chicken breasts lightly and rub the chicken with the ras el hanout making sure to get some of the rub in the newly made cuts. Grill your chicken for 12 mins or until there is no pink in the middle, turning half way through. There is no need to rub the chicken with oil or butter at this point - the chicken will not dry out.

Once the bulgur wheat has drained, fluff up with a fork and pour into a serving bowl. Mix in the salad vegetables, lemon juice, garlic and herbs with a serving spoon. I don't see any need to season this dish but if you like your sea salt and black pepper, go ahead.

Separate into four bowls, slice your chicken and layer on top with a spoonful of natural yoghurt each.

Fibonacci Stir-fry

The Fibonacci sequence is found in the most unusual places as it is with this simple stir-fry. The first four numbers (1, 1, 2, 3) represent the numbers of tablespoons of different ingredients I use to make the sauce to this wonderfully flavoured dish. 1 tablespoon of cornflour, 1 of rice vinegar, 2 of fish sauce and 3 of light soy sauce. This is the perfect amount to coat a stir-fry for two people. Simply multiply the numbers in the sequence by as many couples as you are cooking for to get the right balance of flavour. I guarantee this will work every time - it truly is the golden ratio. Anyway, enough geeky stuff and back to the cooking...as is now standard with all of my new posts, this recipe aims to reduce the amount of fat and calories in it.

Serves 2 with plenty of leftover veg (add another steak and it will feed 4)

Ingredients:

1 x 175g Sirloin Steak, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced across the grain

1/2 a head of broccoli, cut into inch sized florets

1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks

6 chestnut mushrooms, wiped and halved

6 baby sweetcorn, halved

A handful of mangetout, ends trimmed

1/4 Savoy cabbage, shredded (or 1 pak choi, if available)

1/2 green pepper, sliced lengthwise

4 spring onions, halved and finely sliced lengthwise

2 birdseye chillies, deserved and sliced lengthwise

An inch of root ginger, peeled and grated

2 garlic gloves, crushed

1 tbsp groundout oil

1 nest of fine rice noodles

For the sauce:

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)

3 tbsp light soy sauce

Method:

Thoroughly wash your vegetables and bring a small saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Make up the sauce by whisking together all of the ingredients in a small bowl with a fork.

1. Brush a large wok with the oil, bring to a low heat and fry the ginger, garlic and chillies for a few minutes, before increasing the heat and adding the carrot for another minute.

2. Add the broccoli, peppers, baby corn, mushrooms and mangetout and stir-fry over a medium-high heat for a few minutes. At the same time, add the noodles to the boiling water and reduce to a simmer for 3 mins. Drain and reserve the noodles til the end.

3. Increase the heat again, move the veg to one side of the wok and add the steak strips to the other side to flash fry for about 30 secs before adding the spring onions and sauce, remembering to give the sauce one last quick whisk before it is added. Add the cooked noodles and mix it all together so that everything gets a light coat of sauce. If you're finding it tough to stir together add a little water, but not too much. Remember, everything should just have a light coating of sauce. If it's swimming in sauce at the end, you've added too much.

4. Serve hot and use chopsticks, it'll slow down your eating so you won't eat as much because you'll be full before you finish. If you don't, it doesn't matter as the veg all counts towards your 5-a day and are nil points if you're on weight watchers. If you're being extra careful, leave out the noodles and bulk it out with trimmed beansprouts.

Healthier King Prawn & Smoked Salmon Risotto

I know last year I posted a similar recipe, but Laura and I started a healthy eating plan earlier this week so I've started adapting our favourite recipes to include less calories but with just as much flavour! I actually prefer this recipe to the full-fat version, so it just goes to show that you can eat sensibly and not miss out on taste.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
225g arborio rice
1 small onion (finely diced)
1 large garlic clove (crushed)
150ml dry white wine
850ml vegetable stock
1 medium courgette (finely diced)
1 red bell pepper (finely diced)
50g frozen peas
220g smoked salmon
220g raw king prawns
2tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Method:

Firstly cook your prawns by bringing some lightly salted water to the boil, add the prawns and simmer for a couple of minutes until they turn pink and start to curl slightly. Rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside until the end. Make up your stock and keep in a pan on a low heat.

1. Brush a large wok or deep-sided frying pan with the olive oil and heat gently. Add the chopped onion, garlic and rice and gently fry for a few minutes, then stir in the wine. Increase the heat to medium.

2. Once the wine is bubbling, add 2 ladlefuls of stock and stir continuously for 5 mins.

3. Add the vegetables and keep ladling in the stock as it is absorbed by the rice, until all of the stock has been added. This should take approximately 15 mins.

4. Add the prawns, salmon and parsley, and plenty of cracked black pepper, and stir for another couple of mins until the last of the stock has been absorbed. Serve and enjoy.

As tempting as it is to have some crusty bread with this, we found that we didn't need it as the rice is filling enough.

chicken fajitas with naga lime pickle

We have fajitas about once a month and today I decided to play around with a few ingredients and what a treat we have had. The key to this success - Naga lime pickle! Don't worry, it's not too spicy...just full of flavour.

Ingredients:

385g Chicken breast (diced)
100g bacon lardons
1 medium brown onion (half sliced, half finely chopped)
1 red bell pepper (sliced lengthwise)
1 green bell pepper (sliced lengthwise)
2 garlic cloves (crushed and finely chopped)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 burdened chilli, finely chopped
1 chicken stock cube
1 tsp Naga like pickle
As many tortillas as you can eat

Method:

1. Melt some butter in a wok over a low heat. Gently try the onion for about 5 mins, then add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

2. Mix together the puree, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, oregano, salt and pepper to form a paste. Increase the temperature and fry the paste for a min, stir in the bacon lardons and diced chicken, and cook through for about 6 mins, then add the peppers and stir in the maple syrup and chilli.

3. Crumble in the stock cube, add a splash of water, and stir in the lime pickle. Simmer until the liquid has reduced completely and serve immediately atop your favourite fajita combos. I like a bit of salad, guacamole, soured cream and cheese in mine. Fold and scoff!

Kedgeree

We absolutely adore kedgeree and will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner (if there's any left by dinner time). Adding the coriander and chilli at the end gives the dish a real zing that will get the taste-buds tingling.

Ingredients:

1 cup of basmati rice
300g of undyed Smoked fish (I used mackerel here but traditionally it should be haddock)
3 eggs
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp hot curry powder
1 handful of fresh coriander leaves
A knob of butter
2 bay leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 medium brown onion
2 garlic cloves
An inch of fresh root ginger
2 small red chillies (I use bird's eye)

Method:

How to perfectly hard-boil an egg:

Cover the eggs in cold water - there should be a thing's width between the top of the eggs and the surface of the water. Bring to the boil over a medium-hot temperature. Once you have a rolling boil (large bubbles rising from the sides of the pan), boil the egg for 1 minute and take off the heat, cover and leave for 11 minutes. Plunge the eggs into iced water to stop them cooking further and peel under running water, once Cool.

How to perfectly boil rice.
In a pan, cover your rice with twice as much cold water, salt lightly and stir once before rapidly bringing to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat right down to it's lowest setting and leave until the liquid has been completely absorbed. Rinse under cold water, drain thoroughly and allow to cool, cover and keep in the fridge until required.

Preparing the fish:

At the same time, put the smoked fish fillets and bay leaves in another pan and barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 6 mins, then drain and leave to cool. Once cool, remove the skin and break up the fish meat with your fingers and set aside for later.

1.  Now that your fish, rice and eggs are ready, gently heat the butter in a large saucepan or wok. Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger and gently fry for about 5 mins or until the onions have softened.
2. Add the mustard seeds and curry powder and try for a further minute before adding the tomatoes and lemon juice.
3. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and add the rice and fish meat. Stir while it heats gently.