Seafood Chowder

Delicious seafood chowder on the menu today. Onion, leek and celery gently sautéed, then simmered in milk and stock. Thickened with potatoes and finished with smoked coley and cooked prawns.

You could easily substitute the coley for haddock or cod. You could also add some mixed seafood like clams, mussels or even calamari. 

Braised Lamb & Wholemeal Cream Cheese Dumplings

Lovely lamb on the menu today! This lamb dish combines braised lamb, simmered gently with vegetables and seasonings, then finished off in the oven with wholemeal dumplings and mozzarella cheese.

The wholemeal dumplings go great with this dish and are a great alternative to mash or pasta. They really fill you up and have a surprisingly 'meaty' consistency that goes well with the veg.

Pan Fried Nut Crumbed Pork

Pan fried pork on the menu today! In this recipe the pork is dipped into a mix of breadcrumbs, ground nuts and herbs to give it a delicious crust. The crust seals and protects the pork inside and allows it to cook gently in the pan. Great served with some steamed veg, it also works very well with some Whole Wheat Pasta and a stir in sauce like Tomato Pesto.

The pork in the post was provided by Bord Bia - Irish Food Board at the food blogger event organised with The Good Mood Food Blog- Donal Skehan last week. Prior to the event, Bord Bia sent pork packs to Irish food bloggers, but I was unable to get mine as we were out of the country for a few days. Big thanks to Maeve Desmond from Bord Bia who arranged for me to get some choice cuts from GMIT butchery lecturer Pat Conway's handiwork to make up!

Sundried Tomato & Olive Wholemeal Pizza

Delicious healthy pizza on the menu today. The classic combo of sundried tomato and olives served over tomato sauce with melted cheeses.

This pizza base recipe is made with half white and half wholemeal flour to keep it on the light side. You could easily add a little more veg or some chopped cooked meat if you want to make the pizza go a bit further. 

Smoked Trout with Creamy Pasta

Smoked trout is a great standby product to have in the fridge. It's fully prepared and can be added to cooked pasta or rice to make a great dinner or simply added to salad or served with Wholemeal Bread for a filling lunch. It's also very good for you as it's a great source of Omega 3 oils and is full of vitamins.

Supper Satisfaction was out and about yesterday at an event for the Irish food blogging community organised by Bord Bia - Irish Food Board & The Good Mood Food Blog- Donal Skehan. They very kindly arranged some samples from Irish food producers including the fantastic smoked trout used in today's recipe which was provided by Goatsbridge Premium Irish Trout.

Spicy Bean Burgers

These veggie burgers are a great combination of veg, breadcrumbs and mixed beans. Fantastic served on a bun with a little low fat mayo and ketchup, they also go great served with some thai sweet chili sauce on a bed of Brown Rice as a main meal. 

Alternatively, they also work with Wholemeal Wraps, Wholemeal Pitta Breads or Flour Tortillas as a filling lunch.

Pasta & Beans

I've mentioned before that we try to have at least one veggie meal a week. A vegetarian, if not quite a vegan option is a great way to cut the calories, save a little money, not to mention saving the planet!

This pasta and beans dish is a great one pot supper that requires minimum effort. The veg can easily be chopped before hand and cooked off when needed.

Lamb Tagine

Lamb Tagine on the menu today. A tagine is the name given to an earthenware dish that is used in North African cookery and the meals made in them. This take on a tagine is done on the the hob with lamb and vegetables simmered gently, spiced with cinnamon, cumin and chili powder, then sweetened slightly with a little honey.

This dish is great served with Brown Rice or Lemon & Coriander Couscous. 

Salmon Quiche

A quiche needs a crust! Many recipes for low fat quiche advocate making one without a crust resulting in a soggy eggy mix with no base. This recipe does have a crust, albeit a thin one. To keep the calories down, the base is made with a mix of plain and whole meal flour that's bound together with low fat butter and cold water.

The secret to making good pastry is work quickly and don't over handle the mix!

Mince Rissoles

Mince rissoles are a great combination of minced meat, spices, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, bound together with egg and a little low fat milk. Turkey mince would be best to keep the calories down, but lean beef, pork or lamb would also work well.

Great served with Mashed Potato or Roast Potatoes with a little gravy, they could also be served in a brown roll as a burger with some Spicy Potato Wedges and a little ketchup on the side. 

Prawn Massaman Curry with Brown Rice

Massaman curry is a delicious Thai style curry that contains potatoes. When ordered in a restaurant or takeaway, this dish will be made with gallons of coconut milk hugely increasing the calories and fat content. (Even 'low fat' or 'reduced fat' tinned coconut milk contains pots of calories and should be avoided!).

This recipe replaces the coconut milk with a cornflour/milk mixture that maintains the consistency and mirrors the taste.

You could omit the prawns and chicken stock and add some butternut squash or sweet potato (and vegetable stock) for a veggie version of the curry. Alternatively, some chopped cooked chicken would also work, but take this into account when counting the calories.

Veggie 'Meatballs'

Up today is a veggie 'meatball' recipe that uses roasted aubergine instead of meat. Combining classic Italian flavours, these meatballs are fantastic served with a stir in pasta sauce such as Red Pepper & Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce or Tomato Pesto or your favourite pasta sauce.

Vegetable Risotto

Spring has definitely sprung and something a little lighter is called for! This vegetable risotto is tasty and filling, but not too heavy or stodgy.

This recipe is very versatile and can be made to go further by adding a little cooked chicken or cooked prawns. You could also throw in some left over veg without anyone noticing!

Beef & Butternut Squash Stew

This beef and butternut squash stew is a fantastic tomato based dish.

Packed with veg, but low on carbs, this stew is ideal as a warming dinner or even better the day after as a filling lunch. 

Great served on it's own or with some crusty bread, you could also serve the stew with some Mashed Potato to make it go a bit further.

Kofta Kebabs

Kofta kebabs are a traditional Persian dish made with minced meat, delicately spiced and served in warmed pitta bread. They are usually made using a mix of minced beef and lamb, this recipe uses turkey mince to keep the calories down.

The kebabs are served with whole meal pitta breads and can be topped with low fat mayo, fat free yoghurt, sweet chili sauce or even a little ketchup. The meat mixture can be prepared and shaped in advance, then refrigerated and grilled when you need them. They would also work well served with some rice or couscous if you wanted to make a more substantial meal.

Oriental Meatballs

The third bout of meatball goodness! We go even further east for these delicious Chinese style meatballs. Ginger, garlic and coriander are the classic Chinese combo that come together in this dish.

Unlike the previous meatballs recipes, these meatballs are done in the oven, not the pan,  facilitating the slightly looser mixture. The meatballs are great served on their own with a little soy, Oriental Dipping Sauce or sweet chili sauce. Alternatively, they go great with a vegetable stir fry with some soy or oyster sauce or simply served with noodles.

Beef & Bean Goulash

This beef and bean goulash is a fantastic tomato based stew. Beef, cannellini beans, mushrooms and peppers are combined and simmered gently with paprika and cayenne to give a warm smoky flavour. Potatoes are added towards the end of the cooking to bring the stew together and thicken it slightly.

Great served on it's own or with some crusty bread, you could also serve the stew with rice to make it go a bit further.

Mushroom & Chickpea Curry with Brown Rice

This Indian style curry is delicately spiced and can be as hot as mild as you like by simply adjusting the strength of the curry powder used. Mushrooms and chickpeas are combined with spices and potato to gently thicken into a delicious sauce.

The recipe calls for onions, garlic and ginger to be liquidised to a pulp. The easiest way to do this is with a hand blender or food processor. If you don't have this equipment, simply grating them would also work.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is a classic Italian recipe that combines bacon, cheese and cream with pasta to make a creamy sauce. Needless to say, this healthy alternative has no cream, but manages to maintain basic flavours of carbonara, but without the calories!
If you prefer, you can substitute the cooked bacon for cooked chicken, cooked prawns, smoked salmon or even mixed veg or mushrooms. 

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Vegetable spring rolls are a big favourite from the Chinese take away, but as they're deep fried, they come with tones of extra calories. It's actually a pity they deep fry them as the ingredients are surprisingly healthy and low in fat.

In this dish, you can bake or fry the spring rolls in a little spray oil which maintains the taste, but cuts out the extra fats. 

They are a little fiddly for the fist couple, but you'll be surprised how quickly you improve.