Sweet Potato Crisps

A very simple recipe on the blog today. Sweet Potato crisps are a great alternative to regular crisps and are very easy to make. 

Ready in no time, they are simply baked in the oven and topped with a little firey pepper to finish.

Carrot & Lentil Soup

Some soup on the menu today! Lentils are a great standby cupboard item as they contain lots of vitamins and nutrients and they really fill you up. You can use tinned or dried pre-soaked lentils and any colour will work. Unlike some of the other soups on the site, this one doesn't contain any potatoes so is kept on the lighter side and is a little more Summery. 

Serve with a slice or two of Weight Watchers whole meal bread and a little low fat butter, or 2 slices of wheaten bread such as Mc Cambridges. A couple of Ryvita crisp bread also go very well as an alternative. 

Pineapple Salsa

This pineapple salsa is light and refreshing and goes great served along side grilled fish, gammon or chicken. 

Alternatively you can mix the prepared salsa into some cooked couscous or rice to make a more substantial side dish. Adding blanched broccoli or cauliflower, or cooked chicken or prawns, could easily turn it into a main course.

The basic salsa mix can be made in advance and refrigerated until you need to use it. 

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. 

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.

Aubergine & Tomato Bake

This Italian vegetable bake is a delicious mix of cooked aubergines and ripe tomatoes, baked in the oven with parmesan cheese.

Ideal as a light meal, or great as a starter. It can easily be assembled before hand and popped into the oven when needed.

Broccoli Soup

This light creamy soup is a great option for lunch or would work well as a starter. To maintain the colour and vitamins, the broccoli is steamed over the simmering stock and then added at the end.

Like the other soups I've posted, this is great served with a slice or two of Weight Watchers whole meal bread and a little low fat butter, or 2 slices of wheaten bread such as Mc Cambridges. A couple of Ryvita crisp bread also go very well as an alternative.

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!

Creamy Mushroom Soup

A lovely lighter creamy soup up today! The weather seems to be brightening up over the last few days and at the risk of sounding a thousand years old, there's a grand stretch in the evening! 

This soup is best when you use a mixture of mushrooms although standard button mushrooms would work fine. Fancier types like chanterelles, shitake or oyster give a woodier taste that's really delicious. Many of the supermarkets do a pack with mixed varieties that are perfect.

Serve with a slice or two of Weight Watchers whole meal bread and a little low fat butter, or 2 slices of wheaten bread such as Mc Cambridges. A couple of Ryvita crisp bread also go very well as an alternative.

Parsnip Puree

Parsnips are a great veg that are often overlooked when planning accompaniments for a meal. Often included in supermarket special offers, they are cheaper, contain more vitamins and have more fibre than their glamourous, ubiquitous counterpart; carrots.

In this recipe, the parsnips are steamed first, locking in their sweetness and vitamins and then pureed in a little vegetable stock to form a creamy consistency. They would be a great, lower carb, alternative to regular potato mash.

Ideal with roast chicken or fish, pureed parsnips would also go great with a Sunday Roast with other veg on the side.

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.

Carrot & Swede Soup

Another winter warmer up today with Carrot & Swede Soup! These two are a great combination and will really fill you up. This recipe calls for only half the soup to be blitzed, which gives a great creamy consistency, but you still have lots of chunky veg to enjoy.

Serve with a slice or two of Weight Watchers whole meal bread and a little low fat butter, or 2 slices of wheaten bread such as Mc Cambridges. A couple of Ryvita crisp bread also go very well as an alternative.

Creamy Spinach Soup

Another winter warmer ideal as a filling lunch or a great starter. Spinach is a great ingredient that is packed with lots of vitamins, iron and anti-oxidants that keep us ticking over. This soup retains the goodness as half the spinach is added just before serving.

Like the other soups I've posted, this is great served with a slice or two of Weight Watchers whole meal bread and a little low fat butter, or 2 slices of wheaten bread such as Mc Cambridges. A couple of Ryvita crisp bread also go very well as an alternative.

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.

Vegetable Chili & Brown Rice

Another veggie favourite up today. This dish is a vegetable chilli that's made with a blend of ground coriander, ground cumin, chili flakes, and cinnamon. Packed with veg, the kidney beans  and chick peas  are a great background against the spiciness of the chili.

This dish would freeze and reheat very well and any left over chili would go great served on a baked potato.

Vegetable Curry with Brown Rice

Vegetable Curry is another vegetarian option that has kept us going over the winter. This Indian style curry is delicately spiced and can be as hot or mild as you like. Onion, butternut squash and courgette form the base vegetables, while spinach and chick peas add contrasting texture.

The recipe calls for onions and apples 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.

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Couscous

I am a committed carnivore! Or at least I was, before the weight loss. One of the biggest changes I've made to our menu is trying to have at least one vegetarian meal each week and we've pretty much stuck to it.

My approach was to make complete meals in their own right, rather than regular recipes omitting meat, where you feel slightly deprived while chomping through the veg.

This recipe uses the great combo of  butternut squash, peppers and red onion, slowly roasted together in delicious spices. It's great as a main course although I've served smaller portions as a starter to rave reviews.

Honey Roast Parsnips

Parsnips are a bit of a forgotten veg. Their faint flavour usually disappears amongst the spuds or carrots that we tend to reach for first. 

This recipe makes them very much the star. It's quite a winter favourite of ours and we always serve them with Christmas dinner. They'll go great with grilled meat, chicken or fish.