Lower Calorie Chicken Fajitas with Mexican Black Beans

I'd never cooked fajitas in this way before but on my journey to lose weight and manage a slightly healthier diet, I tried this alternative method, which eliminates the need for any oils, slashing both fat and calorie content straight away.

The full plate which includes the fajitas (in lettuce rather than wraps), a portion of black beans, the salad, salsa, jalapenos and feta cheese comes in at just under 600 calories per person. Removing the wraps alone slashes more than 200 calories.

Instead of serving with my usual couple of wraps, I used romaine lettuce leaves as a fantastic, healthy and low calorie holder for the filling and they also added a deliciously refreshing crunch to every bite.

Usually I would serve with homemade guacamole, perhaps sour cream and plenty of grated cheese - all the trimmings. Instead here, I had a tablespoon of salsa, 30g feta cheese and plenty of jalapenos and it was delicious, satisfying and moreish. I also prepared some delicious black beans for an added indulgence which we had alongside - but they were tasty enough that you could eat them alone with salad and some rice. I also served a 'shred salad', made entirely by using a vegetable peeler or spiraliser - using carrot, red cabbage and radish in this way, all of which are quite wet ingredients, creates a slaw-like consistency without the need for any mayonnaise or oil.

(My partner had the Weightwatcher's wraps instead of our usual brand, but to be honest the only difference I could make out was that they were smaller than usual - make your own choice.)

This served two of us with a portion leftover for lunch the next day. This has been my favourite healthy eating dinner so far.

Lower Calorie Chicken Fajitas with Mexican Black Beans

For the fajitas:

2 breasts of chicken
1 packet Old El Paso Smoky BBQ Fajita Seasoning
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 red chilli
2 red or green peppers
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp Chipotle paste
200g mushrooms
Salt
Black pepper
2-4 romaine lettuce leaves
For the black beans:

1 tin or carton of black beans
4 spring onions
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli
1 tsp cumin seeds
Handful fresh coriander
Salt & Black Pepper
200 ml chicken stock
For the shred salad:

50g radish
50g red cabbage
50g carrot
50g cucumber - option to include in salad or as cooling sticks
For the fajitas, firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Now peel and slice the onion, and do the same to the garlic and add to a casserole dish. Slice the red chilli, the peppers and the mushrooms and add to dish.

Add the tinned tomatoes and chipotle paste.

Now remove the chicken from its wrapper and cover on both sides with the seasoning then add to the casserole dish. Add a generous pinch of both salt and black pepper and give a good stir. Now place into the oven on the middle shelf and cook for 40 minutes. 

Lower Calorie Chicken Fajitas pre-cooking

Remove halfway through cooking just to stir, and ensure the chicken is immersed in the sauce. 

Lower Calorie Chicken Fajitas

Now for the black beans. Firstly gently heat in a small non-stick pan. Now finely chop the spring onions, crush the garlic and slice the chilli and add to the pan. Allow to slowly soften. Now add the cumin seeds and allow to pop, these will exude a wonderful flavour together with the other ingredients.

You're now ready to add the black beans, do so and then gently stir to allow the chilli, onion and garlic to coat the full portion. Now pour over the stock and cook until the liquid is completely cooked down. I like a slightly mushy texture to this dish so I press down whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. When this is ready, tear in the coriander leaves and stir through.

For the shred salad, simply peel the carrot then use a vegetable peeler or spiraliser to create small shards of the vegetable. Repeat the process (without the peeling) for the radish and red cabbage.

Once the chicken fajita mix is cooked, I remove from the oven and remove the chicken breasts from the pot to slice or shred into bite-sized pieces. Then return to the pan, stir and pop the lid back on to keep warm.

Serve with a couple of romaine lettuce leaves or wraps, if you wish, 1 tbsp salsa and a heap of jalapenos and if like me you need a bit of cheese with this dish, also add the 30g feta cheese. Enjoy!

Sticky, Saucy Baby Back Ribs

Overnight marinated ribs are one of the most moreish and delicious dishes and can be served with a variety of accompaniments to make an incredibly satisfying meal. The marinade uses only store cupboard essentials, so it's also a cheap supper and when I made it here it was a frugal part of the month just before pay day so I served it with a little rice and some frozen mixed veg. One rack is enough for two people and this marinade is enough for a couple of racks (you can always freeze one in the marinade ready for next time).
1 rack of baby back ribs
Tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 chillies, sliced with the seeds left in
3 cloves garlic sliced finely
2 tbsp chipotle paste (can be bought in most supermarkets now)
Generous pinch of salt and pepper

Here's how:
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and then completely immerse the ribs in the sauce, ensuring every part is covered so the flavours permeate the meat. Cover with foil and then place in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Pre-heat the oven to about 160-170 degrees and once up to heat slow-roast the ribs for 1.5-2 hours depending on the size of them.
To crisp up the edges remove the foil for the last twenty minutes of cooking.
Spoon out the remaining sauce in the dish and drizzle over the ribs when serving - it's too good to waste.

Thomasina Mier's Fruity Chilli

I’m constantly tearing out recipes from magazines, saving or pinning online recipes and taking notes during TV shows of dishes I want to try and this weekend I finally made one I’ve had earmarked for a while.

Being a big fan of Wahaca, when Thomasina Miers’ Mexican Food Made Simple aired, I was avidly viewing week by week and one of the recipes she prepared that I really liked the look of was for a fruity chilli. After a bit of online digging and having to re-watch the episode via  Channel 5 Online yesterday afternoon, I took note of all of the ingredients, decided to omit from using banana and pear and popped out to get the remainder of the ingredients I didn’t already have in my brother’s stock cupboard, where I’ve been staying for a few nights.

I made a large batch, to freeze half for a pre-prepared mid-week meal, and the rest fed four of us comfortably. Combining both lean steak and pork mince, and with a sauce flavoured with charred vegetables and chipotle the end result was rich, smoky and delicious – a perfect warming, winter meal. I served it with rice, homemade salsa and guacamole, sour cream and some tortilla chips.

Here’s How:

500g each of lean steak and lean pork mince

2 large onions

6 large tomatoes

2 bell peppers

2 cloves of garlic

1 large red chilli

2 apples, peeled and chopped into cubes

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons of raisins or dried fruit

Heaped tsp of each of the following: ground cinnamon, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper

2 cloves

2 tablespoons of oregano (I used dried as couldn’t get hold of any fresh and it was fine)

75 chipotle paste

50 ml chicken stock

1 tin of red kidney beans

First off, whack the oven up to a high heat, and place on a baking sheet the tomatoes, peppers and the onions roughly chopped. Place them into the oven until the skin is blackened, then leave to one side to cool.

Brown off the mince and whilst it’s cooking, place the charred vegetables into a blender and blitz until liquidised – the blackened vegetables will give this basis of your sauce a great, smoked flavour. Now you need to add the flavours – add all of your herbs and spices, garlic and chilli along with the chipotle paste and blitz once more.

Once browned, transfer the mince to a saucepan, then cover with your sauce and stir through thoroughly. Next add your apples and raisins (and if you wish to stick to Thomasina’s recipe your pear and banana) and the chicken stock and kidney beans and stir again. Now place on a moderate heat for 45 minutes-an hour.

In the meantime prepare your salsa by finely chopping 2 tomatoes, 1 red onion and 1 chilli and a tsp of sun-dried tomato paste in a small bowl or ramekin. Pour in some garlic infused olive oil and then leave to intensify as the chilli is cooking.

For the guacamole, in a mortar, place a finely chopped red onion, chopped red chilli and 1 clove of garlic with 2 chopped avocadoes and some fresh coriander and grind with the pestle till you’re left with a fairly chunky texture. Next add the juice of 1 lime and add a pinch of salt and pepper then grind again. Just before serving, mix in some freshly chopped coriander.

Finally cook your rice to the packet instructions, or if you prefer jacket potatoes, and once cooked, plate up with a spoonful each of the salsa, guacamole and sour cream with a bowl of moreish tortillas in the middle of the table, and some grated cheddar cheese for a seriously satisfying, fiery, yet smoky meal.  It might not look very glam, but when it’s cold outside, this kind of a meal is balm, to whoever you’re feeding.