Salt & Pepper Chicken

I cannot stress enough how delicious this Chinese fake-away dish is and what's more, I've played around with the method and ingredients so it's only 1 syn on Slimming World too. Win, win. 

This packs a real punch, so if you're a spice-wimp, tone it down a little, if you love spice, you'll love this dish.

This serves two as a main dish. 

Salt & Pepper Chicken (1 Syn)

Here's how:
For the chicken & seasoning:

• x2 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
• 1 tsp sweetener
• Fry Light

For the stir fry:

• 2 spring onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 red chillies
• 2 cm piece fresh ginger
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 carrot
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Fry Light

Firstly place a wok on a medium heat, dry. Now add the 1 tbsp of sea salt to the wok and allow it to dry-fry until the salt has started to take on a browny colour. Once that begins, remove from the heat. 

For the rest of the spice mix, in a small bowl place the cornflour, black pepper, Chinese Five Spice and sweetener. Add the salt once it's toasted too and mix together. 

Return the wok to the hob and spray with a few sprays of Fry Light, I prefer the rapeseed oil version here as it's pretty flavourless. 

Cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces and toss into the spice mixture so each side is coated and when happy pop every piece of chicken into the now-hot wok, and fry for two minutes initially. Then use tongs to turn over each piece and fry for a further 2 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Give the wok a little shake every so often, and check each piece is getting cooked on both sides. Once cooked, remove the chicken and place onto a plate to rest. 

For the stir fried vegetables, finely slice the spring onions and chilli and add to the wok with a couple more sprays of Fry Light. Mince in the garlic and finely chop the ginger and add to the wok too. 

Slice the peppers and peel and cut the carrot into matchsticks and add to the wok too on a high heat. Add the soy sauce too. This will cook in under two minutes, moving around all of the time. 

Return the chicken to the wok to coat a little before serving. Enjoy!

Salt & Pepper Chicken (1 syn)

If you love a Chinese fake-away on the healthier side then I have included eight other Chinese-inspired recipes with the Slimming World syns per portion included. 

• Chilli Crab Noodles  (1.5 syns)
• Slow Cooker Chinese Pork with Noodles  (1/2 syn)
• Sticky Asian Salmon (2 syns)
• Chicken Satay Noodle Salad (6 syns)
• Vegetarian Peanut Noodles (7 syns)
• Asian Tuna Fishcakes (3.5 syns)
• Chinese Style Roast Chicken (5 syns)
• Fake Away Char Sui Pork (5 syns)

Double Chocolate Brownies

This is a straight-forward Double Chocolate Brownie recipe that is fabulous to make with children and loved by the kids and grown-ups alike. 

This makes enough for x8-10 thick brownies and they can last a few days in a sealed container, but they rarely do. We made them on Sunday morning and enjoyed for our dessert that day. 

Double Chocolate Brownies

Here's how:

• 200g dark chocolate
• 190g salted butter
• 80g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 275g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200g milk chocolate

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and fill and boil the kettle. In the meantime, grease and line a square baking tin with grease proof paper and set aside.

Now place the just boiled water into a small saucepan and above it place a heat-proof dish to melt the dark chocolate in. Break up the dark chocolate and place into that bowl with the salted butter. Allow this to slowly melt down until you are left with what can only be described as chocolate lava. Now remove from the heat and set aside. 

Take the milk chocolate bar, and cut into chunks and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the caster sugar and eggs; use a whisk and really be quite vigorous to get as many air bubbles into the mixture as possible (this will help the brownies to rise). 

In a different, smaller bowl, combine the flour and cocoa powder, pass through a sieve. 

Now take the chocolate lava mixture and gently pour into the beaten eggs and sugar, and gently fold in using the figure of eight method. You don't want to knock out all of the air, so do this carefully. 

Now repeat the process by adding the flour and cocoa into the bowl, and again gently folding it in until it's all combined. 

Finally add most of the chocolate chunks, and stir through. Then pour the brownie batter into the baking tin and allow it to be as evenly distributed as possible. Now place each remaining piece of chocolate all over the top of the batter. 

Place into the hot oven for exactly 28 minutes, then remove and leave on the hob, in the tin for at least an hour to cool right down before you attempt to remove it from the tin. When you do, cut into your preferred number, and leave in a cool dry place in a sealed container until ready to serve. You should have rich, fudgey, moist brownies that are utterly delicious. 

Double Chocolate Brownies

Here are a few other baking recipes you may enjoy making:

• Lovely Lemon Cake
• White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
• Chocolate Hobnobs
• Lemon & Raspberry Yoghurt Loaf Cake
• Rhubarb & Custard Cake
• Coffee & Walnut Tray Bake
• Lemon Honey and Yoghurt Cake
• Apple Cake
• Carrot Cake
• Monte Carlos Biscuits

Naked Mexican Burgers with Guacamole (Slimming World Friendly)

These Naked Mexican Burgers are easy to make, taste fantastic and are completely syn-free if you follow Slimming World like myself. 

If you do have the homemade guacamole; and I recommend you do as it is fabulous with the burger, this will bring the meal to 6 syns per portion even if you load up with the Slimming World Chips and have all of the burger trimmings including the green leaves, sliced tomato, red onions, pickled gherkins and if you like a fiery kick, jalopenos. I used my HEA for 30g Cheddar too. 

The below makes two big burgers (think quarter pounder size) as well as two smaller, children's ones. 

Naked Mexican Burgers with Guacamole (Slimming World Friendly)

Here's how:

For the burgers:

• 700g lean steak mince (I use less than 5% fat)
• 1 large red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp Ancho Chilli Paste (if you can't get this use Chipotle Paste instead)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried coriander
• 1/2 tsp dried cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp garlic granules
• Handful fresh chives
• Pinch salt and black pepper
• Fry Light

To load up the burgers:

• Rocket leaves (or iceberg lettuce if you prefer)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• Pickled gherkins
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1/4 jar of jalopenos
• Cheddar or burger cheese

For the guacamole:

• 1 avocado
• 1 tomato
• 1 red onion
• 1 lime
• Coriander leaves
• 2 chillies
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 garlic clove

Begin my making the burger patties. In a large bowl place the steak mince and add all of the herbs and spices, Ancho Chilli Paste or Chipotle Paste and tomato puree. 

Now roughly chop the onion and add to the mix, and peel and mince the garlic and add too. I snip the chives into the patty mix personally using kitchen scissors, but you can cut with a knife otherwise.

Now using your hands, work the meat together a bit like you would a dough, ensuring that all of the ingredients get distributed throughout the meat. 

Divide the meat into four burger patties of whichever size you prefer (you may wish to do x4 equal sized ones); and place onto a board or a plate. Take one at a time and work with your hands into a round, neat burger patty or of course you could use a burger press but I always use my hands. 

Once all of the patties are made, now wash and dry your hands, then tightly seal each burger with cling wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes or longer. This really helps the burger to keep it's shape and prevent it from falling apart on the BBQ or under the grill. 

In the meantime, to make the guacamole; slice the ripe avocado in half, you will know it's ripe from it feeling soft to the touch through the skin. If it's rock hard, it won't work well for guacamole. A trick for this, is to place into a brown paper bag with an apple which will speed up the ripening process. 

Once halved, and the stone is removed, place the flesh into a mortar, then add the handful of coriander leaves, the pinch of sea salt (it's good to use sea salt as it is abrasive and helps to break down the flesh), mince in the garlic clove then roughly chop the tomato and red onion. Finally squeeze over the juice of one lime. Now use the pestle to grind up. I prefer a slightly chunky texture but if you prefer puree, you could of course use a blender, food processor or a Nutribullet. 

When you are ready to cook the burgers, place the grill onto a medium heat. Remove the clingfilm from each burger and place under the grill for exactly 8 minutes with just 1 spray of Fry Light per burger on each side. 

After 8 minutes, use tongs to turn the burgers over, and cook for a further 8 minutes. If you want melted cheese, add this for the last four minutes of cooking. 

It's really important to rest these burgers for 4-5 minutes when they come out of the grill; as the juices will run and return to the meat and it will be tastier and more tender to eat than if you dig in straight away. 

Naked Mexican Burgers with Guacamole (Slimming World Friendly)

While they rest, load up the plate with some guacamole, the green leaves of your choice, tomatoes, gherkins, red onions, jalopenos and anything else you fancy. Enjoy!

Healthy Fish Pie (Slimming World Friendly)

I have tweaked my usual fish pie recipe here to make it more appropriate for Slimming World and it went down so well I had to share this one. It still had the rich and creamy flavour that we love, was packed full of fish, and certainly didn't feel like 'diet food.' It has 1 syn which is for the half fat creme fraiche.

You can use any fish you want inside the pie, I like the combination of smoked and unsmoked fish for added flavour and frozen prawns are a great shout too. I have recently discovered how good frozen fish is too which also works well here.

Usually I would grate cheese over the buttered mash, but here, I just mashed with a few drops of milk (part of Healthy Option A Choice) and brushed the mash potato topping with egg to help it to brown in the oven. 

The below serves a family of four - or four portions. 

Healthy Fish Pie (Slimming World Friendly)

Here's how:

• 1 onion
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 cod fillet
• 1 smoked cod or haddock fillet
• 1 salmon fillet
• 1 pack frozen raw king prawns
• 1 fish stock cube
• x4 tbsp half fat creme fraiche 
• 1 tsp Colman's English Mustard Powder
• 200g frozen petit pois peas
• 400g white potatoes (any that mash well but I like Maris Pipers) 
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Fry Light Sunflower Oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and fill a large saucepan with water and a pinch of salt. 

Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces and add to the water, bring to the boil on a medium heat, then turn down and simmer for twenty minutes or until the potatoes are cooked right through. Drain and then return the potatoes to the pan and place back on the heat for a few seconds, shaking, which will help to remove any leftover water in the potatoes so they don't turn to mush. 

Remove from the heat, mash with a little milk and season with salt and pepper to taste then set aside. 

For the fish pie sauce, add some Fry Light, just a couple of sprays, to a frying pan on a medium heat. Dice the onion and finely slice the celery and add to the pan to gently soften. Make up the fish stock cube in 150ml boiled water and add to the pan, keeping on a medium heat. Add the creme fraiche, the mustard powder and some black pepper and mix well until combined. Cook for a good ten minutes or until the sauce is quite thick and glossy. 

To prepare the fish, simply chop the cod, salmon and if you are using, haddock, into bite sized pieces. Remove the fish pie sauce from the heat, and add the chopped fish and whole prawns into the sauce alongside the frozen peas and stir well. 

Healthy Fish Pie (Slimming World Friendly)

Now place all of the contents of the pan into an oven proof dish and try to evenly distribute the fish all around. 

Spoon over the mash potato all over the dish, and use the back of the spoon, to spread it a little smoothly, you want the odd peak here and there. I like to season the potato again here with some white pepper. 

Now beat the egg in a small bowl, and use a pastry brush to rub all over the mash potato, which will help it to brown. 

Place into the hot oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the mash has browned a little. Serve with your choice of vegetables. Enjoy!

Healthy Fish Pie (Slimming World friendly)

If you are after other Slimming World friendly family recipes I've included a few below.

• Chicken and Chorizo Penne
• Mini Turkey Koftes
• Simple Fish Stew
• Chilli Crab Noodles
• Adana Kebabs
• Slow Cooker Chinese Pork with Noodles
• Cajun Salmon Tortilla Bowls

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

This is a lovely summer dessert, that makes the most of ripe, succulent strawberries while they're at their best and the tangy ginger nut base works really well with the sweetness of the strawberries.

This can serve about 10-12 people and the whipped cream topping means you need no sides with it. You should make this in advance of serving; at least a few hours beforehand; but it would also be good to make the day before and chill in the fridge. 

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

Here's how:

• 680g cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
• 250g mascarpone
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 100g icing sugar
• 200g strawberries
• 1 packet of ginger nut biscuits
• 120g salted butter

For the topping:

• 300ml double cream
• Drop of vanilla extract
• Handful of strawberries to decorate

Firstly grease a 23cm springform tin and place the oven on to pre-heat at 160 degrees. 

Now make the base first by crumbling the biscuits. You can do this in a food processor or as I prefer, to pop into a sealed food bag and then I bash with the end of a rolling pin until the texture looks like sand. Then place into a bowl. 

Now melt the butter by popping into the microwave for a few seconds (or longer if you had the butter in the fridge) and pour into the biscuits and mix well. 

Now spoon the buttery biscuit mixture into the springform tin, use the back of a spoon to press down so it is evenly distributed as much as possible and neat, and then place into the fridge while you get everything else ready.

For the filling, firstly take the stalks off of the washed strawberries and place into a blender or Nutribullet and blitz to a puree and set aside. 

In a bowl place the cream cheese, mascarpone, yoghurt and icing sugar and mix well. Add the eggs in, one at a time, mixing really well each time until combined. 

Add the vanilla and again, mix well to evenly distribute, and then finally, add the pureed strawberries and gently swirl around. 

Now spoon over the biscuit base, and again use the back of a spoon to try to evenly distribute. Then place into the hot oven and cook for 50 minutes exactly. 

When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, it should still have a little wobble in the middle, if it still looks very wobbly all over, return to the oven for a little longer. 

Once cooked leave to cool in the tin for a while, and if you can, place into a fridge for a few hours to cool right down before decorating when ready to serve. 

For the topping simply whisk the cream with the vanilla extract either by hand, by electric whisk or use my hack of throwing into the Nutribullet and blitzing for just a few seconds which results in perfect, thick and fluffy whipped cream. 

Decorate with some chopped strawberries to your preference. Enjoy!

Here are a few other dessert recipes you might like:

Cheat's Chocolate Trifle
Rhubarb & Custard Cake
Triple Chocolate Cookie Brownies
Cinnamon & Honey Baked Nectarines
Bread and Butter Pudding
Cheat's Pavlova
Greek Yoghurt & Honey Baked Cheesecake with Berries
Apple & Blackberry Pie

Cajun Salmon Tortilla Bowls (Slimming World Friendly)

This is a really fun and delicious dish for all the family; if you're not keen on Cajun Seasoning, you could use a mix of herbs and spices that you do enjoy too or a fajita spice mix if you prefer.

I make these with some gently spiced black beans, some stir fried vegetables and a tomato salsa with a little kick from green chillies. 

The below serves four (2 adults, 2 kids in our case) and if you're following Slimming World like myself, use the mini tortilla wraps from Weight Watchers Wholemeal Wraps so one counts as your Healthy Extra B Choice and the other can be synned at 6 syns which is well worth it for this meal.

Cajun Salmon Tortilla Bowls

Here's how:
For the Tortilla bowls:

• x6 Weight Watchers Wholemeal Wraps
• Fry Light

For the salmon:

• 1/2 side of salmon or four fillets
• 2 tbsp Cajun Seasoning

For the veggies:

• 2-3 sprays of Fry Light
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• 1 tsp Cajun Seasoning

For the black beans:

• Fry Light
• 1 tin of black beans in water 
• 1 red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chipotle paste

For the tomato salsa:

• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 green chillies
• 1 lime
• Some coriander leaves and stalks (to taste)
• Pinch salt
• Pinch black pepper

Begin by popping the oven on at 180 degrees and placing a piece of foil onto a baking tray.

Now take a cupcake or muffin tin, and spray x6 of the holes with a one spray of Fry Light. Now gently push a tortilla wrap into each hole, and then spray again. Once all are in, place into the oven for about 8-12 minutes, until the 'bowls' have taken shape and the wraps are beginning to brown a little. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Now place the salmon on top of the baking sheet, and spoon over the Cajun Seasoning; then use the back of the spoon to press into the salmon flesh. Place into the oven and cook for 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes.

While the salmon is cooking, chop the three red onions or you could use two large ones. One third needs to be popped into a frying pan or wok with a little Fry Light, and one third into a saucepan with a few sprays of Fry Light. 

Mince the garlic and add to the saucepan with the red onion. Then open and drain the tin of black beans and add to the saucepan with the cumin, chipotle, coriander and cinnamon and leave to cook down for ten minutes, stirring every few minutes. 

For the vegetables, just slice the peppers up and throw into the frying pan or wok and add the Cajun seasoning. Give a shake or stir up every few minutes. 

Finally make the salsa by simply chopping the tomatoes and placing into a bowl. Slice the chillies and add the remaining diced red onion and then season with salt and pepper. Add the coriander (or you could use basil or mint if you prefer) and squeeze over the juice of the lime. 

When everything is ready, place 1 tortilla bowl onto the children's plates, and two onto the adults. 

Begin by spooning in the black beans. Next layer up the stir fried spicy vegetables, and then flake on some large chunks of the Cajun spiced salmon. 

Garnish with the tomato salsa on the side and if you have some jalopeno peppers these add a nice kick. If the kids find it spicy, fat free yoghurt or sour cream would work to cool this down a little too. Enjoy!

Here are some of my other Slimming World friendly recipes I've shared since joining a month ago.

Mini Turkey Koftes
Simple Fish Stew
Slow Cooker Chinese Pork with Noodles
Chilli Crab Noodles
Chicken and Chorizo Penne

Slimming World Friendly Chicken & Chorizo Penne

Anything with a chicken and chorizo combo is a winner in my eyes, and this tasty pasta dish is a family favourite. 

It's quick and easy to prepare and what's more, for those on Slimming World like myself, it's only 3 syns for the meal which is due to the chorizo. 

I served this with a big mozzarella salad (Healthy Extra A choice) on Sunday so lots of salad goodness for speed, and it went down well with the whole family. 

I've made this before for the family before joining Slimming World and used cream, which is also lovely but using a tomato base makes this super low on syns for a really delicious and moreish meal.

The below serves 4 with enough leftover for 1-2 lunchbox portions for the next day.

Slimming World Friendly Chicken & Chorizo Penne

Slimming World Friendly Chicken and Chorizo Penne

Here's how:

• 130g cooking chorizo
• 3 chicken thighs
• 1 red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 6-7 large, ripe tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Salt & black pepper
• 500g pack penne
• Handful fresh parsley 

Place a large, non-stick pan on a medium heat and fill and boil the kettle.

Slice the chorizo into thin coin-shaped pieces and add to the pan; no need for any oil. 

While that cooks, finely dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan. 

Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside in a bowl for now. 

Roughly chop the parsley and also set aside for the end.

Now chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and then season well with salt and black pepper. Add to the pan to cook. 

At this point place the penne on to cook with the water boiled from the kettle and a pinch of salt. Cook according to pack instructions - approximately 10 minutes for dried. 

Once the chicken is seared all over, add the tomatoes and turn up the heat a little. Add the tomato puree, the oregano and again add a touch of salt and pepper. Now allow to cook down a little.

Once the pasta is cooked, remove from the heat and spoon in a spoonful of the pasta cooking water. 

If the chicken is cooked through (it should only take minutes if it has been cut into bite sized pieces but check by cutting into one of the biggest pieces and ensuring it isn't pink inside) then now add the pasta; I use a slotted spoon to pop the penne in as a little more pasta water will help to loosen the sauce, which will just coat everything and won't be swimming in a thick sauce. Once all of the pasta is in the pan, use a wooden spoon or spatula to move everything around and ensure it gets a good coating of the flavours and sauce.

Now spoon into a big serving bowl or onto individual plates if you prefer and add the chopped parsley. Enjoy!