Zero Calorie Food!

Well, almost.

I was recently killing time in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre and I found the health food section (oh no). And it's pretty incredible. A great gluten free selection of pasta, bread, granola (maple pecan, passionfruit pistachio, mango macadamia...heaven) packet mixes and bits and pieces, along with a sports nutrition bit with protein supplements and a diet food bit. Which is where I found ZERO CALORIE noodles, rice and pasta. That's right. You may have heard of them before, but they're fairly hard to find. The noodles are made from Glucomannan fibre and the pasta is made from Moyu. I do not know what these things are and I am too scared to find out but I haven't read anything bad about them so I am assuming that they are healthy for human consumption. Here are the websites if you want to have a little look before you spend your money on these (they are expensive, obviously) : http://www.zeronoodles.com/about.asp?sid= http://www.slimpasta.co.uk/index.html. They are suitable for all dietary requirements, including gluten free and vegan, so they are obviously a great choice for Tom and I.

Now, as I wasn't sure what they would be like, I didn't waste my time making nice recipes to go with these bizarre things. I wouldn't be happy if I wasted an evening making a nice teriyaki sauce for it to go in the bin because my noodles were gross. So I cheated and used a Blue Dragon packet teriyaki sauce (which was a teeeny bit bland but fine) with the noodles and a Lloyd Grossman sweet red pepper and tomato pasta sauce (which is really nice).

To cook both the noodles and the pasta, you open the packet and drain the fluid off. At this point, do not smell it. It smells gross. Sorry. But once you drain and rinse the pasta/noodles, its completely taste and odorless. So drain, rinse and then boil for about 3-5 minutes. Then rinse again and leave to the side whilst you prepare your sauce.

 The noodles whilst cooking. They came out with a fairly normal noodle texture and just absorbed the taste of the sauce.

 Sorry, got a little excited and ripped the packet open before I took a picture.

For the noodles, I fried some courgette, mushrooms, mangetout and green pepper in coconut oil and teriyaki sauce and added prawns. For the pasta, I went for courgette and mushrooms with olive oil, with chicken added. I added a little paprika to the sauce too.

 Teriyaki Prawn Zero Noodles

Mediterranean Vegetable and Chicken Slim Pasta

The pasta was a slightly more unusual texture than the noodles, and I think in future I would stick to the noodles as they were both nicer and cheaper. Amazingly, these were both ridiculously filling. Obviously unless you eat them completely plain there will be calories in your meal (for mine, there was 176 in the pasta meal and 180 in the noodles) but this is significantly less than normal carbs. 

The verdict on these products? I like them, but I am a student and thus they will not become part of my weekly shop. I might buy them occassionally but they are expensive (in Selfridges, £1.89 for noodles and £2.99 for the pasta). However, they were fun to try out. They are probably not a great idea if you're exercising a lot because you do actually need carbs to replenish your body afterwards, but if you're pretty sedentary and on a diet (and rich) then definitely give them a go. I also still have slim rice to try which I haven't got round to yet. And Tom has some zero noodles too so hopefully he will add a nice recipe too. 

Let us know if you have any recipes using zero cal carbs!

Avocado Salsa

Tom here,

This is another simple recipe, but one I make all the time. There are very, very few meals that aren't improved by a bit of fresh salsa. Curry - salsa, beancakes - salsa, roast dinner - salsa, you get the idea.

Ingredients: serves two

1/3 Cucumber
1 Tomato
1/2 Avocado
1 Red Chili
1/2 Red Onion
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
Optional:
1/2 Chestnut Mushroom
1/3 Carrot

Method:

Chop everything roughly into a mixing bowl
Add the balsamic vinegar and toss to mix
Enjoy!

I wanted to keep this recipe light and healthy, but if you prefer you can add a dash of olive oil for richness.

Vegan Meatball Marinara Linguini

Tom today,

So basically, before I was vegan, pasta with tomato sauce and copious amounts of cheddar (extra-strong) was an absolute staple of mine, but since then I've found it a bit disappointing. I think all I really wanted was an excuse to eat cheese (I did love cheese). But as I need to clean out my cupboards before going home for Christmas tomorrow, I decided to use up the last of some vegan mozzarella left over from one of my more indulgent days involving a pizza. I also had a bunch of fresh tomatoes to use up, so I decided to make a basic marinara (ish) sauce with fresh tomatoes, and I have to say I don't tink I'll be using canned tomatoes again for pasta sauce for a long while. I am fully converted, this was absolutely delicious. Okay so this isn't the healthiest meal ever, but hey, it's Christmas guys....Ish. I couldn't decide if I wanted pasta with a sauce or a pasta bake, so I went in between. Good choice.

Incidentally this dish could be just as good non-vegan with meatballs and real mozzarella, feel free to substitute as you like. Also I feel I should point out (as my mum did as soon as she saw this) that this is not an Italian marinara sauce. I am using this here in the American sense (like the sauce on a meatball sub or something) just as a nicely flavoured tomato sauce. Marinara in italian means 'in the mariner's style' i.e. seafood, but vegan seafood substitutes are not something I have any experience with so I have not tried to make a vegan seafood sauce (many apologies to anyone lead here under false pretences!).

Ingredients: Serves 1

For the Sauce:

2 raw Tomatoes
2 large cloves of Garlic
Large Handful of Nuts (a recipe on the internet suggested cashews which I thought sounded nice but I used peanuts left over from pad thai! Toasted pine nuts would be another good substitute I think)
Large handful of fresh Basil (dried just isn't worth it honestly, if you don't have this though substitute for a large teaspoon of pesto)
1/2 Red onion
1 tsp of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Pasta:

100g dried Linguini (this can be easily substituted for whatever pasta you prefer, or for gluten free substitute corn pasta)

For the Bake:

2 Vegan Sausages
A good sprinkling of Vegan Mozzarella

The meatballs here are a bit of a cheat. I have tried several varieties of vegan sausages and tofu hotdogs and such and not really found any that I've liked. Linda McCartney vegan sausages are the nicest I've found, but still a bit dry (although this may have more to do with my terrible timekeeping than the actual sausage). However, I recently discovered that Sainsbury's basics vegetarian sausages are vegan and only a pound for a box of eight! Happy times. Also only 68 calories each, theya re not to bad there either. I'd imagine you wouldn't want to eat them too regularly, but for the occasional treat they come frozen and make a nice addition to a variety of meals. Anyway, I liked it, soon I will experiment and make up some proper vegan meatballs but for now, this will do.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Also if, like mine, your grill takes about 3 years to heat up then start that as well, this isn't a long recipe.
Defrost two of your sausages in the microwave, then cut these up into small meatball-sized chunks (I cut each into five). Place on a baking tray in the oven for about 15 minutes (but adjust to your oven and whatever the sausages say on the pack).
Next boil the pasta in salted water - add a touch of oil to stop it sticking together.
Now for the sauce, chop up the garlic really finely and fry until brown in the oil.
While this is frying, crush the nuts well in a pestle and mortar, add these to the saucepan and leave to toast/fry.
Next chop up the tomatoes into small chunks. Proper recipes will tell you to put the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes first and then peel the skins and then chop them up, but honestly, the skin blends down pretty easily and I'm not fussed, but feel free to do this if you want too. You have more patience than me!
Add these to the saucepan and cook down until soft.
Boil a kettle, and add just enough water to the sauce so you can blend it with a hand blender (if you're making more than one quantity you won't need to do this, although you might want to if you feel it's a bit thick) and blend until smooth.
Next chop up the basil roughly and add to the sauce, I like to do this now because I think the basil is nicer in large chunks, but many recipes tell you to add this before blending if you like a smoother texture, go with your gut. This is just my preference.
Chop the red onion lengthways and fry until browned separately, then add these to the sauce.
By this point the pasta should be cooked. If you like it al dente it will probably be done before this but I like my pasta cooked into a mushy oblivion so when it's how you like it, strain and place in a small baking dish.
Pour the sauce on top,  mix slightly to make sure the pasta is fully coated (or it may burn).
Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and then grill for 15 minutes until the cheese is golden.
Add the meatballs on top and you're done.


Serve with an episode of Happy Endings (seriously, I love this show. Watch it).

If and when I make a meatball recipe I'll like it here as well, until then, enjoy the recipe!

NB// Just remembered I meant to add capers to this, will make a nice addition to the sauce if added at the same time as the nuts.

Nutritional Info:

The sauce works out at 111 calories, the meatballs are 136, the mozzarella is around 70 and the pasta is 355 giving a total of 678 for this rather indulgent meal. But worth it.

Maple Orange Turkey, Sweet Potato and Vegetable Bake

Obviously, due to the turkey bit, this is Jess' recipe (Tom did suggest i make this with 'furkey' but as of yet, I am unable to source this or decide if it even exists). (Tom: actually it's tofurkey http://www.tofurky.com/tofurkyproducts/holiday_products.html IT EXISTS)

So, since I'm guessing I've probably visited more states than the average American, I thought I'd make a turkey dish in celebration of thanksgiving. Yes, I made it alone, and ended up drinking half a bottle of wine with it whilst discussing my girly emotional issues with my flatmate (yay for me!). And yes, that wine is still in my system, so this may need editing in the morning. Tipsy blogging is always a good idea.

Ingredients (roughly 2 servings worth):
2 turkey breasts
2 carrots, chopped
2 mini/1 large courgette, chopped
150g mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small sweet potato, cut into wedges
1 red pepper, sliced
3 vine tomatoes, halved
1 red onion (optional)

Glaze:
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 an orange, juiced and zested
1 tbsp soy sauce
1tsp honey

Preheat oven to 190C.
Firstly, make the glaze recipe up in a cup and pour over the turkey to marinade, leaving in the fridge until ready to cook (leave longer - say an hour or two - if you're organised enough to prepare in advance). Leave about a tablespoon of glaze in the cup for the veggies.
Chop and prepare all the vegetables, potato and garlic (except the tomatoes, add these later) and place in a pyrex/baking dish. Drizzle a little oil over the vegetables, pour a tablespoon of glaze over them and roast for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the glazed turkey on top of the veg, and pour any remaining glaze over the dish. Bake for another 15 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until turkey is golden and veg are softening. Serve straightaway.

 The wine isn't essential, but a glass of white (or two or three) never hurt a turkey dish...

The glaze i made wasn't particularly thick, I'd recommend using a little more syrup and a little less juice if you want a thick sticky glaze, however I wanted something lighter that covered all the vegetables too. Obviously, as usual, you can vary the vegetables up, try it with chicken, whatever you fancy. This is just what I fancied. But it makes a really tasty, filling and nutritious gluten free meal at roughly 350-400 calories a portion (alcohol calories do not count, OK).

Enjoy. With wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Stuffed Peppers

Hi, Jess today. Unfortunately, due to starting my literature review and starting work in the lab (which I will not discuss here - my subject matter would not make for good reading in a food blog...) my cooking has been rather unimaginative of late.

However, I have had the chance to make stuffed peppers recently, so I thought I'd share a few recipes here with you. Now, there are so many different ways to make stuffed peppers with different fillings and such, I couldn't possibly talk about them all here. However, they're so easy to make and so versatile, they definitely deserve a mention.

So, I do love traditional stuffed peppers. The ones filled with beef mince. However, there are so many other things you can stuff a pepper with. Personally, I prefer to make stuffed peppers with large red bell peppers, but yellow ones work great. And also, mini stuffed peppers are fun too, made with the small sweet peppers that are popular at the moment. You can normally find a good pack of mini peppers in the Tesco Finest section. So these fillings are great whatever way you like. I would normally serve them with rice (I think brown rice works best) but pasta/potatoes/whatever your chosen carb is will work fine. Or they go great with some steamed veg or salad if you're keeping it low-carb - literally, whatever works for you!

Traditional (adapted from my Mum's recipe)
My Mum always used to make traditional stuffed peppers as an alternative to roast dinners on Sundays. They are basically bolognese in peppers, with pasta.

1pack lean beef mince (I say pack because it depends on how much you're making, 500g should be plenty for 4 people)
1 onion (red is a personal preference), chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 apple, chopped (I use braeburns)
1 pint beef stock (gluten free - I use Kallo)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
A little olive oil
Paprika, basil and oregano to season
& 4 large red peppers, deseeded

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6/200C.
Firstly, boil the peppers for about 5 minutes, so that they are starting to soften but not too much. Once boiled, they can be left on the side until later.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan, and fry the onion and garlic together until they start to brown. Add the mince and fry together until the mince is browned and then add the mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes until the mushrooms soften and add the chopped tomatoes and apple, followed by the stock and seasonings. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 10-15 minutes, until it looks like a bolognese should.
Place the peppers in a suitable baking dish (pyrex is good) and evenly distribute the meat sauce in the peppers until they are all full, then fill the baking dish with the remainder. Place in the middle of the oven (not the top - peppers can burn quite quickly) and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve with rice or pasta.

Tuna Stuffed Peppers
These are definitely best served with brown rice as a main meal, or salad for a lighter lunch.
For 4 people:
4 large red/yellow bell peppers, deseeded and boiled as above
2 tins drained tuna (personally I don't like tuna in oil but this is a personal preference)
1 small chilli pepper, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin sweetcorn
1 lemon, juiced
Paprika to season
Rocket leaves 

Fry the chilli until softened and add the mushrooms. Once mushrooms are browned, add the tuna and half the lemon juice. Fry for a couple of minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, then the sweetcorn, followed by the paprika. Cook on the hob for about five minutes. Stuff peppers with tuna and rocket evenly in a baking dish (there shouldn't be remainder this time) and bake for 10-15 minutes. When baked, squeeze the remaining lemon juice on the peppers just before serving.

When making this dish for one (*sobsob*), I use half a tin of tuna, some cherry tomatoes and a tablespoon of passata/tomato juice to replace the full tin of chopped tomatoes and reduce the other ingredients accordingly. Feel free to omit the rocket leaves, I know not everyone likes them.

Let us know how it goes and what variations you like to make! Enjoy!

Spicy Garlic and Lime Prawns

Just Jess here today! Tom is busy being a student.

Sadly (or not), this recipe isn't vegan. I love seafood and will apologise to nobody for this. It is however, gluten free, easy to make and really versatile. The ingredients I used made enough for two - I ate half fresh with gluten free spaghetti and kept half overnight in the fridge to eat the next day with salad. I imagine it would also work well with any other type of pasta, rice, potatoes, veggies, anything you fancy.If cooking for more people, just double the ingredients up.

Ingredients
1 lime, zest and juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chilli pepper (I used a small red one), chopped
A drop of olive oil
100g king prawns
1/2 tin/carton passata (or chopped tomatoes, up to you)
1/2 pack (or about 10) closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 courgette, sliced
Paprika and italian herbs to season

First, add half the lime juice to the prawns to marinate for a while. I just left it whilst I was chopping the veg but you could leave it longer.

Fry the chopped chilli and garlic in the pan and add around 1/4 of the lime zest. After a couple of minutes, add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are softening, add the courgette. Fry until softened, then add the prawns and another 1/4 of zest. Fry the prawns with the veg for a couple of minutes, then add the passata/tomatoes, the remaining lime juice and zest. Cook for a few minutes until it starts to bubble a bit, then add the paprika and herbs. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. And serve.

Simple. I also added sweetcorn to the recipe, adding with the passata, but this is just a preference (and I had corn to use up...). If you like onion, fry one with the garlic and chilli. I'm weird and only cook onions with red meat. But again, just a preference. Oh yeah, and when I say italian herbs, I mean I literally used a couple of teaspoons of 'herbs italienne' that I bought in a French supermarket earlier in the year. Basil and oregano are probably what that means.