Asian Pork Stir Fry - 39 Pro Points (10 per serve)

Serves 4
(sorry the pic is so bad - I'll make it again soon and take another pic)

500gm pork mince (low fat) (20 pro points)
1 teaspoon oil (2 pro points)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon runny honey (2 pro points)
2 teaspoons sesame oil (3 pro points)
500 gm vegetables cut into small pieces (easiest to use a 500 gm bag of frozen stir fry mix)
Optional - handful chopped coriander (cilantro)
Noodles of your choice - (12 pro points)
I used dried egg noodles and cooked them separately for 2-3 minutes in boiling water

Heat oil in non-stick frying pan - add pork and cook until crispy and golden - about 10 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and toss together until heated through. Would be nice served in lettuce cups. But I didn't have any.

Mushroom and Pine Nut Salad - 39 pro points (10 points per serve)

Just had this for lunch (serves 4 as a light meal):

2 rashers of bacon sliced (2 pro points)
1 tablespoon oil (4 pro points)
1 tablespoon butter (3 pro points)
250gm mushrooms sliced
400gm can chickpeas drained and rinsed (9 pro points)
1/2 cup pine nuts (16 pro points)
1 clove garlic peeled and chopped

dressing:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon oil (4 pro points)
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
1 teaspoon runny honey (1 pro points)
salt and pepper

Salad leaves of your choice - lettuce, spinach, endive, etc.

Cook the sliced bacon in the oil until crispy. Remove and set set aside.

Add butter to pan and toss in remaining ingredients. Cook for 5-6 minutes until pine nuts are golden. Then add reserved bacon. (Optional - add chopped parsley and chives)

Mix dressing (shake in a jar).

Arrange lettuce on plate and spoon over mushroom and pine nut mix. Sprinkle over dressing and serve.

Vege Fritters - 37 pro points

I made these for dinner last night - and had leftovers for lunch. My husband loved them!

1 onion peeled and roughly chopped into 4-6 pieces
1 carrot, likewise
1 capsicum (bell pepper) chopped into large pieces (deseeded)
1 courgette chopped into 4-6 pieces
2 cloves of garlic peeled
1 cup sweet corn kernels (4 pro points)
handful of frozen peas (1 pro points)
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour (20 pro points)
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Water to mix
oil for frying (12 pro points - approx)

Put the onion, carrot, capsicum, courgette and garlic into a food processor and blend until finely chopped. (Or you can grate the carrot and courgette and finely chop the rest.)

Add to a large bowl with remaining ingredients.  Add enough water to make a loose batter.

Heat oil in a pan and fry spoonfuls of the mix until golden underneath, then turn and cook the other side. Makes about 28-30 - plenty for 4 people.

Serve with a lettuce salad.

You can change the vegetables for anything you like. Cauliflower, mushrooms, fresh chilli, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato (kumara), spring onions, anything! It's easy to extend out for more people and delicious any way you eat it.

Serve with yoghurt mixed with mint and diced cucumber if you like. Or chutney would also be great. Make it yours.

Minestrone Soup 28 pro points

1 tablespoon oil (9 pro points)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (around 1 cup)
1 leek, quartered lengthwise, rinsed and finely chopped
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and chopped
2 cabbage leaves finely sliced (optional)
1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper), deseeded and finely chopped
2 carrots, finely peeled and finely chopped
2 rashers bacon, chopped (2 pro points)
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock (4 pro points)
1 teaspoon sugar (1 pro points)
420g can white beans (use cannellini, butter or haricot beans) – drained (6 pro points)
1/3 cup small pasta (risoni, alphabets, tiny macaroni - whatever you can find) (6 pro points)
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic, celery, bacon and leek and stir until beginning to soften. Add the other vegetables and cook over a gentle heat for around 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked to your liking.

When the vegetables are tender add the beans, pasta and parsley and simmer a further 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and add salt or pepper to taste.
Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese.

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is yummy. You'll certainly want to add it to your regular menus.

Serves 4
2 large chicken breasts - skinless, boneless (14 pro points)
1/3 cup runny honey (12 pro points)
1/3 cup cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 tblsp soya sauce
2 tblsp wholegrain mustard

Marinate the chicken for 2 hours. Heat a little oil in a pan to medium (not too hot as the sugar will burn).
Place breasts in pan - smooth side down and leave for about 5 minutes. When nicely golden underneath, turn over and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until firm (if you are not sure they are cooked through, then slice into the thickest bit of one breast to make sure there’s no pink left).

Remove from pan and rest for 4 minutes before slicing across the grain in diagonal slices.  While chicken is resting, add the rest of the marinade to the pan and boil for a couple of minutes to make a delicious, sticky sauce.

If the residue in the pan is too burnt, then just put it in a pot and boil it up.

Serve with mashed potato and kumara and a green vegetable.

Butter Chicken (Low fat – Really) ( 44 pro points)

OK, so this is no longer a family secret - because so many people have asked for the recipe!

Because it is so often requested, I create a jar of the spices mixed together, so I always have the makings on hand.
SPICE MIX: I buy packets of cinnamon, ginger, chilli and turmeric, tip them into a jar, and then fill one of the empty spice packets with salt and toss that in too. Shake to mix them together. Then I use 1 1/2 teaspoons of mix per breast. 


Serves 4

¾ cup basmati rice ( 15 pro points)
1 red onion – thinly sliced
3 tablespoons canola or rice bran oil ( 9 pro points)
Spice mix: 

• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground chili
• ½ teaspoon salt

2 chicken breasts (boned, skinless) – diced (or the equal amount of chicken thigh) ( 14 pro points)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup low fat evaporated milk ( 6 pro points)


Rinse the rice then put in a saucepan and cover with cold water about 2cm above rice. Add salt (about ½ teaspoon) and bring to the boil. Once it’s simmering, just keep an eye on it, and when the water level is just below the top if the rice, switch the heat off and put a lid on and leave it alone. By the time you’ve finished cooking the butter chicken, the rice will be ready.  Just take the lid off and fluff it up with a fork.

Heat oil, and sauté onion until soft. Add the spices and salt and stir over the heat until fragrant. Increase heat and add chicken meat. Cook, stirring, until the meat is cooked through, then add the tomato paste and give it a good mix up. Add the evaporated milk and heat gently, but do not boil or the milk will curdle. That’s it, finished.

Serve over rice with a dob of plain yogurt on top, a side of green beans and some sliced tomato.

• You can make it using ghee (clarified butter) and cream instead of oil and evaporated milk– it will taste amazing, but it’s a very high fat meal. 
• I sometimes use sour cream instead of cream or evaporated milk; makes it nice and thick.
• Side dishes could include fruit chutney, peanuts, cashews, diced apple in plain yogurt, sliced banana sprinkled with lemon juice, popadoms, naan bread or roti. 

Peppered Chicken - serves 4 - 20 pro points

This is the marinade I use most often. Delicious

Serves 4
2 large chicken breasts - skinless, boneless (14 pro points)
2 tblsp Olive Oil (6 pro points)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tspn freshly ground black pepper
1 red chilli - seeds removed, finely diced ( or 1/2 tspn chilli powder)
2 tblsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely diced
Mix all ingredients and marinate chicken for 2 hours.
Place breasts in med-hot pan - smooth side down and leave for about 5 minutes. When nicely golden underneath, turn over and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until firm (if you are not sure they are cooked through, then slice into the thickest bit of one breast to make sure there’s no pink left).
Remove from pan and rest for 4 minutes before slicing across the grain in a diagonal line.
Serve with corn fritters and a salad - or chopped, fresh tomatoes.