Chicken Chow Mein
Chow Mein means stir fried noodles in Chinese Mandarin. You can add whatever you like. Instead of chicken try fish, meat or tofu for vegetarians.
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2.5cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
350g breast of chicken, cut into strips
225g dried egg noodles
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
75g mangetout, halved
100g broccoli florets
3 spring onions, sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
100g beansprouts
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Method:
Using a large bowl mix together the garlic, ginger, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Add the diced chicken and stir. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the egg noodles in a pan of boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Turn off the heat. Drain the noodles and return to the pan to keep warm.
Heat the sunflower oil in a large wok or frying pan and add the chicken and stir fry for 5 minutes until browned. Add the mangetout, broccoli, spring onions and pepper. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Add the beansprouts, oyster sauce and fry for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the noodles and serve.
Smoked Haddock Fishcakes with Tomato salsa
250g undyed smoked haddock, trimmed
1 fresh bay leaf
300m milk
375g potatoes, unpeeled, boiled and mashed
8 Spring onions, finely chopped
100g tinned sweetcorn
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Zest of a lemon
8 tablespoons double cream
2 egg yolks
To coat the fishcakes:
2 eggs, beaten
100g flour
125g breadcrumbs
25g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges to serve
For the Tomato salsa:
4 chopped tomatoes
½ onion, chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
Juice of ½ lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Method:
Cook the haddock fillets with the bay leaf and the milk in a shallow pan. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Cool, remove the fish’s skin and any bones and flake into chunks.
Mix the fish with the potato, spring onions, sweetcorn, parsley and lemon zest. In a small bowl beat the eggs with the cream and then add to the mixture.
Divide the mixture into 4 parts. Shape each into a slightly flattened ball. Roll each fishcake in the flour on a plate. Shaking off any excess.
To coat the fishcakes:
Pour the beaten egg onto a plate and place the breadcrumbs onto another plate.
Dip each fishcake into the eggs so that they get egg all over the surface and then dip them into the breadcrumbs and coat all over. Repeat this for all of the other fishcakes.
Heat the oil and butter into a frying pan and add the fishcakes carefully. Cook them gently for about 4-5 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the tomato salsa.
To make the tomato salsa:
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper
Rainbow salad
This salad is full of colour and is a really healthy addition to any meal. A serving bowl in blue would complete the rainbow!
Mixed Salad Leaves
100g peas, defrosted
1 yellow pepper and 1 orange pepper, cut into strips
12 cherry tomatoes, cut into strips
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 raw beetroots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
8 baby corn, cut in half
150ml French dressing
Put the mixed leaves into a colander and wash. Drain well and place into a large salad bowl. Make a large well of the leaves. Scatter the pepper strips, fresh peas and tomato halves on top.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad.
Breakfast Omelette
This omelette makes a tasty alternative to a breakfast fry-up and could even be served as a light or main meal with the Rainbow or green salad.
2 eggs
2 tablespoon milk
30g Cheddar Cheese, grated
A knob of unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
For the filling:
2 rashers of bacon, de-rinded
1 tomato, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon of sunflower oil
6og mushrooms, sliced
Whisk the eggs and milk together in a jug. Add the cheese and stir into the eggs mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the bacon into cubes.
Place the frying pan over a medium heat and fry the bacon for 3 minutes or until cooked completely. Tip the bacon onto a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Heat the oil and fry the mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for a further 1 minute. Put the mushroom and tomato onto a plate and add the bacon.
Melt the butter in the pan. Pour in the egg so that it covers the base of the pan. Cook the egg on a medium heat until the edges begin to cook and set.
Using a spatula push the cooked egg into the centre of the pan. The uncooked egg will run to the sides. Repeat until all the egg is cooked.
Spoon the filling to one half of the omelette and gently flip the unfilled half over the top.
Sugar Free Flapjacks
This recipe uses ripe bananas as a substitute for sugar. Over ripe- brown bananas can be peeled and put in a zip lock bag in the freezer. Use them for recipes just like this! It is also dairy free if you use margarine made from palm and rapeseed oil. You can also use different dried fruits such as cranberries or use spices such as cinnamon or ground ginger.
100g butter or dairy free margarine
3 tablespoons honey
200g porridge oats
50g dried stoned dates, chopped
50g dried apricots, chopped
30g desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 ripe bananas, mashed
Preheat the oven to 170C, 150 fan, Gas Mark 3. Grease a 20cm baking tin.
Gently melt the butter and honey either in a saucepan or in the microwave. Leave to cool.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, dates, apricots and coconut together. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas to the melted butter and honey. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Press the mixture firmly into the baking tin. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture is coming away from the sides of the tin.
Remove from the oven and while it is still warm, use a knife to score where you will cut the squares. Leave in the tin to cool before cutting.
Makes 16 squares