Healthy chicken burgers

This is one for the calorie counters, but it's actually delicious at the same time.
Serves 2 at 430 calories per serve (330 cal for open sandwiches)

Ingredients:

200g chicken mince

1/2 red onion, diced (or spring onions)

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use wheatgerm, it's healthier and has more protein in it)

herbs such as coriander, basil, garlic, ginger and chilli - you'll need quite a lot.

1 tomato, sliced

sliced red onion

lettuce, sprouts or spinach

beetroot slices

1/4 red capiscum, thinly sliced

4 pieces of wholegrain bread, or 2 wholegrain buns. To reduce calories even further, have it as an open sandwich/roll. This will cut about 100 calories per serve, depending on the bread.

Method:Combine the first four ingredients including the herbs of your choice in a large bowl.

Shape into two patties. It's best to refrigerate these for at least half an hour to let them set so they won't fall apart upon cooking.

Cook the burgers in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes per side on a medium heat.

Assemble burgers.

Meatloaf

Meatloaf is the easier alternative to meatballs. You don't have to keep an eye on it, just throw it in the oven and it's done. I use this same basic recipe for meatballs, it's just more time consuming because you have to continuously turn the balls to make sure they're not burning. 
This is delicious, you just have to make sure you're either serving six people, or immediately packing up the extra portions so you don't end up eating it all yourself.


Serves 6, can be frozen. 203 calories per serve

Ingredients: 400g lean mince beef
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (or wheatgerm)
1 egg
2 garlic cloves
herbs - oregano, thyme, black pepper, ginger
1 tbspn worcestershire sauce (if you have some)
2 tbspns tomato paste

Method: 
Combine all ingredients in a big bowl.
Line a loaf tin with baking paper and put all the meatloaf mixture in there. (Otherwise, use a normal baking tin, with baking paper, and mould it into a loaf shape).
Bake in 180C oven for about 40 minutes.

Pizza

I love pizza. I love that you can put anything on it and it wll always taste amazing, and so this is really just the basic recipe for the dough, and you can put anything on it. I generally use tomato paste with heaps of chilli and basil for the sauce, and then any topping that we have lying around.

This makes two thick bases, or three medium bases. 

1 tspn yeast

2 tspn sugar

1/4 cup warm water

Mix these in a bowl, cover with a clean tea towell and leave in a warm, draft-free place for about 10 minutes. The yeast should froth the top of the water - if it doesn't you'll need to discard and start again.

For the dough, put 4 cups plain flour in a bowl with 1 tspn salt, then add the yeast mixture and about 2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil.

Mix it all in to a good consistency, and then use floured hands to turn it out onto a lightly flour, clean surface and knead for at least 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. You may need to add a touch more water or flour as you go.

When the dough is the right consistency, place it into a lightly oiled large bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it in a draft-free place for about an hour or until it's about doubled in size.

Punch down the dough in the bowl, then turn it back onto a floured surface and knead again for a few minutes.

Divide it into two or three portions and then use a rolling pin to shape it into the shape of your baking trays. If you're using pizza stones, you'll need to warm these up in the oven first. Otherwise, just a good tray, with a little oil on it to stop it sticking.

These will need to be in the oven for about 15 minutes at 180C once you've put all your toppings on. Just keep an eye on it, as times will vary for different ovens.

Thai-style chicken curry

I love this curry. It's got a delicious sweetness that I am yet to replicate with another recipe, and there's plenty of sauce to mop up with rice.  I have added brocolli to this, as well as vegetables like snow peas and red capsicum, but it's great as it is.

Ingredients

350g chicken (thigh or breast fillets) sliced

3 tbspn vegetable oil

250mL coconut milk

2 tbspn fish sauce

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 tbspn sugar

Handful basil leave

2 tbspn lime juice

Curry paste

3 long red chillies or 3 tspn chilli paste

1 purple onion or 6 red shallots, chopped

2 garlic cloves

1 tbspn galangal

1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped

Zest of 1 kaffir lime (or five kaffir lime leaves)

Pinch of white pepper

1 tspn salt

1 tspn shrimp paste

For the curry paste: Pound the curry paste ingredients in a mortar and pestle, or use a blender to process the ingredient (you may need to add a little waste to the paste). 

Method:

Heat a wok until smoking, add the oil, and when hot, add the paste and stir-fry for five minutes until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk and the chicken and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through.

Then add the lime leaves, fish sauce and sugar and taste test.

Remove from heat, sprinkle with the basil and squeeze over the lime juice to serve.

Satay chicken skewers

This recipe makes a lot of sauce, and I used about 10 chicken thigh fillets to make about 25 skewers using this recipe. You could always make this and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to use it all up. 

Marinade:

1/4 cup lemongrass

1/2 purple onion

4 garlic cloves

3 chillies

1 1/2 tbspn galangal

2 tspn cumin

1/2 tspn tumeric

3 tbspn coriander

4 tbspn dark soy sauce

4 tbspn fish sauce

5 tbspn brown sugar

3 tbspn peanut oil

Throw all this in a blender or food processor.Marinate the chicken for at least an hour before cooking. 

Peanut dipping sauce

1 1/2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts

1/2 cup water

1 tbspn dark soy

3 cloves garlic

2 tspn peanut oil

1 tbspn brown sugar

2 tbspn fish sauce

2 tspn lime juice

1 tbspn chilli

1/3 coconut milk

1/4 tspn salt and pepper

Throw it all in a blender or food processor. Taste it for flavours, and adjust as you see fit. 

Asian-style spaghetti bolognese

This is amazing. There are no words for this one. 

Just trust me. Once you start eating it, you won't be able to stop. 

Feel free to chuck in whatever vegetables you've got lying around - carrots, capsicum, onion, corn, peas, zucchini, broccoli etc.. Or serve with a bowl of simple stir-fried veges on the side to get your greens. It's definitely delicious on its own, I just like to bulk it up with veges and it means it's a good one-pot dish.

 

300g pork mince

350g shanghai noodles

100ml dark soy sauce

2 tspn salt

4 tbspn peanut oil

2 cloves garlic

1 tbspn ginger

2 spring onions or ½ purple onion, diced

3 tbspn sesame seed paste (tahini)

2 tbspn chilli (minced, or 2 diced chillies)

2 tbspn light soy sauce

250mL chicken stock

1 lebanese cucumber, julienne

Method:

Marinate the pork mince in the salt and dark soy sauce for about 10 minutes.

Heat a wok until smoking, add the peanut oil and brown the pork mince. Remove from the wok and drain on paper towel.

Reheat the wok and stir-fry the garlic, ginger and onions until fragrant. (If adding vegetables, thrown them in at this point, and stir-fry for a few minutes.)

Add the sesame paste, light soy, chilli, chicken stock to the wok and simmer for five minutes, then throw in the pork.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to directions, and drain well.

Divide the noodles among the bowls and ladle the sauce over the top. Top with the cucumber to serve.