Easy vegetable curry

What a colourful vegetable curry. 

After a relaxing break away eating mainly fish, we felt the need for vegetables. 

We had planned a full Sunday roast, but the weather was so unusually warm - and spending time in a hot kitchen was out of the question. 

This easy curry recipe was ready in no time - and we managed to use all the vegetables we had bought. A great budget recipe too.

EASY VEGETABLE CURRY
Serves 4

Ingredients 

half medium cauliflower
2 medium carrots
2 onions
1 parsnip
1 red pepper (optional)
two large potatoes e.g. Maris Piper
50-75g green lentils (optional)
olive oil

4 teaspoons mild curry powder

one large green chilli - (include seeds for a bit of a kick)

one inch grated ginger

two cloves garlic

couple of onions (chopped)

salt/pepper

one large tin chopped tomatoes - or equivalent chopped fresh tomatoes (about 5 large)
150ml water or stock
plain yogurt to serve

****
Pre-cook the lentils (if using) according to the packet instructions. Set aside.

Chop the onions and lightly fry until soft. Add chopped garlic, curry powder, chopped chilli and ginger.  Cook for 5 minutes then transfer to a large saucepan.

Chop potatoes, parsnip, carrots and pepper into 1cm cubes. Add to the pan with the water/stock.

Chop tomatoes - or use canned tomatoes and add to the pan.

Divide cauliflower into small florets and add to the pan.

Season with salt and pepper. Cook for approx 15 minutes.

Add the lentils and continue cooking for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Taste and season again if necessary. Yogurt will take out some of the heat if required. It's difficult to judge the heat of a chilli, and this can be a bit of trial and error.
***

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011. Since then we have lost 7 stone between us and more importantly, we haven't put the weight back on.
You'll find our first blog post (here).

Read about our successful diet and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you really prefer like many others have too.
Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved

POTATO ROSTI WITH AN UNUSUAL HINT OF SPICE

POTATO & BACON ROSTI with an interesting spicy twist.
While making these potato cakes, we experimented with the flavours and were more than pleasantly surprised with the results.
The combination of ingredients is not something that instantly springs to mind when thinking of savoury dishes using potatoes. However our tastebuds were delighted with the outcome.
You often see cinnamon and bacon paired together in a savoury bread roll, and this was partly our inspiration. You also see similar spices used to flavour ham.
The gentle warmth from the Speculaas Spice mix certainly livened up the whole dish in an unusual and surprising way. The spice mix contains nine different spices including cinnamon, cloves and ginger, all contributing a subtle depth of flavour to the potato.
Our recipe below would make a perfect breakfast or a light supper meal with the addition of eggs.

HOW MANY CALORIES IN CHICKEN CHASSEUR

CHICKEN CHASSEUR is a hearty casserole yet  light on calories - and a great budget meal.
Eat with fluffy mashed potatoes or crispy roasters for a bit of crunch.
With a small amount of preparation, this one pot meal will take care of itself in the oven. We leave most of the skin on the chicken while the dish is cooking, as this helps keep the meat moist and adds flavour to the sauce. Just trim off the excess fat underneath the thigh.
Be careful with the tarragon, as a little goes a very long way.
We've maintained our weight loss by keeping an eye on 'calories'. Estimating calories has worked for us - keeping our weight stable, without having to resort to precise calorie counting. When we eat out we can only guess at the ingredients, and try to make an informed estimate based on what we've learned about calories. This dish has such a complexity of flavours, you would possibly imagine it is loaded with calories as a result, but it's not. We would estimate this dish at around 450 calories.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011.
You'll find our first blog post (here).

Read about our successful weight loss story and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you really prefer.
Here's the chicken chasseur recipe:

PASTA SHELLS WITH PEAS & CHILLI

So how many calories are there in "Conchiglie pasta with yoghurt, peas and chilli"?
The original recipe for this dish is from Yotam Ottolenghi.
I adjusted the ingredients to make two portions. With a few further adjustments, e.g. using a little less oil, pasta and Feta, we estimate each portion at around 600 calories.
The pasta was satisfying enough using less Feta, yet we could easily have eaten it without cheese. The heat from the chilli lifted the whole dish to a new level and contrasted well with the creamy dressing.
We've lost over seven stone in weight between us, making small changes like this to our diet.
Keeping an eye on what goes into your food can add up to a BIG difference in your weight. If you carry on eating food you feel comfortable with, you'll find it easier to lose weight. Once upon a time I thought I had to go on a specific 'diet' to lose weight, but as you'll see (throughout this blog), we just carried on eating our usual food - while paying attention to the small details.

REMEMBER:  - Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

Take a look at the recipe: