Week 2 : Link for .pdf files

Ready? Printer on? Want to see what's on the menu?
Go here to the .pdf recipes and shopping list for week 2.
Remember to add and/or change the shopping list to suit your needs.

Summer lunch for two

My father hated yoghurt, and he wouldn't eat an avo if you paid him! However, this soup is absolutely delicious, and he loved it.

Put a peeled, de-stoned avocado in the liquidizer, add 1 cup of fat free natural yoghurt, 1 cup of skim milk and a generous tablespoon of mint sauce. Whoosh altogether. Test for seasoning - you will need to add a little salt and a good grind of black pepper, and maybe more mint sauce. Thin it down with more milk, if it's too thick. You might also want to sharpen it up a little with some lemon juice. Serve immediately (it discolours if you let it stand too long) with crusty bread. Unfortunately, this is high in calories/kilojoules. But at least the oils in the avo are mono-unsaturated and healthy.

4.5 Weight Watcher points per serve, without the bread. Very filling, though.

Recipes for Week One

Although the recipes are intended for use starting January 4th 2010, a few friends have suggested that I give the links to the recipes and shopping list today, as many readers will be away for the next week or so. It seems everyone is eager to see what is in store for the new year.

Firstly, I want to emphasize, no recipe is written in stone. If I use an ingredient that you don’t like or can’t get, don’t panic – substitute.
My recipes are all for four servings: is this right for you? It is easy enough to scale them up or down – but whatever changes you make to the recipes, carry across to the shopping list.

Secondly, the shopping list (also for four people) doesn’t always stipulate quantities. The supermarkets I use sell things like carrots and potatoes by the bag, not as singular items.
If the item appears on the shopping list in colour and coded (a, b, c, d, e) then it is required for a specific recipe.
If it is in black and uncoded, then it is stuff that you need, but maybe already have (spices, herbs, mayo).
If the item appears in black and in square brackets [], then it is just a suggestion or a reminder. Most of us buy things like eggs and milk on a regular basis, but whether you have shopped with or without a list in the past, you know how irritating it is to get home and realize that you ‘forgot’ something.

You will need to spend half an hour with a cup of tea, and the recipes and shopping list, double checking that everything you need is listed. Also take into consideration purchases required for breakfasts and lunches – and the two evenings of the week that I haven’t given you a recipe: will you go out? have take-aways? a frozen ready-meal?

Let’s look at the menu for week one:

a) Linguine with fish poppets (WW points 9 per serve, including pasta)
If you have a cupboard full of pasta shapes, use those up first, the type of pasta really doesn’t matter.
You could have rice, noodles or mash instead, for that matter.
Haddock does have quite a strong flavour, so use a white fish such as hake for a milder taste.

b) Ginger pork with cabbage (WW points 8 per serve, including noodles)
If you don’t like chillies, leave them out. Don’t eat pork? Use chicken breast instead.

c) Avocado and orange salad with chicken (WW points 5 per serve)
Make this a hot salad if the evening is cold– leave out the avo and lettuce and stir-fry cabbage and courgettes with the orange segments. Warm the dressing.

d) Butternut and chickpea curry (WW points 5.5 per serve)
This is a very mild curry; spice it up if you like hot.
You can use kidney- or cannellini beans instead of the chick peas.

e) Salmon with caper cream, spinach and new potatoes (WW points 5 per serve)
Tuna steaks would work just as well as salmon, or use kingklip, hake or whiting.

Fellow Weight Watchers, you will have to re-point the recipes if you change them.

Remember to carry any changes in recipes across to the shopping list.

Here is the shopping list for Week One.

Now go here for the recipes.

I hope you will enjoy preparing and eating these meals.

A recurrent favourite

Soup: n. usually a savoury liquid dish, made by boiling meat, fish or vegetables etc. in water or stock.

That doesn't sound very appetizing to me, and yet I love soup. I eat/drink it almost daily. Sometimes hot, sometimes cold.

The soup in the photo was today's lunch, and it's really easy to make and freezes well.
Take note, all fellow Weight Watchers, this one is no points.

Butternut and carrot soup - yield for these quantities: 6 - 8 servings (approx 350ml per serve)
Peel and clean 1 medium sized butternut, 4-5 big carrots and 2 onions. (I usually just scrub and top'n'tail the carrots.) Or you can use all butternut or all carrot, just use double quantities of either.
Chop all the veg roughly and put in a large pan with 1 level Tblsp veg/chicken stock powder.
Add enough water to cover (more water = thinner soup).
Cover with a lid and bring to the boil then simmer approx 25 mins until vegetables are very tender. Blitz or liquidize until smooth.
At this point, you can add:
1 - 2 Tblsp of your favourite curry paste (I like Patak's Tikka Masala) OR
1/2 - 1 Tblsp chopped fresh ginger OR
1 -2 Tblsp chopped coriander OR
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange.
Blitz again, adding more water if you want thinner soup.

If you are going to freeze this, don't make it too thin - it gets thinner in the freezer.
When you thaw it, it looks a bit grainy so it helps to give it another blitz.
Serve hot or chilled, with a swirl of fat free natural yoghurt. Or a slice of orange.

Or a sprig of Petroselinum crispum.