Prawn and Quinoa Salad; Serves 1 - 7 ProPoints

Ingredients 

50g Quinoa, soaked and rinsed
2 slices of Lemon
100ml boiling water
1 tsp Chicken Bovril
1 carrot, grated
1 spring onion, sliced
3 cherry tomatoes
8 Prawns, cooked and cooled
25g of Alphonso Mango Salad Dressing with Chilli & Lime

Method

1. Soak and rinse the Quinoa really well. If you skip this step it can taste bitter. Add to the boiling water, chicken bovril and slices of lemon and cook until the liquid is absorbed.  Drain, remove the lemon slices and cool 
2. Add the cooled quinoa, prawns, salad ingredients and dressing to a bowl and toss.  If you are making up a Mason Jar Salad, add the dressing to the bottom of the jar, followed by the carrots, scallions, tomatoes, prawns and then quinoa.  Shake it all up before serving! 

Note:

Quinoa can come in pre-rinsed packets.  I would still give it a good rinse just to be sure that the coating has been washed off because if it is not correctly rinsed it can be very bitter! It's always good to cook it in some kind of stock or broth just for added flavour! 

The dressing I mention is one of the Specially Selected Aldi brand dressings which is 1 ProPoint for 25g of dressing and it looks like this: 

Strawberries and Feta Cheese with Prawns and balsamic dressing - 8 ProPoints

Ingredients - serves 2

16 king prawns
12 Stawberries , quartered
Bag of mixed lettuce leaves, I use spinach and rocket
80g Feta Cheese
1/2 red onion sliced

Dressing

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoon shallots
Salt and Pepper

Method

Add the oil and vinegar together, whisk to emulsify then add the shallots and season

Add a 1/2 tablespoon of dressing to the quartered strawberries

Toss the remainder of the salad with the dressing and crumble over the cheese and top with the strawberries and prawns

King Prawns with Mango Salsa and Herby Cous Cous

Serves 2 - 5 ProPoints

Ingredients 

80g Cous Cous

16 Cooked and peeled King Prawns

1 Mango, diced 

1/2 Chilli, finely diced 

1 Spring onion, chopped 

1/2 Cucumber, diced

2 tsp Italian Herbs

1/2 Chicken Stock cube

Lime Juice

Method 

1. Place 80g Cous Cous in a bowl with 160g chicken stock and herbs, cover until all the water is absorbed and Cous Cous is soft. Fluff with a fork 

2. Add the mango, chili, spring onion, cucumber and lime juice together, toss and add to Cous Cous with the prawns 

3. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. 

Spicy Chicken, Bacon and Avacado Salad

Serves 2 - 14 propoints per serving

Ingredients 

Salad

2 x boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced 

1 tbsp Cajun Seasoning

2 x lean rashers, diced 

1 Avacado, pitted 

2 x Baby Gem Lettuce

Punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced

1 tsp olive oil

Dressing

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

Salt & pepper 

Method

1. Heat tsp oil in pan and roll the diced chicken in the Cajun spices 

2. Cook chicken for 5-6 mins and add bacon. Continue cooking till bacon is crispy and chicken is cooked through

3. Meanwhile, make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together.

4. Add the lettuce to the bowl and Drizzel over half the dressing and toss

5. Add the remaining vegetables and toss with the lettuce and dressing

6. Put the salad on a plate and top with the chicken, bacon and add 1/2 te Avacado to each plate by scooping te flesh out with a teaspoon

7. Serve with remainder dressing on the side

Thai Sweet Chilli Salmon with Baked Potato and Salsa - 1 Syn & 1HA per Person

This is a lovely filling dinner that's colourful and easy to make

Ingredients
2 salmon darnes
2 medium potatoes
2 tbsp thai sweet chili sauce
30g cheddar cheese

The salsa
2 tomatoes, finley diced
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 Red chilli
1/4 cucumber, deseeded and finely sliced
Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees. To speed up the baking I always bake my potatoes for 14 mins in the microwave first. Make sure you pierce them before zapping them. When you zap them, wrap them in tinfoil and put on a tray

2. While the potatoes are being microwaved, spoon over 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce on to each salmon darne and wrap in tinfoil

3. Put the salmon and potatoes into the oven for 20 mins

4. Meanwhile, place the salsa ingredients into a bowl with salt and pepper and put in the fridge until ready to serve

5. Top the potato with grated cheese and the salsa and serve with a side of salad leaves. I have used raw spinach

Chicken Salad - 1 Syn

This is a lovely salad. It's fresh and crunchy and kind of helps take the goo off for a Cesar salad.

Ingredients - Serves 1

Chicken breast, skinless, cooked and diced
1 slice of bacon, fat removed, cooked and diced
1 head of baby gem lettuce, leaves pulled apart and washed
1 scallion, finely chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 tsp of light mayo
1 tbsp of fat free natural yogurt
Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Add all the chopped ingredients, except the lettuce, to a bowl
2. Mix the mayo, salt & pepper and yogurt together and toss with the chopped ingredients
3. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a plate and top with salad mixture
4. Serve immediately

If I am taking this for my lunch I always keep the lettuce leaves separate until I am ready to eat. It helps avoid the leaves going soggy.

Harrisa CousCous Salad with Crab - Syn Free

Serves 1

This is a really lovely salad.  The clementines add a nice twist, giving bursts of flavour that go really well with the crab.  King Prawns are also delicious with this.

Ingredients

60g CousCous
1 Chicken stock cube
1 tsp Harrisa Paste
1 red pepper, diced
1 scallion, diced
1 tin white crab meat
2 clementines

Method

1. Crumble the stock cube into a jug, mix with the harrisa paste until smooth, add 100ml of boiling water and combine with the couscous in a lidded dish.  Leave aside until all the liquid is absorbed  
2. Fluff the couscous and, when cool, mix with the pepper, scallion, crab and clementines

Garlic & Ginger Turkey Stir Fry - Syn Free

Serves 4 as main meal 6-8 as starter

Ingredients

400g turkey mince
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 x Baby Gem Lettuce
1 carrot grated
2 Scallions / Spring onion chopped
120g rice
1sp ground ginger

Method

1. Dry fry the ginger and garlic for about 1 min and add the turkey mince and soy sauce, frying until cooked and set aside to cool.

2. Boil the rice with the ground ginger as per packet instructions and allow to cool

3. Mix the carrots, turkey mix and rice together and divide between the lettuce leaves (half head per person if a main course)

Posh Prawn Cocktail - 2 ProPoints

Serves 1

Ingredients
15g Weight Watchers Salad Cream
15g Tomato Ketchup
Dash Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp Paprika
8 King Prawns, peeled and cooked
1 Baby Gem Lettuce, leaves separated
6 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1 Scallion, chopped
1/4 Cucumber, sliced


Method

1. Mix the ketchup, salad cream and Worcestershire sauce together and toss the prawns
2. Arrange the lettuce leaves in a bowl with the tomatoes, scallion and cucumber
3. Top with the prawn mix
4. Sprinkle with Paprika