This weeks challenge at group was to have at least 5 super speed foods a day. To be honest we probably do this anyway but always good to make an extra effort.

I think the key to keeping salads interesting is to always have a couple of ingredients that you really like or that are a bit unusual. I love water chestnuts and bamboo shoots and they work just as well raw so adding them to this salad makes me a happy bunny.

This is the super lazy version, obviously you can chop what ever veg you like.

Ingredients

1 pack ready chopped stir fry including bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts

Ready to eat prawns

Dressing

1 tblsp soy sauce

1tblsp dark rice vinegar

1 clove of garlic finely grated

Small piece of ginger grated.

Fresh coriander coursely chopped.

Syn Free on Red or EE.

Mix the all the ingredients for the dressing together. Give it a good shake and leave for as long as you have.

Plate up the stir fry and scatter over prawns, then drizzle dressing over the top.

That's it, really that simple and soooo tasty. Obviously you can play with it however you like. I often use cooked chicken with it or even crab sticks as you find them quite a lot in Asian food. You could add some soya beans instead of prawns if you wanted to go veggie. I also sometimes add a squeeze of line over it too.

This salad is great for work too as the dressing improves with a bit of a rest just keep it separate to the veg. Maybe not before any big meetings though as the garlic and ginger pack a punch!

And so my Asian odyssey continues with a delicious beef curry. I had a real hankering for a warming curry with lots of lovely rice. I love casserole, slow cook dishes. I can knock it together whilst my youngest is having his nap and then when we get back in after the school run the house smells great and I have only the sides to do. I served it here with a simple grated cucumber salad dressed in white wine vineger and also  added plenty of super free veg to the curry to make sure I got my 1/3 super free. I used a packet of spice that I got from a local indian and continental shop (I love this shop I can literally spend hours perusing the isles looking at all the exotic ingredients, mmmm!). There are loads of different flavours and they are very authentic. I used the generally titled 'meat masala', see below. I warn you though the recipe suggested 2 tbls but I added just 1 as I was doing it for all off us but it was still too hot for the boys, oops! oh well all the  more for me...
 

Serves 2/3
Free Red/Green/EE

2 Red Onions sliced
5 cloves of Garlic crushed
2" piece of Ginger grated
300g Stewing Steak
1 tbsl Shan's meat masala mix (less for a milder curry)
1 Red Pepper chunkily cut
6 Tomatoes quartered
Fat Free Yogurt
Large handful of Corriander

1. Fry onions gently in Frylight for at least 5 minutes then add the garlic and ginger.
2. Add the meat and brown then add curry powder mix, fry off taking care not to burn the spices. If it looks to be getting a little too dry or hot you can add a bit of water.
3. Add the pepper and tomatoes and stir.
4. Add 2 cups of water stir and transfer to casserole dish.
5. Cook in oven gas mark 3 for 4 hours, check after 3, if it seems a bit thin, leave the lid off and cook until the sauce has thickened and the meat is meltingly tender.
6. When ready stir through the yogurt and corriander to serve.

I just don't seem to be able to get away from Asian flavours at the moment, or soup for that matter, it must be an escape from this dreadful weather. Close my eyes and I'm in a distant exotic land all sunkist and happy.

I came up with this soup the last time I did slimming world and I still love it. Broccoli is so good for us and Im not that keen on it as a boiled soggy side but I love broccoli and stilton soup. I was trying to think of something else other than cheese that I could add so I thought where else to you get broccoli and thought of all the broccoli in Asian stir frys and Japanese cooking. This recipe uses soy sauce, wasabi, and zesty lime to bring the broccoli to life.

I served it today with a homemade nori roll inspired by the SW Asian cook book. An Asian take on the classic soup and a sandwich! I'll post the recipe for the roll soon. 

Serves 2 
1/2 syn per serving

Ingredients 

1 onion roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1" piece of ginger finely chopped
1 good head of broccoli inc stalk roughly chopped
handful of peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Vegetable stock
1 teaspoon wasabi (more to taste but it is 1 syn per teaspoon)
Juice of 1 lime

1. Soften the onions in frylight and then add the garlic and then ginger.
2. Add broccoli and fry for a moment.
3. Add the stock to just cover the vegetables, add the peppercorns and bayleaves.
4. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the vegetables are tender.
5. Remove the bayleaves and blend to your preferred texture
6. Add the wasabi and return to a simmer for a couple of minutes.
7. Take off the heat, stir through the lime juice and serve.