Have made two of the recipes from the Sunday Times - pasta with bacon, lemon and peas and veg chilli. Both were excellent and really filling.
MIXED-BEAN CHILLI
The beans are a great source of hunger-stopping protein, along with heart-protecting vitamin B, folate and hefty servings of diabetes-fighting fibre. The supernutrient farnesol in cumin appears to cause cancerous cells in our bodies to destroy themselves.
This recipe is especially good with black beans, but can be adapted to any dried beans. It is easy to make and actually tastes better if eaten the following day. It can also be served with crispy tortilla strips.
Serves 3
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2 stems celery, finely diced
1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 fresh chilli, finely diced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon-tyme leaves
1 bay leaf
400g can chopped organic tomatoes
420g can mixed salad or kidney beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
Handful coriander
2 Mexican-style wheat tortillas
6 tbsp low-fat yoghurt
1/2 red onion, finely sliced (optional)
Heat the oil in the saucepan and gently fry the onion, garlic, celery, green pepper and chilli for 5 minutes, until sift. Mix in the cumin and paprika. After a couple of minutes, add the parsley, lemon tyme and bay leaf and tomatoes. Half-fill the tomato can with water and stir this into vegetables. Drain and rinse the beans and mix into the dish. Bring to the boil, season to taste and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick and flavoursome.
To serve, divide the beans between three small bowls and garnish with coriander. Gently warm the tortillas and serve with the beans, yoghurt and red onion, allowing each diner to mix the different ingredients according to their taste.
PASTA WITH PEAS, BACON AND LEMON
Lovers of spicy food can add a little finely chopped chilli to this dish, with the garlic. Fresh chillies help to give our metabolism a kick-start, boosting the rate at which calories are burnt by up to 15% for 3 hours after eating. Lemon juice helps to slow the digestion, making this a particularly low-GI meal.
Serves 2
150g pasta shells, bows or similar shapes
80g frozen petit pois
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices of back bacon, trimmed of any fat (about 50g lean meat), diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
2 tbsp low-fat crème fraîche
1 small bunch of chives, finely snipped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice (to taste)
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions ? usually about 10 minutes. Add the frozen petit pois 3 minutes before the pasta is cooked and return to the boil, cover and simmer gently until the pasta is done. Drain into a colander.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a nonstick frying pan and, once it is sizzling hot, add the diced bacon and stir-fry briskly. As soon as it begins to crisp up, reduce the heat to low and stir in the garlic. Cook for a further minute or 2, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant.
By this stage, the pasta and petit pois should be ready. Stir them into the bacon, add the lemon zest, crème fraîche and chives, then season and add the lemon juice. Serve immediately with the grated parmesan.