Delicious meals with minimum ingredients.

ROAST ONION SOUP - Serves 4

3 Syns per serving

6 medium-sized white onions, chopped
2 garlic bulbs
2 sprigs of rosemary, plus a few extra leaves to serve
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp. olive oil - 12 Syns
2 pints hot vegetable stock

Pre-heat the oven to 160C/Gas 3.
Place the unpeeled onions on a roasting tray with the bulbs of garlic and the herbs. Drizzle with the olive oil. Cook them in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until soft and squidgy.
Turn the oven up to 180C/Gas 4,
Leave the onions and garlic to cool, then scoop out the insides of the onions and squeeze out the garlic into a pan. Keep any juices in the roasting tray to add to the finished soup.
Add the vegetable stock and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Reheat when ready to eat.

If you have a HEX B to spare, this is lovely with French stick croutons. Slice some of the French stick, toast lightly and then top with some of your HEX A Mozarella cheese (45g Light Mozarella = 1 HEX A) before melting it slightly under the grill. Float on top of the soup.
 
TUNA STEAKS WITH CHERRY TOMATO COULIS - Serves 4

1.5 Syns per serving

4 tuna steaks
1kg cherry tomatoes (or very ripe ordinary tomatoes)
4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil

Wash and quarter the tomatoes in a dish, to retain the juice.
Peel the garlic cloves.
Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil over a medium heat in a pan, without letting it smoke.
Add the garlic and tomatoes in their juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook for 20 minutes with the lid off at first, then with the lid on but make sure the tomatoes don't stick together.
Once you have a nice, thick sauce, remove from the heat and leave to cool. Reheat it when ready to serve.
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and cook the tuna steaks on a high heat for a few minutes, turning them. You could also grill them, if you prefer.
Lower the heat and leave to cook for around 15 minutes.
Once the tuna steaks are cooked through, reheat the coulis and season the tuna steaks. Serve with the coulis on the side.
 
SWEET CHILLI LAMB - Serves 4

Approx. 3 Syns per serving

450g lean lamb steaks, all visible fat removed and cut into thin strips
1tbsp olive oil - 6 Syns
1 tsp. sesame oil - 2 Syns
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 level tbsp. sweet chilli sauce - 4.5 Syns
1 lime, juice and zest
100g sugar snap peas or mange tout, or a mixture, sliced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oils in a large non-stick frying pan or wok, add the lamb strips and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until meat is browned on all sides and cooked through.
Add the sweet chilli sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the lime juice and zest, sugar snap peas and/or mange tout and stir through.
Lastly add the spring onions, toss together and serve, scattered with the coriander.

Lovely served with SW mini roast potatoes or Syn Free dried noodles.
 
HUNGARIAN GOULASH - Serves 8

6 Syns for the entire recipe

1 tbsp. olive oil - 6 Syns
750g lean stewing steak, all visible fat removed
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 tbsp. paprika
4 beef stock cubes
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
300g carton of passata
2 x 400g cans red kidney beans, drained or could use kidney beans in chilli sauce
4 carrots, chopped
200g wholewheat pasta (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 150C/Gas 2.
In a large, oven-proof casserole dish, heat the olive oil over a medium/low heat.
Add the beef, onion, paprika, 2 beef stock cubes and 2 crushed cloves of garlic. Cook until browned and turn the heat down to a low setting.
Leave for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and let the juices come out of the beef, until you have an almost gravy looking sauce emerging.
Add the passata, beans, a pint of water, the remaining stock cubes and the remaining garlic.
Chop up the carrots and add these.
Place the lid on the casserole dish and put in the oven. The longer this is cooked the better so although, if you leave it in the oven for about 2-3 hours it's really nice, if you can leave it in the oven on a very low setting (110C/Gas one quarter) overnight, it'll be even better. If you don't want to leave your cooker on overnight, it also works really well in the slow cooker on Low for 8-10 hours. Just reduce the pint of water down to a quarter pint instead.
If it starts to thicken too much, add more water until the desired consistency is reached.
If you want pasta in your Goulash, add it to the casserole dish about an hour before you are due to serve the meal and let it cook in the oven.
 
BACON AND CHILLI PASTA - Serves 4

1 Syn per serving

2 teaspoons of olive oil - 4 Syns
450g lean back bacon, chopped, all visible fat removed
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 shallots, finely chopped
1 fresh chilli, red or green, seeds removed or not, finely chopped
400g can of chopped tomatoes
350g wholewheat pasta shapes

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the bacon, garlic, shallots and chilli together for a couple of minutes.
Add the tin of tomatoes and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta and drain. Add the bacon mixture to the hot pasta and mix well together.
Season lightly with a little salt and lots of black pepper.

Serve immediately with a HEX chunk of crusty bread and a side salad. Also good with a HEX portion of mature cheese grated over and stirred through.
 
Brilliant list of recipes and thanks Doreen for the index! :)
 
Goulash soup with meatballs. serves 4


  • 500g extra lean minced beef steak
  • 1 level tbsp chopped parsley
  • frylight
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 baking potato, cubed
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • 2 level tsp smoked paprika
  • 390g carton Chopped Tomatoes with Chilli & Peppers
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds (optional)

How to make it


  • Mix the mince and parsley, and season well. Shape into 28 small meatballs. Heat frylight in a nonstick frying pan, then brown the meatballs all over. Set aside.
  • Heat some more frylight in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the potato and pepper. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Stir in the smoked paprika and cook for another minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, partially cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Puree the soup with a hand-held blender or processor. Bring to the boil in the pan. Add the meatballs and caraway seeds (if using), then simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes, before serving.
 
I have been browsing through your recipes and cannot thank you enough for all your hard work. Really looking forward to trying them :eat::drool: :)
 
Hi Kathy hope you are OK and just not on minis because of some fab holiday or something like that

Aww, thanks so much, Claire. I wish it had been a lovely holiday but, unfortunately, I was taken into hospital thirteen days ago, unexpectedly, and only came out last night. Will have to go back to a specialist hospital sometime in the near future but hopefully, can have Christmas first. It's so sweet of you to notice though and that's just one of the things I like about Mini's. Everyone is so caring. Back to some recipes in the meantime! :)

Kathy xx
 
Me too Kathy. Been away and nothing extra on list. :) Hope you are well.

Doreen x

Thanks, Doreen. No, I've actually been in hospital for the last thirteen days, rather unexpectedly but I came out last night. Just got to wait for an operation now but not feeling too bad in the meantime. Dosed up on Morphine actually!! :D Back to the recipes for a little while, at least. So nice of you to notice my absence too. Like I said to Claire - Mini's is such a caring 'community'. I've been telling several of the nurses about it, actually and they all said they're going to have a peek.

Kathy xx
 
HONEY AND SOY CHICKEN WITH CASHEWS - Serves 4

11 Syns for the whole recipe

3 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets
3 level tbsp. runny honey - 7.5 Syns
2 tbsp. soy sauce
12.5g cashew nuts, crushed - 3.5 Syns

Cut the chicken breasts into strips and marinate in the soy and honey for several hours or, preferably, overnight.
Spray a large non-stick frying pan with Frylight and cook the garlic and pepper until the peppers have softened. Add in the chicken strips, without the marinade, until brown and cooked through.
Meanwhile, cook the carrot batons and boil some rice.
Once the chicken is cooked through, add in the marinade and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Sprinkle with the crushed cashew nuts and serve with the rice and maybe some wilted spinach.
 
Aww, thanks so much, Claire. I wish it had been a lovely holiday but, unfortunately, I was taken into hospital thirteen days ago, unexpectedly, and only came out last night. Will have to go back to a specialist hospital sometime in the near future but hopefully, can have Christmas first. It's so sweet of you to notice though and that's just one of the things I like about Mini's. Everyone is so caring. Back to some recipes in the meantime! :)

Kathy xx


Hi Kathy - sorry to hear you were away for a hospital stay, that's not the exotic break I was hoping you were on at all!! Hope everything is OK now and that you get everything sorted out as soon as possible. Keep well Kathy;)
 
Been lurking this thread for months, your recipes are fab. I so hope you're on the mend soon XxX
 
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