Food: Chicken and Bean Chilli with Pomegranate And Feta Roasted Vegetables

So this time of year it is all about hearty, filling and hot food - and lots of it.

But I don't wanna pile on the pounds at the same time, so I try and ditch the carbs a little (crying emoji) and up my protein and vegetable intake.

This for me is a dish I would cook of a weekend, when I have a little more time on my hands.

Food: Smoky Paprika Chicken

Every week I get asked to cook this in our house, and each week every piece is gone within a couple of hours.

I don't know why I haven't shared this recipe earlier, but hey better late than never.

Food: Mexican Style Chicken and Rice, with Guacamole, and Lime and Chilli Corn on the Cobs.

On a Sunday afternoon I love to stick a load of food on the the table, get my eat on with the fambo, whilst having a good ole gab.

As it's the peak of Summer, the obligatory Sunday roast is a bit much on a hot sunny day.
So ya know, what screams Summer more than the fresh flavours, and ingredients from the Mexican cuisine?

These ingredients are even more so special, when left to mingle with each other. A time-saving trick for this dish, and one that you are grateful for the next day, in terms of cutting down the time spent slaving over a hot stove, but still creating a finger licking dish - is marinating the chicken.

It takes less than 5 minutes to do,  it gets shoved in the fridge, left overnight, and the flavours that develop over this time, well it helps to create a gorgeous tasty feast, in less than 20 minutes.

The recipe is as follows:

Food: Sweet Chilli Chicken Rice Rolls

With Summer here (errr well meant to be), I always 'try'  and eat lighter. 

Nothing screams the weekend more than a Chinese takeaway, and I am not one for depriving myself so I decided to have a bash at recreating the famous spring roll. 

I think I have made a half decent job at it to.

The trick is rice paper. You can find the sheets on eBay, Amazon and they are stocked at most Chinese supermarket's. 

Food: Cheesy Chilli Chicken

 I like lashing a load of grub in the oven on any days I have off work, and crack on with what ever I need to do -  this dish is one of my favourites.

A sauce that takes 10 minutes, and the oven really does the rest for you.

Food || Mexican Chicken Lettuce Trays!

Gathering family and friends round for food and feeding them up is one of my favourite past times. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I love how It brings everyone together to settle down and get their munch on, whilst having a good gab and a laugh.

With Summer (yes Summer I said, not that it feels like we are EVER going to see the sun anytime soon) and the idea of squeezing into a bikini just around the corner eeeeeek most of my friends are on diets moaning about their weight! (Oh yes, and me too)  So this weekend when it came to food, not wanting to be blamed for any pesky weight gains, I decided to keep the food as low fat as possible. But never, ever jeopardising the flavour.

The idea for these little delights just sprung into my head one night (don't you just love when that happens?) and they was a hit. I LOVE Mexico and hope to travel back one day (plus the Doritos Mexican themed adverts are just bloody marvellous) The cuisine incorporates all the flavours and ingredients I love!  

This is my version of the "taco" dish minus the taco shell.

Mexican Chicken served in Gem Lettuce Trays

Ingredients.

400g diced Chicken breast

Smoked Paprika

3 crushed Garlic cloves

2 Lemons or Limes

Salt and Pepper

Gem lettuce (around 25 leaves will serve 6 people)

1 Avocado

Dried Thyme  

5 tablespoons of Sweetcorn

10 Cherry Tomato's diced small.

Tomato salsa

Sour cream

Fresh Parsley to garnish

Method

Dice the chicken breast into small bite size strips. Squeeze a full lemon over the chicken, a tablespoon of smoked paprika, three crushed garlic cloves, tablespoon of dried thyme and salt and pepper mix up well and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.

Separate the gem lettuce leaves, wash and put to one side. 

Just before you fry the chicken. Cube an avocado, dice cherry tomatoes and mix in the sweetcorn. Squeeze some lemon over, season and put to one side.

Fry chicken in a little olive oil until it's crispy and golden. Around 10 minutes. Load a tablespoon of the chicken into the Gem lettuce tray and then spoon some of the avocado mix over the chicken. Carry on until all lettuce trays are loaded. Dollop a teaspoon of salsa and sour cream in each tray. Garnish with parsley or coriander and lemon wedges and da,daaaaa (jazz hands) it's done.

All my friends tried and LOVED them! I served with sweet potato wedges some dips and some bread for the non dieting ladies! A beautiful colourful and tasty dish as we are moving into the summer months,and one that you won't feel guilty about devouring. Result. 

Will you give these a try?