Food: Pea, Mint & Avocado Soup

Being a right little piggy at the weekends, I then try and lighten up my whole diet through the week. 

I made a big batch of this Pea, Mint & Avocado Soup last-night, and I plan to have it for lunch, at work. It took 5 minutes to make, and teamed with some Crackerbreads with cream cheese on, well I have a feeling that I ain't gonna feel one tiny bit deprived.

Food || Eggs and Avocado - again.

Ok, I am an egg and avocado fiend. If I don't have them BOTH in, well things can get ugly.

But why would you change something when it works so well?

How you make this beauty:

1) Slice half an avocado into chunks.

2) Dice some red onions, cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

3) Toss in a little olive oil, lemon and oregano.

4) Poach an egg for 4 minutes, pop on top of the avocado and salad then season with salt and cracked black pepper. 

5) Lightly sprinkle some paprika over.

Simple, but pretty damn good.

Recipe || Spicy Stuffed Tomatoes

Bulk cooking lunches for my little rascal yesterday, I realised at about 3pm I hadn't ate anything sufficient all day. (So, so unlike me) Being the scavenger that I am I started using leftovers from the meals I had already cooked and came up with this snack/lunch, it was pretty damn good. 

As the whole chillies are cooked in the sauce, opposed to slicing them up (was far to hungry to do any more chopping) this approach added a lovely warmth to the dish, without the spice being overpowering. The paprika adds a gorgeous depth of smokiness, and the avocado is much welcomed, as it freshens up the dish and is creamy and cooling on the palette. 

So let's crack on you little starvers! 

Food || Low carb breakfast, made for champions!

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?