Healthy Weekday Meal #1..............{Moroccan Turkey Meatballs with cous cous}

So to shift those pounds that I speak about in my new years resolutions post, I have started on the JuicePlus+ diet where basically you have meal replacement shakes for 2 meals a day with a "clean and lean" meal in the evening... gradually you come of the shakes and the idea is that change your eating habits as you are learning to adapt a more clean way of eating. So I am 2 weeks into this plan and I have already lost 7lbs and I am enjoying coming up with healthy and tasty recipes.

This recipe is great as it packs in loads of vegetables in to the sauce, it's really flavoursome and it turns what would be a rich dish into something much lighter. you could make this dish would pork or beef mince balls but for optimum healthiness I went for turkey. The cous cous is made how i like it which is to always make it with stock but again this is entirely to my tastes...

Moroccan Turkey Meatballs with Cous Cous

250g turkey mince, rolled into around 12 balls (or you can just buy a pack of ready made turkey meatballs)

1 onion, diced 

1/2 red onion, diced 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced 

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes 

1 carrot, diced

1/2 courgette, diced 

3 large mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp Ras el hanout

1/2 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of cumin 

2 large tomatoes chopped 

400g chopped tomato (or you could us passatta)

1 dtsp agave syrup (if you don't have this use honey)

olive oil 

125g cous cous 

1/2 stock cube (optional)

1 tbsp sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 dsp sundried tomato oil (from the jar)

put a little olive oil in the pan and then brown of your meatballs - don't worry if they are a little pink in the middle you are going to cook them again a bit later. remove the meatballs and then put the onions in the pan - i tend to add a bit of water here to help soften them rather than more oil. once they have softened add in the garlic and chilli flakes and stir until the garlic becomes fragrant. to the pan add the carrot, courgette and mushrooms along with the remaining spices. after 10 minutes or so add in the tomatoes, 300ml water and the agave syrup. season well. blend the sauce until it becomes smooth(ish) bring the pan to the boil and then drop in the meatballs making sure they are almost submerged in the simmering sauce. turn the pan down low and cover with lid. cook for around 20 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered at the end. whilst the meatballs are cooking away make the cous cous however you prefer - i just cover the stock and cous cous with boiling water, put a plate over the bowl so it steams then after 5 minutes of so I fluff it up and add the oil and sun dried tomatoes. serve the meatballs over the cous cous.  

Turkey Shawarma {Arabic Street Food}

I have waxed lyrical about the health benefits of using turkey in your cooking on this blog before and so when I saw that "I Love British Turkey" was launching a blogging competition I knew that I had to get involved. The competition is also run alongside The Red Tractor standard which is something that I have been passionate about since my university days (I did go to Harper Adams after all). I like that as a consumer I can see a little logo on the back and can be assured that I am buying quality British produce, whilst supporting British farmers and as British food is some of the best in the world it's win win really! 

Back to the challenge - the theme was "Arabian Nights" and I spent a great deal of time thinking about what I could do... maybe a tagine or a moussaka (both delicious of course) but I wanted to do something a bit more funky and fresh and a bit less "stereotypical". So I started to think more along the lines of street food and I suddenly came up with the idea of doing a Shawarma, which is a Arabic wrap. I usually make the dish with the more traditional chicken or lamb which is served hot in a warm wrap with crunchy veg and a garlic sauce. However, in my version I like to just make a garlic oil with a good quality British rapeseed oil and let that lightly coat the salad and add a bit of a kick!  Knowing how versatile turkey is I was confident it would take on the spicy, aromatic flavours of the dish perfectly and it did. Don't be put of with the long list of ingredients everything gets thrown in to a couple of bowls, so to speak, so this dish really doesn't take long at all.  So here you have a very fresh and incredibly tasty Turkey Shawarma - enjoy!

Turkey Shawarma

For the meat: 

400g diced turkey

1 1/2 TBSP HillFarm rapeseed oil (Red Tractor logo) 

200g Greek Yogurt (Tesco - Red Tractor logo)

1 egg, beaten lightly 

Juice 1/2 lemon

1 TSP Ras el Hanout

1 TSP cinnamon powder

2 TSP freshly ground black pepper 

Couple of pinches salt

1/2 - 1 TSP red chilli flakes (to taste, i like mine spicy)!

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated 

For the garlic oil:

150ml HillFarm rapeseed oil (Red Tractor logo) 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

Squeeze of lemon juice 

For the salad:

1/2 Iceberg lettuce, finely sliced 

1/4 cucumber, shaved (with a peeler)

1 tomato, halved and thinly sliced 

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced 

3 TBS coriander, chopped 

3 TBS pomegranate seeds

6 small or 4 big wraps or flat breads (pita bread would also work well) 

Marinate the turkey in all of the ingredients listed for the meat. You want to marinate it for at least and hour preferably a few. Heat a non stick pan and cook the turkey until it is cooked through and quite dry - this is where the yogurt cooks out don't be alarmed if it looks a bit grainy whilst you cook just stick with it. This usually takes around 10 minutes, keep stirring as it cooks. 

Take the oil and crushed garlic and whisk (or blend in a blender), add in the lemon juice to taste and season - you should have a lovely sunshine yellow sauce which is heady with the smell and taste of garlic. 

Assemble the salad ingredients and toss with about a TBSP of the garlic oil.

To make your Shawarma, warm the wrap in a dry pan. Add the salad and then top with the meat and a drizzle of the oil. You can also add a few dollops of yogurt or hummus, both work well. Serve immediately and preferably with and ice cold beer or iced tea.     

The Healthy Way to do Chilli

Spicy Turkey Chilli

I've been adjusting my eating habits for a quite a while now and I'm now approaching the two stone mark on my weight loss journey... makes me happy and quite proud, although these things take time. I try not to deprive myself (see my dinner on Monday) as I think that leads to failure and I hate to fail.

One thing I look to do is to make healthy versions of my favourite meals or to replicate great healthy meals that I have out. Chilli is a favourite of mine and I used to love eating a really slow cooked chilli full of beef, chorizo and red wine smothered with sour cream and cheese and preferably served over a jacket potato. Hello calories, fat and carbs....  and I wonder why I put on weight. Duh!

So here is my alternative- a yummy chilli made from turkey mince (which is a great ingredient for all you dieters out there). Mine is pretty spicy so adjust the spice ratios if you want it a bit milder. Feel free to add whatever veggies you like to bulk this up - its a great way to clear the contents of the veg drawer.  I served this with gem lettuce leaves (zero carbs and means I can justify a small sprinkling of cheese) but other healthy alternatives would be a baked Sweet Potato or some Bulgar Wheat.

Turkey Chilli 

Serves around 4 to 6 depending on how hungry people are!
300g Turkey Mince 

2 onion, chopped 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 fresh red chilli, chopped finely

1 Green Pepper & 1/2 Orange Pepper, cut into chunks

1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped

2 TBSP Tomato puree 

2 TSP Cumin

2 TSP chilli powder 

2 TSP Paprika 

1 tin chopped tomatoes 

200g Kidney beans, drained 

Olive Oil

S&P

Simmering away in the pan 

Fry off the onion, garlic and chilli, add the pepper, carrot and celery and allow them all to soften. Add the turkey mince and cook for around 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Once the mince is cooked then add the spices and puree and cook for a few minutes. Season. Add tomatoes and then leave to cook for 30 mins or so - simmering over a low heat. Add the drained kidney beans and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve with gem lettuce leaves, some Greek yoghurt and a sprinkle of cheese. 

Messy but yummy!

This Dish has been picked as a featured favourite for Delicious Dish Tuesday! Thanks so much guys.... I encourage everyone to get involved - its a great link up!

Linking up with Alesha for Delicious Dish Tuesday