Omnivore cooking/ recipe club

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amy1985

New member
With thanks to fortyfour for the idea, I thought I'd start a thread for the meateaters out there who need inspiration/ would like new ideas for dishes. I find variety is the key to sticking to my diet, and so I'm trying new dishes all the time. Ideally I think it'd be nice if we share recipes, cook each other's (although not in any structured way, I suspect tastes/ budgets/ dietary restrictions will be too varied for that), and share the results (and any adaptations/ problems that we may have had).

Feel free to post recipes from anywhere- I get most of mine from recipe websites. (Ideas/ things you made up are also more than welcome)

I'll start by listing some recipes that I haven't tried but would like to try soon. I'll also add that I calorie count, so I don't really have any restrictions to my diet other than "not too high calorie".

Beef:


Chicken:




Pork: (I'm going to be making this once I'm out of leftovers)

Fish:



Don't have any lamb recipes at the moment, it seems to be a high-ish calorie meat.
 
This is my favorite chicken one, although I couldn't tell you accurate calories :/

So, heat up in a pan low-fat cream cheese (not very much at all) with some baby spinach and garlic. I usually add a little cumin as well but it's strong. Wait until the spinach has wilted and the cheese is melted and then leave to cool.

Cut chicken breast slightly down middle to allow for filling. When filling is cool stuff inside the chicken breast. Nice and easy! And then you can either use ham or bacon (I use turkey ham as it's low in calories or Weight Watchers bacon at only 50 cals a slice) and wrap around the chicken, covering the slit that you made.

Use a cocktail stick to keep the slit closed up if you don't think the ham/bacon will work. Then drip a tiny drop of olive/vegetable oil or low-fat variation over the meat.

It's easy and relatively cheap. Good student recipe for people that still like to eat nice but don't have a lot of time!

I usually have this with roasted vegetables and a jacket potato but can easily be had over rice, pasta or just with veg.

I stuff my chicken with everyyything. Ham, different types of cheese, garlic, peppers, onion even chorizo!
 
Ha, I work out the calories (including from websites that list them) before I make anything.

Let's see. Assuming average serving sizes and all of that (and brands I'd choose, talking about 243 calories for that. That's pretty good.

Reminds me of a recipe my mum sent me (from an Australian cookbook). Chicken Cordon Bleu (sorta kinda).

To serve 4

4x 125g raw skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup shallots (spring onions) cut into 1cm slices
60g 97% fat free ham, cut in strips
80g Bega Super Slim cheese (I presume just use reduced fat cheese, but will affect nutrition- this is apparently four slices)
toothpicks
1 egg white
2 tablespoons skim milk (which I think is semi-skimmed in the UK)
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
cooking spray

Preheat oven 180 C fan forced. Using a sharp knife, make a pocket lengthways inside each chicken breast (don't cut all the way through). Use your finger to widen and open the hole to allow for filling. Place a quarter of shallots and ham in centre of one cheese slice, roll up cheese and place into a breast, pushing deep into pocket. Seal opening with toothpicks. Repeat process for remaining chicken breasts. In a medium sized mixing bowl beat egg white with milk. Place breadcrumbs on a large dinner plate, dip each breast into egg mix, and coat with breadcrumbs. Place on a baking tray that has been generously coated with cooking spray, spray tops of chicken. Bake 20-25 min or until chicken is cooked through.

1018 kilojoules (242 calories) per serve, 38.5g protein, 9g carbs, 2g sugar, 5.8g fat (of which 2.3 saturated), 0.5g fibre, 504mg sodium, too low in carbs to score a GI rating.
 
My wonderful boyfriend went shopping for me today (as I haven't been feeling well), and bought for me, amongst other things, pork. So I've made the pork and spiced apple recipe (). I'm very pleased indeed. Excluding the vegetables they suggest (I always do something different from their suggestions), and adapted for one (as pork isn't really good for leftovers apparently), 355 calories (6g olive oil, 120g pork loin cutlet- rind removed- 99g gala apple, 5g brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon). I served with roast potato (188g potato with skin, 10g olive oil- I overpoured, it was meant to be 6- half a teaspoon of dried thyme, half a teaspoon of dried rosemary, and a gram- again, an overpour- of salt), which came out at just over 200 calories, and steamed carrot (125g, 51 calories) and zucchini (zucchini= courgette; 222g, 37 calories).

Sorry about the lack of presentation, I'm not so crash hot at that.
 
Thanks :) They're dead easy. Get potato, chop up into bits, put in a bowl with oil (oil is the real calorie killer here), salt, rosemary and thyme, coat potato with mixture, bung in oven on 250C (or maximum- mine stops marking at 220) for 20-25 minutes depending on size of potato. (I put it on foil to miminise washing up, don't know if it makes a difference to the end product) Seriously curbs my chip/ comfort food cravings.
 
Will deffo try the spiced apple pork and the chicken breast with cream cheese and spinach.

Heres my tips for cooking the perfect omlette, my omlettes have tasted much better since I read antony worral thompsons tip in a masterchef book....

Fry the filling first, then remove from the pan before you do the actual omelette. Don't put salt in the egg mixture before you cook it! The salt does something funny to the protein (like salt on a slug- have you ever seen that eurgh) and makes it grey. Start on a medium heat, then quickly turn it dow to number one. Before the omelette has cooked completely turn off the heat and leave it to stand for a minute with the cooked fillings sprinkled on one half so that it finishes cooking in its own heat. Don't overcook it! Heat is the omelette antichrist! always use quality free range eggs- they make a lot of difference. I personally don't think an omlette is complete without cheese, so i use powered parmesan, you only need a tiny bit as its strong, so less calories. Heres one i made earlier attatched, even though I'm sure you all know what an omelette looks like!!! :) I can't figure out how to attach thumnail photos, hmmm...

Weight Loss Forum - overtherainbow's Album: omelette - Picture
 
Wow, that looks impressive! (and you've got the presentation skills down- unlike my "make sure it lands on the plate not the bench or the floor" :smilielol5: ) I've never really mastered omelettes (or very much in the way of egg dishes like frittata).

To add thumbnails, go to advanced reply, write what you want to write, go down to "additional options", hit "manage attachments", browse for file, and upload. Files need to be under 100kb so you may need to degrade the quality (I use screenshot/ paint to do that).
 
This is going to be one of the next things I cook- with sauteed veg rather than the salad suggested, with a bit less meat, and with my roast potato rather than on tortillas. I also don't have skewers and am going to cut into thinner strips and grill for less time instead. It's for my boyfriend in an attempt to get him away from the damn kebab shop (his major downfall). This is the type he likes (and some of the alterations- the potato and the thin strips of chicken- are based on what he usually buys), and I bet this recipe is much better for him than the alternative. Don't know how low calorie it'll be when I alter it (haven't figured it out yet), not sure if it'd be suitable for a low calorie diet, definitely "damage control".

edit to add. Forgot to add link:
 
Fettucine Carbonara (from an Australian cookbook, so calories may vary. I'll indicate where I've made adaptations because I can't find the product in question). If you don't have a tablespoon/ tablespoons, use 1.5 dessertspoons for every tablespoon called for.

Serves 4 large or 6 average.

3 cups sliced mushroom (Australians measure a lot of things in cups- this is the amount that's in 250mL capacity, or 750mL capacity in this case)
1 cup lean ham, diced (I use two of these, which is probably slightly OTT, but one is too little: )
1 small onion, diced (I usually use a big one)
1 level teaspoon crushed garlic (when crushing myself, I use 2-3 cloves- 2 is probably as the recipe calls for, but I like garlic)
1x375ml light evaporated milk (the ones sold here are 410ml, so I reduce the amount of skim milk or it gets too watery)
3/4 cup skim milk (try half a cup, or less)
2x30g packets mushroom and chive cup-a-soup (I can't find anything like this, so I use a can of light condensed mushroom soup)
2 level tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 level tablespoon reduced fat margarine (e.g. Flora Light)
2 level tablespoons plain flour
1 level teaspoon beef stock powder (about half a cube, or I just use a whole one because I'm lazy)
salt and pepper to taste
300g dry fettucine pasta (I use tagliatelle, it's cheaper)
cooking spray

Coat a large non-stick saucepan (or not non-stick... just make sure you stir a lot, it does stick) with cooking spray. Saute garlic and onion for two miniutes, toss in ham and cook 2 minutes. Add sliced mushroom and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and set to one side.

In same saucepan melt margarine, add flour, mixing well. Slowly add in evaporated milk and then skim milk, mixing continually until smooth. Stir in dry soup mix (/ condensed soup), stock powder, and parmesan cheese. Return mushroom mixture to pot, combine well, add salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare pasta according to instructions on pack (preferably without adding oil).

Nutritional information (what's listed is what's given- obviously, as prepared with original instructions)

To serve 4- fat 6.5g/ serve, fibre 6.8g/ serve, protein 23g serve, carbs 63g serve, kilojoules 1680, calories 403

To serve 6- fat 4.3, fibre 4.5, protein 13.7, carbs 42.8, kilojoules 1121, calories 268
 
More recipes. This is one of my low cal risotto recipes (from the same Australian cookbook), which you will need a big pan for. (This is my big pan, and it fills it: )

Vegetable Risotto (serves 6)

2 cups sliced mushroom
1 cup sliced fresh green beans
1 cup frozen corn niblets (I used canned)
1 cup diced red capsicum (= red pepper)
1 onion finely diced
2 cups raw aborio rice (= risotto rice; this is something like 490g so I use a 500g pack)
6 cups vegetable stock (they say use ready made but... too expensive. I make up cubes)
2 level teaspoons reduced fat margarine (Flora Light)
1 level tablespoon crushed garlic
1/3 cup white wine (or just add that amount of water again)
3 level tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 vegetable stock cubes
salt and pepper to taste

Slice vegetables, leave to one side. (It then says you must do this in a large non-stick saucepan- if you don't have a non-stick saucepan, stir vigilantly, be prepared for it to stick a little, soak it when you're done) Melt margarine, add onion and garlic, cook 2 minutes. Add in rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2 cups of stock liquid and stock cubes, bring to boil, simmer stirring frequently until liquid has been absorbed by rice. Add in wine, once absorbed pour in 2 cups of stock liquid, bring back to boil. Add mushrooms, beans, corn and capsicum (pepper), reduce to a simmer stirring frequently until stock is absorbed. Add final two cups of stock liquid. When almost all liquid has been absorbed (rice should be cooked by this stage), stir in parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Nutrition per serve (made as directed):
Fat: 3.7g
Fibre 4.2g
Protein 10g
Carbohydrates: 68g
Kilojoules 1313
Calories: 413
 
Cross post from my diary. This is a great student recipe (assuming you like tuna), as it's pretty cheap to make, and the only ingredient that you need to store in the fridge is the milk and possibly the onions.

Ingredients (shown in picture):

1-2 onions, chopped into bits (I used one, should've used two. supposed to be finely chopped but I can't do that)
cooking oil (I use frylight/ cooking spray whenever possible, but for this recipe, oil is really needed)
canned corn, preferably in water, drained (about the same amount as the canned tuna- I used 260g drained weight corn and 278g drained tuna)
canned tuna, preferably in brine, drained
approx. 2 tablespoons plain flour
approx 500ml milk

Take chopped onion and put into pan, saute until cooked/ browned (can use either oil or cooking spray for this step). Take out of the pan and set to one side. Add oil to pan (don't be stingy, it's needed, but you don't need to drown it. I used 14g today). Add flour (approx 2 tablespoons but I sort of do this by eye. You need enough to make a sauce with the milk. I used two very heaped dessert spoons- 54g- today). Stir around a bit until the flour starts to cook a little (gets a bit of a brownish tinge). Add milk slowly and stir together until you have a sauce (or at least, minimal lumps of flour, they're horrible to find in the dish). Again, this needs to be done somewhat by eye, looking at the consistency of the sauce. Dump in the onion, corn, and tuna. Mix together, bashing the tuna so it's not in massive lumps if needed, and heat through. Serve with pasta or (warning, not low cal) on toast with cheese.

As I made it (two cans of tuna, one can of corn, 147g onion, 14g olive oil, 54g flour, 502ml milk, 7 sprays frylight for the onion), this came to 176.4 calories for the (good for lunch, maybe a little on the small side for dinner) 205g serve I had. Makes good leftovers.

Not sure how many it serves, probably 3-6 depending on how much of a pig you are or what meal you're having it for.
 
Thanks for the carbonara recipe, Amy! Will try it tomorrow when I've been shopping. I don't eat fish at all so can't try the tuna one :(
 
The other risotto recipe (from the same cookbook):

Chicken and Spinach Risotto

Serves 6

240g skinless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
2 cups arborio (=risotto) rice (effectively 500g)
6 cups (1.5litres) chicken stock (recommends ready made but again... too expensive)
250g frozen spinach, thawed and drained
small onion, finely diced
2 level teaspoons reduced fat margarine (Flora Light)
2 level teaspoons chicken stock powder (a stock cube)
1 level teaspoon crushed garlic
1/3 cup white wine (or replace with water)
3 level tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

(Says you must do in large non-stick saucepan. Large definitely essential- if you do it in not non-stick, prepare for it to stick and stir vigilantly) Melt margarine in pan, then cook onion and garlic for two minutes. Add rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2 cups of stock liquid and stock powder, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, stir frequently until liquid has been absorbed by rice. Add in raw diced chicken, 2 cups stock liquid and wine, stirring frequently while simmering. Once absorbed pour in final two cups of stock liquid, stirring frequently until absorbed (rice should be cooked by this stage). Stir in parmesan cheese, defrosted spinach, salt and pepper to taste, stir well. Serve.

Variation: replace spinach with 2.5 cups mushrooms.

Nutrition per serve: fat 4.6g, fibre 4g, protein 18g, carbs 62.5g, kilojoules 1630, calories 388
 
Any suggestions on how to cut the calories on this?



My thoughts so far are to replace the plum jam (which is something like 800 calories, holy hell) with a can of prunes (and blend them), halve the meat and replace it with potatoes and/ or vegetables (possibly also portabello mushrooms), and to brown the meat in frylight rather than oil then stick the rest in the slow cooker. The calorie calculator I usually use to figure these things out isn't giving me numbers I would say are reliable though, so I'm not quite sure what the figures would be and whether these kinds of changes are enough.
 
Have had some success with this tonight:

This came out extremely well. I couldn't bring myself to use a fresh mango last time, but canned was extremely bland (I also added a canned pineapple, which worked, which is why I used pineapple this time). I also didn't try to load it up too heavily with vegetables, and slightly decreased the amount of meat (more by chance than anything else, I needed the rest of the meat pack for something I'll be making tomorrow). I cut down on the soy a little (3 dessertspoons rather than tablespoons) to try to save the salt.

amy1985 said:
* Adapted from: Actually used 336g chicken breast, 263g canned pineapple (drained), 82g salad onions, 13g garlic, 21g ginger, 111g capsicum (yellow (bell) pepper), 14g olive oil, 26ml reduced salt soy sauce, 36g sweet chilli sauce, and a vegetable/ beansprout stir fry mix.
Click to expand...

Anyone else got any recipes/ successes/ failures/ ideas to share?
 
I'll be making the chicken and spinach risotto tonight. Have just come across this: (the recipe website reckons it's 235 calories per serve, which sort of seems too good to be true. But I love lamb, I haven't had any in forever because it's a fatty meat)
 
I have some friends I share recipes with on Facebook, and one of them (on my suggestion) has just tried this, and is apparently incredibly impressed:

I've never had artichokes before, but they're so going on the shopping list now, given the rave review I've just received.
 
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