SP Days for Vegetarians

The snowy view from our village in North Yorkshire this week! When you are looking for a warming, winter treat then this Cauli Cottage Pie, with a savoury cauliflower topping and savoury lentil filling is a total winner! If, like us here in rural North Yorkshire, you've been hit by a cold snap recently you'll know the need for warming comfort food is very real! For some reason my appetite goes through the roof when the snow starts to fall, and it can be all the harder to make healthy choices, when all around you are turning to hot chocolate and cake. This tasty dish will suit all the family and is ideal served with lots of steamed veggies and, if you wish some extra gravy. There is plenty of iron from the lentils, vitamins from the vegetables, protein in the egg topping and even an extra boost of your B-vitamins, thanks to the inclusion of Marmite. I've made a two-portion version here, but you could easily double the quantities here to serve a bigger group....

This warming roast vegetable tagine makes a delicious and filling meal, especially served alongside tasty salsify chips and golden toasted almonds! Finding a way to ensure you get plenty of vegetables into your diet can lead to some repetitive meal choices. I have found myself in danger of sapping the fun out of the rainbow of colourful and tasty options that the vegetable drawer offers by sticking to the same standby options time and again. However, by combining different regular choices with something a bit different I find even my most familiar vegetable friends can get a new lease of life.  I've served the tagine with roasted 'chips' of tasty salsify, but you could replace this with butternut squash or carrot sticks if you can't find it in the shops, as it is often only available in season. The toasted almond flakes add some additional nutrition here, as well as a contrasting texture to the soft tagine. Other steamed veg, such as the julienne veg and br...

At the time of healthy eating resolutions, the move from festive decadence to puritanical fayre can be assisted greatly by this deliciously hearty Roasted Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup. It may not look like particularly beautiful, but I'd happily serve this up at any dinner party!  This is easy to make, savoury and filling and it has a wonderfully nutty and rich flavour. I defy anyone to identify this as a 'healthy' dish due to its rich flavours, however it is full of nutrients and remarkably low in calories for its luscious taste and velvety texture. The key to the success of the dish is using a stick blender and blending for about 5 minutes until it has broken down into a really smooth, silky paste, adding the stock during this process slowly to get the consistency you really like.  Don't be tempted to leave out the sesame oil to save on syns here - this is a tiny amount used here, but it really makes the difference. Adding this just before serving mean...

These vegetarian, SP-friendly Devilled Eggs hors d'oeuvres are tasty, easy to make party-food staples that you can enjoy without worrying during any festive celebration. Channel your inner Fanny Cradock with this retro classic and impress your guests this Christmas. I don't know about anyone else, but right now, I could really do with a few recipes to keep in mind for when I want to join in the celebrations without going totally off-piste when it comes to the eating plan. I was looking for something that I could make for a gathering that would work well alongside festive fizz and give me an option to tuck into alongside the usual buffet fayre. When I saw Nigella make her devilled eggs on her Christmas special, I found myself wondering how I could make it more healthily and this recipe was created. This version contains just 1 syn for the whole batch, so you would only count the syns if you ate 8 portions (halves of egg) or more. Elizabeth David advises that hors d'oe...

In all honesty, this is just a variation on my Pepper Quiches recipe, but this seems to have a more autumnal vibe, thanks to the earthy portabellos in this Mushroom Quiche. Like their pepper brothers, this dish uses the veg as the alternative to the pastry shell, giving you a rich, fluffy souffle-like filling and a tasty cheesy top. The mushroom base gives it a good speed base, but is great served with a pulse-rich dish to make this a filling and warming meal.  As with all recipes and meal plans on the blog I have highlighted the   protein sources (P foods) in red , the  speed (S) foods in green ,  healthy extra allowances in blue  and  syns, with syn values in brackets in orange .  Pepper Quiches Makes 4 - 1 syn per 2 (or part of your HEA)  4 portabello mushrooms, halved with stalks carefully removed, but outer 'skin' in tact  2 spring onions very finely sliced 3 eggs, beaten  20g grated light cheddar 1 tsp...

I'm sure I'm not the only one to wake up on 1st November to find I've a huge glut of pumpkin to get through following Halloween festivities. Thank goodness for this Pumpkin Huevos Rancheros recipe to get started on it first thing! This makes a really delicious breakfast and is a good way to use up leftovers as well as setting you up for a successful SP day too. As usual with my recipes, I've deviated from a lot of the 'rules' about what constitutes a traditional 'huevos rancheros' dish - adding some extra pulses and poaching my eggs separately. I've also been inspired by the recipe for Turkish Eggs that Nigella Lawson presented in her new series, this week - intrigued by the idea of yoghurty sauce and poached eggs served together. I can confirm this quark version works really well. I prepped a lot of this the night before - roasting the pumpkin whilst I had the oven on for another dish for tea and using up some basic tomato sauce that I...

Another spicy SP treat here in the form of a delicious Tikka Tofu dish, which makes a spicy, warming, protein-packed treat any day of the week! Served with a range of other SP vegetable dishes such as Spiced Spinach with Halloumi , Chana Masala  and Double Dahl this makes for a filling meal that non-vegetarians can enjoy too!  This recipe does involve some prep time as the longer you leave the marinade on the tofu, the better the flavour. However, it is worth getting your act together in advance as the result is scrumptious! The recipe is syn-free, using quark instead of the traditional yoghurt used in tikka masala recipes keeps this SP friendly and adds another boost of protein to the tofu. It must be served with plenty of veg, though to keep up the speed element of your meal.  I've used a Patak's Tikka Spice Marinade in this dish, which I found here at Ocado recently. It doesn't appear on the SW app list as yet and according to the 20 cals per syn calculation ...