The evenings are getting dark, the leaves are turning beautiful bronze , russet & golden shades & autumn has definitely made its presence known. I have a beautiful warming autumnal soup for you to try to warm up the colder days, gorgeous roasted butternut squash. Butternut Squash is notoriously difficult to peel & guess what, you don’t even have to peel it for this recipe – excellent news! This is simple & filling & fantastically low at 0 smartpoints for the whole recipe. This will make a good batch of 5 to 6 servings & can be frozen if you wish. Continue reading
Tag Archives: 0 propoints
Tummy Warming Roasted Vegetable Soup
Aldi sell these soup mix packs for €1.49. I decided to roast my veg in the oven to make the soup as I feel you get a more in-depth flavour from the vegetables from roasting them. I peeled and chopped all the veggies into equal sized pieces and sprayed a baking tray with spray oil, seasoned the veg with salt and pepper and sprinkled over fresh thyme leaves. I added two cloves of garlic with the skin left on. I roasted these in a preheated oven at 200 Celsius for 30 minutes. 
I transferred into a saucepan with 1 1/2 pints of boiling water and a chicken stock cube. I squeezed the soft roasted garlic out of the skins into the pot. I continued to cook for about 15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop. I blitzed with a hand blender adjusted the seasoning to taste and added a small bit more water as it was slightly thick. And Voilà! A beautiful autumnal roasted vegetable soup easy peasy! Free on all plans & guaranteed to keep you full. I hope you’re having a lovely Thursday x
Velvety Smooth Cauliflower & Carrot Soup
There’s a distinct chill in the air the last couple of weeks that signals the end of Summer. We’re definitely not enjoying a balmy Indian Summer this year & that’s for sure. It’s time to dig out the coats, boots & woolly tights & it’s most certainly soup weather. You can expect an abundance of soup, stew & general winter warming recipes coming your way. Soup is a slimmers best friend, it’s so handy for lunches, filling, satisfying, tasty, warm & a meal in itself, consisting of vegetables & stock for the most part it’s extremely healthy & low fat too. Well I don’t need to sell the benefits of soup to you because if you’re on plan you’ll already know! This one is lovely & creamy from the cauliflower with the sweetness of carrot to lift it to the next level. It makes about 5 or even 6 servings & you can freeze it to boot. 0 propoints on all plans. Here’s the skinny: 
1 Large Onion Diced
5 Carrots Peeled & Diced
1 Head of Cauliflower
1 Garlic Clove
1 Tsp Thyme (Dried or Fresh)
1 & 1/2 Pints of Vegetable Stock
Salt & Black Pepper
Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat & spray with oil. Add the diced onion & fry for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the Carrots & continue to fry until softening approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Chop the cauliflower into florets & add to the pan with the stock & the whole clove of garlic. Season with the thyme, salt & pepper. Put a lid on the pot & continue to cook for around 30 minutes until everything is soft. Blitz well until smooth with a hand blender. Serve hot garnished with half fat creme fraiche & chopped chives if desired & enjoy! 
Simple Super Healthy Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Dip
I love dips, they’re just perfect for nibbles whilst you’re thoroughly engrossed in a weekend movie & a must if you’re entertaining company. This one is simple & tasty with a wide variety of choices you can prepare to use for dipping. There’s a beautiful depth of flavour that comes from roasting peppers & a lovely undertone of roasted garlic & shallots will have you going back for more & more of this gorgeous dip but that’s ok because it serves 4 & is a big fat zero pro points per serving & just 2pp for the whole bowl. A healthy & guilt free weekend treat! 
4 Large Red Bell Peppers
1 or 2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Shallots
100g Quark
Salt & Black Pepper
A Selection of Raw Veggies
Crackers/Naan/Pitta Breads/Tortilla Chips for dipping (you will need to add points for your chosen quantity of these). 
Preheat your oven to 250c. Wash & dry the peppers. Peel the outer skin from the shallots. Leave the garlic cloves in their skin. Line a baking tray with tinfoil & lay the whole peppers, shallots & garlic (in the skins) on top. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the peppers are starting to char black in places & the skin goes wrinkly. Remove the baking tray from the oven, cover the whole lot with tinfoil & leave to cool. Remove the stalks from the peppers & deseed. Peel the peppers & place in a food processor with the shallots and some of the juice that the peppers have released. Cut the end off the garlic & squeeze the softened garlic out into the food processor. Add the quark & season with salt & pepper. Blitz until smooth & place in a bowl. Chill for a couple of hours before serving. Serve with your choice of raw crudités (carrots, cucumber & peppers are good choices) or Crackers/Naan/Pitta Breads/Tortilla Chips for dipping (you will need to point your chosen quantity of these). This will last 3/4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s very versatile you can use it to serve with chicken or fish as well as a dip. Enjoy!
Skinny Jeans and the Inbetweens 