Notes:
A friend who is a professional chef showed me this uber simple way to prepare zucchini.

Servings: variable

Ingredients:
Zucchini, olive oil (any kind) dash of sea salt (or any kind of salt, really), herb mixture (optional)

Directions:
Wash your zucchinis, slice LENGTH-WISE either quartered or thick slices.
Arrange in 13 x 9 pan with rim (or larger, depending on how many zucchinis you have)
Drizzle olive oil on all the slices, sprinkle a dash of salt, lightly.
If you don't like to use salt, use an herbal substitute.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is. Should be lightly browned on the edges.
It tastes amazing, and very, very simple to prepare.

Submitted by:
Barbara

Notes:
This is a great dish to make for a lot of people. Serve it up with a big pot of brown jasmine rice and some Sriracha hot sauce on the side!

Servings: 8

Ingredients:
A Brick of Firm Tofu, Cubed
A Can of Coconut Milk
Fresh Basil, A lot!
Peanut Butter, 8 tablespoons
Turmeric, 1 teaspoon
Ginger Powder, 3-5 teaspoons
Chili Powder, 2.5 tablespoons
Cumin, 1.5 teaspoons
Two jalapenos, minced
Two Portabello mushrooms, chopped into bite-size pieces
One Red Bell Pepper, cut into long slices
One Onion, chopped
Two Cloves of Elephant Garlic, minced
Five Small Potatoes, quartered and boiled
Can of Pineapple chunks
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
You may want to begin by putting the cut potatoes on the stove to boil so that they're ready to go when the time comes.

In a bowl, mix the coconut milk, spices, and peanut butter. Mix well until the peanut butter is no longer in clumps. Add the cubed tofu and let sit.

Coat the bottom of a deep sautée pan with canola oil. Allow the heat to rise sufficiently and then add the garlic and onions. Sautee these two ingredients for about 5 minutes.

Next, add the bellpepper, portabello, and japapeno. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Now add the coconut curry with the tofu and potatoes. Add the pineapple chunks. From this point on, stir carefully to avoid crumbling the potatoes or tofu. Gently mix everything together. Add half of the basil (about 20 leaves).

Let simmer for 10-15 minutes on Very low heat. Stir every now and then to make sure the curry is evenly distributed. Salt to taste.

Add the rest of the basil and let simmer for 3 minutes more..

Serve over brown jasmine rice..

Submitted by:
Stephanie

Notes:
A delicious, thick and healthy soup which is both easy to make and low cost.  The lentils add protein without meat, fish or dairy.  You can have it made and on the table in less than half an hour. If there is any left over, it can be refrigerated or frozen and reheated.  10 minutes preparation and 15 minutes cooking.

4 Generous Servings

If omitting the olive oil, each serving will have about 168 cals.

With olive oil each serving will have 198 cals

protein 11g, carbohydrate 34g, fat 4 g, saturated fat .5g, fibre 5g, salt 0.25 g

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
3 teaspoons cumin seeds (or 2 teaspoons for a less spicy soup)
Generous pinch of dried chili flakes
600 gm (21 oz or 4 packed US cups) carrots, washed and coarsely *grated or diced (no need to peel)
150 gm (5¼ oz or 1 US cup) split red lentils
1 litre (4¼ cups) hot vegetable stock (using stock granules or cubes is okay)
125ml (½ cup) milk – 2% / semi skimmed milk, or use low cal/low fat coconut cream if you want a dairy free version.
1 tablespoon olive oil (you can omit this, but it does add flavour and richness to the soup)

Plain yoghurt to serve

Directions:
1. Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry (no oil) the cumin seeds and chili flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan.

2. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside for the garnish.

3. Add the carrot, lentils, stock, milk and oil to the pan and bring to the boil.

4. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened. Check and stir every 5 minutes. Add more stock or water if necessary.

5. I use a hand held wand blender and blitz the soup until smooth, but if you prefer you can leave it chunky.

6. Season to taste and finish with a spoon of yoghurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices on top of the soup in each bowl. If you don’t have yoghurt, don’t worry, just sprinkle on the toasted spices which you can stir in as you eat. I don’t put the spice garnish on soup for younger children as they may find it too hot.

Serve with warmed naan or pitta breads. The coriander naan breads you can buy in any UK supermarket go especially well. Choose the low cal version. Hot, crusty rolls go really well as well, but I find the smell of just baked bread too tempting when I am on a diet.

You can also add some diced cold cooked chicken. Make sure it is fully heated through before serving. If you are counting calories/points you’ll need to adjust for the chicken. I've also added chunks of chorizo, sausage and franks at times, where it becomes almost like a stew.

If reheating from frozen, you may need to add extra stock or water.

Submitted by:
Juliette