Pork and Apple Burgers

I forgot to take a picture of these. My kids have already eaten them, so I imagine they must have tasted pretty nice… 😀

I would think you could successfully make these with turkey mince too. They really hold their shape during cooking, and they are very low in fat if you choose your mince carefully. Great for all the family, especially if like me you’re trying to reduce the amount of beef you eat.

Makes 4 decent sized burgers-

400g/scanty 2 cups lean pork mince

1 free range egg (mine was so free range it came from a friend’s farm!)

1 well flavoured dessert apple, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage

• Preheat grill to a hot setting
• Combine all the ingredients except the breadcrumbs in a large bowl
• Add enough breadcrumbs to make the mixture come together
• Scoop up a hand-sized amount and roll into a ball between your palms
• Flatten into a burger between your palms
• Grill for around 13-15 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve with salad if you’re good and freshly prepared chips if you’re not. 😀

As I was feeding this to my kids, I did not season with salt and pepper, but you could do so if you wished.

Chicken with Roasted Vegetables- Low Fat!

Bizarrely, it was my skinny husband who came up with this recipe. It’s dead easy, made in one pan and tastes amazing.

If you’re on a diet but noone else in your house is- like me- this is a winner, because you could simply cook some potatoes or rice for the other guys, and give them some cheese to go over it, whilst keeping everything low fat and low calorie for yourself.

The smell of this cooking is enough to send anyone to distraction! It’s gorgeous, full of colour and flavour, and you get a lot of food for the calorie count!

Also, I’ve given recipe amounts so that it will serve two, but it will easily adjust up or down as you wish.

Chicken With Roasted Vegetables- serves 2

2 chicken breasts

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow pepper

250g/punnet of closed cap mushrooms

2 medium sized courgettes (zucchini)

1 red onion

3-4 garlic cloves, left whole in their skins

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh herbs (or 1-2 tsp dried if that’s all you have)- eg rosemary, thyme, coriander etc

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Place chicken breasts in an ovenproof casserole or pyrex dish

2. Cut the peppers and red onion into 1-2 inch chunks. If the mushrooms are large, halve or quarter them. Cut the courgettes into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Put in a bowl with the oil and herbs, plus some seasoning if you want it. Mix together well so that the oil coats the mixture. It’s amazing how far such a small amount of oil will go!

3. Arrange the vegetable mix over the chicken, preferably so that it is completely covered. Tuck the garlic cloves in around the dish.

4. Bake in oven for approx. 30-35 minutes, until the edges of the peppers are looking a little charred.

Calorie count per serving- only 255! 🙂

That’s it- dead easy! Enjoy!