🥘  Carole’s low calorie parsnip and apple soup…

Carole’s parsnip and apple soup (without cream)

This low calorie version of Carole’s parsnip and apple soup is easy to make and extremely tasty.

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium size parsnips
  • 1/2 an onion, or 2 spring onions
  • 2 eating apples
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 low salt vegetable stock cube
  • Maggi seasoning (optional)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Handful of chopped parsley

Step by step:

  1. Peel and chop your parsnips, onion and apples. Place them in a saucepan with the olive oil and fry them gently, stirring gently so they don’t burn.
  2. Add the milk and crumble in the stock cube. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes until the apples and parsnips are soft. Season to taste.
  3. Blend with a stick blender and add a tablespoon of Maggi seasoning (optional).
  4. Add more water if you like a thinner soup. Serve with a dash of olive oil and fresh chopped parsley.

Tips:

Add a little curry powder to the onions before adding the stock for extra flavour

🥘 Carole’s couscous salad…

🥘 1 | 🍽 Serves 6-8 | 🛒 8 ingredients | ⏱ 20 mins | £5

This attractive mediterranean salad is a great light lunch or side dish to meat or fish. It keeps for several days in a sealed tupperware container.

Ingredients:

  • 1 mug of couscous
  • 1 1/4 mug of hot stock
  • 1 knob of butter
  • 10 dried soft apricots
  • 1 handful chopped cranberries
  • Seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate
  • 1 handful chopped mint
  • 2 handfuls of shelled pistachios, chopped

Step by step:

  1. Put the couscous in a pan, add the stock and butter and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat, leave for 10 minutes and fluff up with a fork.
  3. Add the chopped apricots, cranberries, pomegranate seeds, mint and pistachios.

Serve with chilli and honey vinaigrette:

For the vinaigrette whisk together

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp apple or white wine vinegar
  • 1 dsp sweet chilli sauce

Stir the vinaigrette through the couscous

Notes:

  • Swap the pistachios for flake almonds or chopped walnuts and add any seeds that you like.
  • Raisins go well as does chopped cucumber and baby tomatoes.

🥘 Carole’s shredded filo börek…

🥘 1 | 🍽 Serves 4-6 | 🛒 11 ingredients | ⏱ 1 hr | £5

Originating from Turkey, börek is similar to a frittata but made with filo pastry and is an ideal use up dish. Use any leftover pieces of cheese grated and mixed together and cooked with strips of filo pastry. We have used feta, but halloumi, parmesan, manchego, cheddar or mozzarella all go well. Use a fresh chilli finely chopped if you want it with extra zing.

Ingredients:

  • 270g filo pastry
  • 1 courgette
  • 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 100g spinach, cut into 2cm-wide slices
  • 200g feta
  • 4 eggs
  • 200ml milk
  • 80ml olive oil
  • 1 tbsp nigella seeds
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp pul biber
Have your ingredients ready
Pul Biber is also known as chilli flakes

Step by step:

  1. Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan) gas 7. Take the filo pastry out of the packet, keeping it in a roll (it usually comes in one) and cut it into 1cm-wide shreds. Separate the shreds like noodles on to a tray and leave to dry while you make the filling. Grate the courgette, then strain off the excess liquid by squeezing it between your hands, I squeeze the courgette in a clean tea towel to remove even more moisture. Put the grated courgette into a bowl, add the spring onions and spinach, crumble in the feta and mix thoroughly.
  2. Beat the eggs in another bowl, then add the milk and oil, and mix thoroughly. Combine the courgette and egg mixtures, then start stirring the filling into the filo pastry a handful at a time, making sure each addition has been absorbed before stirring in the next.
  3. Tip the filo mix into a 23cm round nonstick ovenproof dish (you could also use a cake tin or any oven dish, so long as it’s roughly the same size and the mix is about 5cm thick). A square dish or tray is nice for presentation of the börek in squares. Sprinkle the sesame and nigella seeds and pul biber over the top, then bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving.

Tips:

  • Use whichever vegetables you prefer, or have to use up. I often add sliced mushrooms and red onions.
  • Traditionally, chefs make börek with Turkish yufka dough, which is a very thin, unleavened dough made from flour, water, and salt.
  • If you want a sweeter börek, put a drizzle of honey on top when you serve.

Variation:

Use three sheets of yufka, placing one in the base of the baking tin and the other two hanging over the sides of the tin. Place the filling in the baking tin and pull up the sides to cover the filling completely. Brush with the egg and sprinkle more nigella and sesame seeds over. Bake for about 20 minutes checking occasionally that it doesn’t burn.