• chele on November 13, 2012

  The eggs took much longer. About 20 minutes in our oven.I think scarlettchef's instructions about assembling the ingredients including the eggs prior to putting in the oven is a good one.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted cod with Parma ham and peppers

  • redjanet on February 12, 2014

    Very nice easy, healthy and flavourful dinner to make for a midweek meal. I used Frylight cooking spray instead of olive oil to cut down on the calories and this worked well. I did serve this with some new potatoes as I wasn't sure if it would be substantial enough for dinner, but as the fillets I had were quite large I needn't have as the main dish was more than enough.

• Mediterranean beef burgers

  • redjanet on April 13, 2016

    These burgers were tastier than I expected them to be and I was very pleased considering they are pretty healthy. I thought they might be a bit too wet with the grated courgettes and onions in them, but they were solid enough. I'm glad the recipe specified cooking them in a frying pan though as I think they would have fallen apart on a griddle pan, which is how I usually cook burgers.

• Cajun spiced chicken with potato wedges and chive dip

  • redjanet on January 14, 2015

    I used this more as an inspiration than as an actual recipe as I already had a tin of Cajun seasoning lying around, which I used instead of the prescribed recipe. I pretty much make my potato wedges the same way anyway most of the time so the only thing I really did word for word from this recipe was the chive dip which is just two ingredients - low fat yogurt and chives! Still, it made for an easy, healthy weeknight meal which my partner and I both enjoyed.

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    The spice mix makes about 4 times more than you need for this recipe. Can substitute sweet potato for potato.

• Lean lamb hotpot

  • redjanet on November 15, 2012

    This is a very good, warming, hearty dish for a cold evening. I used fresh thyme and dried rosemary and there was lots of flavour. It smelled great while it was cooking in the oven and my potatoes didn't come out as crisp as in the photo, but that's because the smell was making me too hungry to wait any longer!

• Paprika chicken

  • redjanet on January 19, 2015

    A very nice, simple chicken stew. This tasted good, though as it was ever-so-slightly bland, I may use hot smoked paprika next time, or just plain paprika instead of the sweet-smoked variety I used this first time. This reheated very well for lunch.

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    Took me about 1 hour to make but about 40 mins is hands off.

• Southern-style jambalaya

  • jammydodger on August 30, 2014

    Really good. I fudged a bit with the spices, since a small child would be eating, so reduced the (hot) paprika a bit, left out the cayenne pepper, and used a dash of cajun seasoning and mixed herbs. I also left out the prawns. It was delicious, although a little too liquidy -- likely because I covered it while the rice was cooking. However, I think it would be a stretch to make it serve 6 - it did 3 adults and 1 toddler with about 1 portion left over.

• Chilli con carne

  • sharifah on October 22, 2012

    Ok dish, nothing special. Can't really tell why its a diet version apart from not adding oil at the beginning to fry the onions and beef. And I didn't like the addition of red wine, even though I followed the recipe and it was supposed to cook off the alcohol, I could still taste the wine. Won't be using this recipe again.

  • Sherbolton on April 04, 2014

    Use this recipe in my slow cooker. I don't use wine and sometimes use passata instead of tinned tomatoes and chilli flakes. I and add a teaspoon of minced ginger and a bit of cinnamon (piece of cassia bark). If it doesn't taste great once cooked I add some cocoa powder or dark chocolate at the end. Don't forget the sugar it actually makes a difference!

• Egg, bacon and asparagus flan

  • scarlettchef on January 05, 2013

    Incredibly fiddly to use the filo pastry, to keep it from drying out whilst molding each sheet into baking tin. Was very tasty, but not convinced it was worth the effort.

• Baked haddock, spinach and egg pots

  • scarlettchef on October 22, 2012

    This recipe was very tasty and filling, I didn't need any bread or crispbread as suggested. However, the eggs took much longer to cook than 8 minutes, so I think I would assemble all the ingredients, including the eggs at the same time prior to baking as the smoked haddock ended up being over cooked when the dish had to be returned to the oven to allow the eggs to set.

• Cheese, leek and onion pasties

  • Sherbolton on November 12, 2013

    Mixed my own bread using the recipe from my kenwood food processor. Had no onion but it didn't make a difference. Loved these.

• Spanish-style chicken bake

  • Carol.Furness on July 19, 2014

    This was lovely and tasty. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs.

  • Ro_ on February 12, 2021

    For me this was a "nice but not fantastic" dish. I liked the fact of cooking everything in the same pan, but I think there were too many tomatoes. I know it's a diet recipe, but next time I'd probably reduce the tomatoes and up the potatoes.

• Chewy cranberry and apricot bites

  • raybun on September 14, 2016

    I was slightly disappointed by the texture. I was expecting some crunch from the puffed rice but the apple juice/maple syrup mixture makes them soggy. The overall taste is fine but overly dense in my opinion.

• Masala-marinated chicken with minted yoghurt sauce

  • Frenchfoodie on February 26, 2017

    This is a brilliant dish, one I keep coming back to again and again. The yoghurt covering keeps the skinless chicken from drying out brilliantly. Have cooked in oven and (many times) on kettle BBQ, just delish. The leftovers make a great sandwich with mango chutney and mayo/raita.

• Italian meatballs with chunky tomato sauce

  • Ro_ on February 25, 2021

    I think the sauce needed something to sweeten it (I added a whack of sugar), and you need to be brave in seasoning the meatballs because even though I thought I added plenty of salt and pepper, mine were a little lacking. This was a solid meatball recipe, but not the best I've ever tried.

• Lamb, spinach and potato curry

  • Ro_ on March 08, 2020

    A bit bland

• Minted pea and feta omelette

  • Ro_ on February 25, 2021

    I liked the feta, but I found peas in an omelette a little strange nonetheless. Worth trying but I probably won't repeat.

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    Fresh mint works well instead of dried, which I didn’t really like.

• Lemony lamb kebabs

  • Ro_ on February 08, 2021

    Made these without the pitta and salad. The marinade was quite nice, but though I used the cut of lamb specified, I found that it didn't tenderise very well.

• Lamb tagine

  • JuicyLucy on November 27, 2018

    I did this with cooked lamb from a sunday roast, 550g of cooked roast would have served 4. 240g of cous cous soaked in 400ml of hot chicken stock worked well. You could eaily swop out the meat for another or use cauliflower, beans and other veggies to make a vegetarian version.

• Harissa chicken with bulgur wheat salad

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    Can use couscous instead of bulgar wheat and it works fine.

• Coconut prawn curry

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    I used an extra pepper instead of tomatoes. Huge portion size, could serve 3 instead of 2.

  • Beth891 on May 06, 2024

    I used cold water prawns rather than king prawns and didn't use a spice paste but made my own. It was super easy and tasty and I'd definitely make again.

• Chilli lemon tuna and broccoli spaghetti

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    I substituted a bit of extra broccoli instead of tomatoes.

• Chicken and mushroom risotto

  • Cvtbird on March 20, 2021

    Took me about 1 hour to cook. I’d say it serves 3 instead of 4. If it serves 3 then it is 430 calories per portion.

• Our special cassoulet

  • mh9873 on July 21, 2023

    Red wine is an option in the recipe but not mentioned in the ingredients