Less-agne: Healthy Lasagne.

I love lasagne. Layers of cheese, pasta and meat - could there be anything better? Turns out, there could. Because the one thing I don't like about it is how uncomfortably full and sleepy it makes me. Not to mention that there is usually no veg involved at all (in my books - unacceptable).

So here's how we solve that one:

- Add red lentils in with the beef (or Quorn mince if using)
- Include a layer of carrots and kidney beans
- Add a layer of courgette next to OR instead of pasta sheets if going lower-carb
- Use cottage cheese instead of bechamel/cheese sauce

BOOM, there's at least 3 of our five-a-day and a big reduction in the calorie punch right there.

Here's one I prepared earlier...

What You'll Need:
Feeds ~ 8 people
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 500g mince/quorn (as preferred)
- 1 cup red lentils
- 1 veggie stock cube
- 2 carrots
- 2 courgette/zucchini
- 1 jar tomato-ey pasta sauce
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 large jar cottage cheese

- 200g cheese for melting on top- cheddar is usually good

The How-To:

For the meaty bit
1. Gently cook the onion and garlic over a low heat until see-through (~5 mins)
2. Meanwhile, bring a kettle to boil and cook the red lentils in with the veggie stock cube until mushy (about 20 mins). Don't worry about water:lentil ratio, just drain at the end. But somewhere around twice the water to lentils seems to work.
3. Add the mince into the onions and cook through (if quorn, cook until piping hot)
4. Add in the jar of tomato sauce (leaving a bit of sauce leftover) and stir through
5. When cooked, add in the lentils (drained)
6. Meaty bit ready.

For the rest
1. Wash the courgettes and chop the ends off. Slice length-ways to get 'sheets'
2. Give carrots a good old wash too, and cut into 'penny' shapes
3. Steam the carrots for 5-10 mins until chewable

Enough chat, let's build this thing

1. In your dish of choice, dollop the remainder of the tomato sauce at the bottom and spread out.
2. Layer pasta sheets over the top
3. Courgettes next 
(This order is important as the moisture from the tomato sauce and courgettes will soak into the pasta sheets and make them yummy and squishy)
4. Next, a layer of the meaty bit.
5. A layer of kidney beans (drained) and carrots
6. Cottage cheese
7. Another layer of pasta sheets and courgettes
8. Grate cheese all over
9. Cook in an oven at 180 degrees until cheese on top is golden (25 mins ish)

Voila! What you should have there is a lasagne that makes your insides happy (oh so much healthier than the usual), your eyes happy (so many colours!) and of course, your tastebuds.

Nom.

Quorn vs Meat: The Mince-Off

Vegetarian 'meat' substitutes - always a controversial topic amongst the carnivorous. But, if looking for a classically meat-heavy dish (think bolognese, lasagne, tacos...) that won't add so much strain to your waistline, consider Quorn mince as an option.

(image sourced Quorn UK website: http://www.quorn.co.uk/recipes/vegetable-mince-curry/)

So what is it?

Quorn is made from mycoprotein, which is "a nutritious member of the fungi family that is grown by fermentation similar to the process used in the production of bread, yoghurt and beer".

And why is it good for me?

Compared to regular or even lean beef mince, the difference in saturated fat content is staggering (the stuff that makes icky 'bad' cholesterol that sticks in your arteries and leads to stroke and heart disease. Not ideal). 

The moral is quorn mince has equal the protein, a third the calories, five times the fibre and a FIFTEENTH the saturated fat compared to beef mince (and that's the lean variety. Let's not even think about the normal stuff).

Give it a whirl. If unsure and you want to ease your way in, you could start by using half quorn mince and half beef and see how you get on.

A Starter that Won't End Your Appetite: Salmon and Courgette Bites

Smoked Salmon and Courgette/Zuchinni Bites

When at a dinner party, it's very easy to over-eat the nibbly bits at the beginning and before you know it whoops-look-what-happened-by-accident-I'm-full-and-we-haven't even-begun. We've all been there.

So what to do?

Having not-so-havy nibblies at the start is a great way to work up the appetite whilst avoiding too much pressure on the old waistline. Plus, it's a convenient way to sneak one (or more!) of your 5-a-day in.

My current fave: smoked salmon and courgette/zuchinni bites. Bite for bite compared with chips and dips they have a third the calories, double the protein and less than half the fat. Boom.

To Create these Bite-Sized Gems:

Makes ~10 bites

1 courgette/zuchinni

1 tube cream cheese (philadelphia garlic and herb is good to give a bit of extra flavour)

1 pack smoked salmon

Pepper, rocket and lemon to garnish

The How-To:

1. Slice the courgette/zuchinni into 1cm thick slices

2. Grill for approx 5 minutes, until slightly soft

3. Remove from grill and scoop a teaspoon of cream cheese onto each slice

4. Pop a little wedge of salmon on the top

5. Squeeze over some lemon juice, and a sprinkling of ground black pepper

6. Serve

	One Salmon + Courgette Bite	Equivalent Size chips + dip*
Calories	46 calories	148 calories
Protein	4.2g	1.94g
Carbohydrate	0.6g	13.5g
- of which sugars	0.6g	1.02g
Fat	2.9g	7.57g
- of which saturated fat	0.9g	1.25g
Salt	0.45g	0.53g

* Doritos original flavour + sour cream and chive dip