Comforting foods can be healthy with these little calorie dishes – the County Orange register

Comforting food should not be a high calorimic earthly mine. Dinners with sensible comforting dishes that have delicious deep flavors are the theme of the most recent Pip Payne cooking book, “The Slimming Foodie Easy Meals every day” (Hamlyn).

Getting family dinners on the night table after night is not an easy task. Payne chooses dishes that offer maximum taste with a minimum of agitation. Most of its entry recipes are in the 350 calorie stage per portion. Many have a lower number of calories, while others have more.

Here are three of its recipes that range from a Burgundian based on mushrooms which arrives at 213 calories per portion (without rice or potatoes) with a bitter pork net at 327 calories per portion (without rice). Orzo with chicken and tarragon mushrooms has 483 calories per portion, not too bad for a meal centered on pasta.

Sweet and sour pork

Chop Cop fans take note. It is time to extend your repertoire and embrace the convenience, the sweet flavor and the tender texture of the pork net. These wasteless pork cuts are very thin, almost as thin as skinless chicken breasts. This version of sweet and sour pork uses a tasty net and does not harden the sweet appearance, using pineapple and a small amount of honey to balance the flavors.

Yield: 4 portions

INGREDIENTS

3 garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half

1 1/4 inch of ginger, peeled, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons of tomatoes

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

4 tablespoons of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon of honey

1 (15 ounces) can be pineapple pieces in the juice

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 pork fillet, just over 1 book, in finely sliced ​​slices

2 red, yellow or orange peppers, sown, roughly chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare the sauce; Put the garlic and ginger in a mini food processor or mixer with tomato puree, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey and pineapple pieces with their juice and mix until consistency smooth.

2. Put the sesame oil in a frying pan over high heat and sauté the onion for about 2 minutes, then add the pork and peppers and reduce the heat to the medium. Fry, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.

3. Add the sauce to the pan and simmer for 15 minutes. If you wish, serve with rice.

Source: The Slimming Foodie Easy Meals every day ”by Pip Payne (Hamlyn)

Orzo chicken and tarragon mushrooms

The fresh tarragon adds a nice note to this dish in a pot with its liquorice edge. Many large supermarkets sell it, but if you cannot find it to replace the fresh basil, the fresh dill or the basil pesto to the taste. Don’t even think about using dried tarragon; It lacks flavor and aroma.

Yield: 4 portions

INGREDIENTS

Non -stick oil spray

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 boneless chicken breasts without skin, cut into small parts the size of a bite

7 ounces in fresh mushroom slices

1/4 cup of dry white wine

10 1/2 OCS Orzo

3 1/4 hot chicken broth cup

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

5 1/2 ounces chopped frozen spinach

1 tablespoon of freshly chopped tarragon leaves

3 tablespoons of light surety cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spray a large skillet with a non-stick spray and place on medium-high heat. Fry the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften. Add the chicken and mushrooms and fry, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the wine and bring to a boil; Boil for 1 minute, then incorporate the Orzo. Pour 3/4 of the hot chicken broth and incorporate the mustard. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the remaining spinach and broth, mix well and simmer for another 5 minutes.

3. Add the tarragon and the cream. Remove from heat and season with taste with salt and pepper. Mix well to make sure that the sure cream, tarragon and spinach are well distributed.

Source: The Slimming Foodie Easy Meals every day ”by Pip Payne (Hamlyn)

Burgundy with slow mushrooms

Yield: 4 portions

INGREDIENTS

10 ounces dried pigs the mushrooms

1 tablespoon of butter

12 ounces shallots, cut in half, peeled

2 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1 inch slices

3 cloves of garlic, crushed, peeled

2 tablespoons of tomatoes

2 tablespoons of corn

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of dry red wine

1 teaspoon of pot or other yeast extract like bragg Nutritional yeast seasoning

1 teaspoon of dried rosemary

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

9 ounces cremini mushrooms, in neighborhoods

9 ounces portobello fungi, cut in half, in thick slices

7 ounces small white mushrooms, divided by two

2 hot vegetable broth cups

Optional for service: cooked or potato puree rice

Garnish: chopped parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the pig mushrooms in a heat resistant bowl and pour enough boiling water to cover; Cancel.

2. Melt the butter in a large deep pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and fry for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes, then transfer to the slow cooker.

3. In a small bowl, mix the tomato puree and the cornstarch; Stir to form a smooth paste. Pour into the pan, put on low heat, then slowly incorporate the red wine a little at a time to form a smooth and without piece sauce. Add the extract of pot or yeast, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well, bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat.

4. Add mushrooms to the slow cooker, including pigs and most of the water in which it soaked (use caution so as not to add the last piece of this soaking water because it can contain grain). Add the red wine sauce, scraping the pan with a silicone spatula to capture all of this. Incorporate the broth. Cover and cook at low adjustment for 5 hours.

5. If you wish, serve the potato or rice puree. Garnish with chopped parsley.