Chicken and Prawn Risotto

This dish originally started out as a paella but I didn't have any spicy sausage and once I'd cooked the dish, I thought it tasted and looked more like a risotto. I love the taste of soft creamy rice with tender chicken breast and juicy prawns.

Unlike a previous risotto I made with mushrooms spinach and peas, I didn't bother to use arborio 'risotto' rice and stir constantly for 20+ minutes. Instead I boiled plain brown rice separately. This can be done ahead of time and then simply added to the pan for a quick and tasty meal. Likewise, to save time with the chicken and prawns, I used frozen prawns and canned chicken breast. Fresh meat and seafood can be cooked ahead of time and then stored in the fridge until ready to use. Then it's just a case of chopping the veg and throwing everything into a saucepan!

Chicken and Prawn Risotto
Makes 4

Ingredients:
- 170g / 6oz rice, dry
- 110g / 4oz onion, chopped
- 2 clove garlic, chopped
- 60ml / 4tbsp wine wine
- 33g / 2tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2tsp paprika
- 1/4tsp ground black pepper
- 85g / 3oz celery, chopped
- 85g / 3oz green pepper, chopped
- 85g / 3oz green peas
- 480ml / 16floz chicken broth, reduced sodium
- 170g / 6oz chicken, cooked and shredded
- 170g / 6oz prawns/shrimp, cooked
- 15ml / 1tbsp lemon juice
- parsley (optional)

Method:

• Cook the rice, then rinse and drain.
• In a pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook the onion and garlic in the white wine and the tomato paste, adding in the bay leaf, paprika and black pepper.
• After 5 minutes, add the vegetables and chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes so the liquid can absorb.
• Add the chicken and prawns and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Fritters

I adapted this recipe from the Deliciously Ella cookbook. I amended ingredient quantities and just oven baked the fritters. However, they can be fried slightly to crisp the edges if desired but I found 30 minutes in the oven gave then a crisp outer edge with a soft middle, similar to fish cakes or falafel.

A decent sized sweet potato (around 400g), once baked and the skins removed will equal just under 300g. The skins make a sweet and nutritious snack so I always cook the potatoes in their skins instead of peeling them. I microwave my potatoes to speed up the cooking time whilst the quinoa is cooking on the stove top.

Turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory agent, as I've mentioned before in my previous Vegetable and Quinoa Stir Fry recipe. It's an effective treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and a relief for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The fritters are moist but I usually like to pour a little sauce over the top - either tomato paste, thinned with water to make natural tomato ketchup. Or a cashew sauce which is just some cashews, blended with water and a little soy sauce.

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Fritters
Makes 12 (3 fritters per serving)

Ingredients:
- 400g / 14oz sweet potato
- 170g / 6oz quinoa, dry
- 60ml / 4tbsp lemon juice
- 32g / 2tbsp almond butter
- 66g / 4tbsp tomato paste
- 45ml / 3tbsp water
- 2tsp cumin
- 1tsp turmeric

Method:

• Cook the quinoa in water, with 2tbsp lemon juice, for about 15-20 minutes, until the water has been absorbed.
• Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
• Meanwhile, cook the sweet potato, peel the skins, then place the flesh in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients.
• Blend to combine until smooth.
• Add the sweet potato mixture to the bowl of quinoa and stir to combine.
• Spoon the mixture on to a baking tray, lined with parchment, forming round fritters.
• Bake in oven at 190C / 375F for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
• Eat from the oven or fry each side in a pan to crisp for a couple of minutes.
• Serve on a bed of spinach, kale, or courgette noodles with tomato paste or cashew sauce. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

Tomato Ketchup vs. Tomato Paste

I can never eat chunky, thick-cut chips (US: French fries) without dipping them in tomato ketchup.
If there's no ketchup available, my desire to eat chips soon disappears. Therefore, one has to ask, do I prefer to eat chips or ketchup? Like Gin and Tonic, the two go perfectly well together but seem unappealing by themselves.

Unless you're eating the really thin-cut, heavily salted French fries - the kind they serve in fast food restaurants - that taste really good (because of the oil used for frying and the salt used for coating) but don't actually contain very much potato. With a thicker chip, there's more need for a dipping sauce to balance out the starchy bulk of potato.

In my humble opinion, ketchup wins hands down. Chips don't taste the same with brown sauce or mayo. I think ketchup has become such a popular sauce, not because of its tomato base, but because of the added sweetness from refined sugars.

In my quest to learn more about:
1). what goes into foods (read the ingredients list),
2). the nutritional make-up and value of foods (read the nutritional information), and
3). a natural, healthier alternative to processed foods (ingredient substitution),
I discovered all three 'lessons' can be applied to the following food: Tomato ketchup!

I knew tomato ketchup contained added sugar, and some additional ingredients like vinegar and salt (all to make it taste good), but I didn't realize just how much? I then discovered tomato paste and was surprised to find out just how good it tasted and even happier knowing that it was a simple natural food source I could substitute whenever I wanted to eat tomato ketchup.

Below are the ingredients and nutritional information for both tomato ketchup and paste. See the difference and give tomato paste a try when you’re next indulging on a few chips! Just mix 1tbsp water with 2tbsp tomato paste.

There are eight ingredients in tomato ketchup:

• Tomato concentrate made from vine ripened tomatoes
• High fructose corn syrup
• Distiller vinegar
• Corn syrup
• Salt
• Less than 2% of onion powder, garlic powder, natural flavors

At least the main, largest ingredient is tomato. However, the second biggest ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is also the fourth largest component of ketchup - just in case the HFCS wasn't sweet enough!!! No wonder ketchup tastes so good; it is full of sugar and salt.

Tomato paste just has one ingredient:

• Tomato pulp

Tomato ketchup (L), Tomato Paste (R)

Nutritional Information:

Tomato Ketchup

Tomato Paste

If you just compare the nutritional labels, a quick glance will show little difference between the two. In fact, you may just look at the calorie count and decide ketchup is better because it has fewer calories than the paste. However, when reviewing the number of calories, you also have to read the serving/portion size. The labels above give double the serving of tomato paste for 10 extra calories. The added salt and sugars in the tomato ketchup are clearly visible in the measurements of sodium (190mg) and sugars (4g). The tomato paste has 3g sugars but this is sugar naturally found in tomatoes. There's even 1g fiber and 2g protein from the tomato pulp.

P.s. In the UK, nutritional labels have to display the 100g criteria in addition to the per serving measurement. This allows consumers to easily compare ‘apples to apples’.