Recipe - Caribbean Inspired Shepherd's Pie

I have a soft spot for Caribbean food, add some jerk paste into anything and it becomes 100 times better in my opinion. I had the idea of making a Caribbean inspired Shepherd's Pie after having a few sweet potatoes and some jerk paste hanging around. This recipe is a mixture from The Telegraph and Levi Roots. I really just made it up as I went along but it came out amazingly well. It's definitely something i'd make again as it's perfect for a cold winters night. It's really good for you too as it uses lean turkey mince and sweat potato - who says healthy has to be boring?

Serves 4 - 6 depending on how many vegetable sides and how hungry you are! 

Ingredients:

500g of lean turkey breast mince
2 large sweet potatoes
1 chopped red pepper
1 finely diced onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Up to 4 teaspoons of jerk paste depending on how you like your spice
Vegetables of your choice to serve - I had spinach and green beans

001. Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces and boil for around 25-30 minutes until they're soft.

002. Pop the mince, onion and pepper into a large wok and cook for around 20 minutes until the mince is cooked throughout. Add the jerk paste and stir thoroughly.

003. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.

004. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and mash them until they're nice and smooth. Pop the mince mixture in the bottom of a rectangular deep dish and layer with the mash on top. Fluff up the top of the mash with a fork.

005. Pop into the oven for about 10-15 until you're happy with the crispy top. It won't go too crispy, just a word of warning! 

006. Cut into equal slices and serve with the veg! 

Please do let me know if you try it out as i'd love to see some pictures! 

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Recipe - Healthy Spanish style chicken with rice

Serves four
If you're following Weightwatchers this will be 13 propoints. If you get rid of the rice it will take it down to 9 propoints.

Ingredients:
3 peppers in whatever colours you prefer, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 bag of green beans, trimmed
6 large tomatoes, halved
75ml of red wine
125ml of chicken stock
4 cloves of garlic (I use easy garlic so 4 tsps for this!)
1-2 tsps of Paprika or however much you prefer!
Fry Lite oil
1 pack of chicken chunks
160g of brown rice

001: Pop the peppers, onions, garlic, and green beans in a roasting tray. Sprinkle with the paprika and spray with 3-4 squirts of fry lite evenly. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes at gas mark 6/200 degrees/ 180 degrees at a fan oven.

002: Pop the brown rice in a saucepan filled with boiling water and leave to cook for around 30 minutes. Keep stirring it to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom!

003. Spray a frying pan with fry lite and brown the chicken for around 5-6 minutes.

004. Take the roasting dish out of the oven and pop the chicken in along with the red wine and hot chicken stock. Give it a good swoosh around and pop back in the oven for around 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it as you don't want the chicken to go dry.

005. Once cooked divide evenly between 4 bowls and tuck in!

I'm back on the Weightwatchers/healthy eating wagon now as I've been indugling far too much for about the last 4 months. Enough is enough! If you have any healthy recipes you could share i'd be very appreciative!

I'd love to know if you try this!

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