Speedy Salmon, Broccoli and Leek Crustless Quiche (Syn Free)

With only a handful of ingredients you can easily make a healthy and tasty lunch, dinner or lunchbox treat.

Salmon and broccoli is a classic combination, and when I threw this together for dinner, everyone loved it and it was so simple I had to share it.

The irony is, when the other half went shopping tonight, I asked him to pick up a (gluten free) quiche, as I was tired and didn't want to faff about cooking anything too complicated - and while he was out, I was looking through the fridge and found a pack of smoked salmon and some broccoli and Greek yoghurt that needed using so... er.... I had made a crustless version by the time he got back!! (Good job too really, as they had ran out of GF quiches). It's not a classic quiche of course, but it's a very tasty alternative, which is much healthier, easier, and quicker to put together. Mere minutes of preparation before popping it into the oven to bake while you do other things.

Serves four, 210 calories per serving, Syn free.

Creamy Parsnip and Leek Soup with Lemon, Turmeric and Coriander

This unusual combination gives a surprisingly delicious and creamy soup with subtle Thai flavours.

This soup was created as a result of what was in the fridge that needed using up - at this time of year, after the weekend has passed (think roast dinners), things like parsnips tend to get sold off cheap and can be just too much of a bargain to resist at times! (I might just happen to have a bit of a 'yellow sticker' habit!). 

So I thought I'd do something a bit different with them for a change, and it turned out delicious! If you're not the biggest fan of parsnips, don't worry, the flavour is very delicate - they mostly just add a velvety, creamy texture to the soup. Or feel free to substitute with something like sweet potatoes, butternut squash or similar (remembering to adjust the calories if you're counting).

Serves six to eight, 135 to180 calories per portion (a smaller portion is around 275g if dividing into eight, a larger portion is around 370g if dividing into six). Chicken is extra.

Creamy Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Pie with Tarragon (includes Thermomix method and gluten free options)

A luxurious creamy chicken pie, beautiful comfort food to share and enjoy...

If you like to cook a big roast chicken (or even turkey) on a Sunday and want something delicious to make with the leftovers, then here it is! Or if you just want to make a mouth-watering chicken pie, then you could roast one just for this (or cheat and grab a rotisserie chicken on your way home - one large bird should give you enough for this with a little bit left over for sandwiches - but shhh, don't tell anyone I said that!).

This is a luxurious deep fill pie, with a really generous filling to pasty ratio. I use a lasagne-style pyrex dish which is 19cm x 25cm and 6cm deep, which is filled pretty much to the brim when using the full 800g of chicken. If you prefer a more shallow-filled pie, then you could bake this in two slightly smaller pie tins, and use two packs (or quantities) of pastry and put one lid on each (you'll need to reduce the cooking time to around 35 to 40 minutes or so). Or of course, you can make it into individual pies. You can freeze it once topped with the pastry - either before or after cooking it (leftovers!), or simply as portioned up pie filling depending on your preference.

If you'd like to make this gluten free, you can use my easy gluten free rough puff pastry recipe, and instead of making the sauce with butter and flour, just mix a few tbsp of GF cornflour with some cold milk, and add to the heated milk and stock at the end, until thickened to your likening.

Serves eight to ten. Freezes well. [Calories in square brackets]

Calories: The entire pie is 3,827 to 4,161 calories (using a pack of sheet puff pastry, according to weight of chicken used). For a tenth portion of a pie using 600g chicken, it would be 383 calories. For an eighth portion of a pie using 800g of chicken it would be 520 calories, and so on.