The Guilt-Free 'Takeaway'

So this weekend has been a bit rubbishy.
I've had a bit of a cold so I've been all achy and tired and....bbleeeuurrgghh. Meanwhile Lib's endured her first molar popping through so has been understandably grumpy, snotty and suffering with nappy rash. Bless 'er. Then to top it all, I think Si's come down with the flu! :(

Luckily I've felt better throughout the day though I tell you, if I was drinking, this would definitely be an evening for a glass of wine and a takeaway!

However, being sensible and sticking to this diet, I decided to create myself a home-made alternative to the takeaway to 'treat' myself.

I used a recipe out of the Swank Diet cookbook for Sweet-and-Sour sauce which was lovely.

Here's the recipe -

1 tablespoon of oil
1 small can of pineapple pieces
1 onion
1 small red pepper
1 small carrot
2 cloves of garlic
A handful of mushrooms
(The veg wasn't in the recipe, but I added it to make the whole thing a bit healthier! Beansprouts and water chestnuts would be nice too.)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato juice (I used tomato puree)
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup pineapple juice (I didn't have any, so used some cloudy apple juice instead)

Dice the onion and finely slice the veg.
Heat oil in a wok or pan and sauté the onion, garlic,vegetables and pineapple.
In a bowl combine sugar, cornflour, soy sauce, salt, tomato juice, vinegar and pineapple juice. Add to veg and simmer for 5 minutes. I watered the mix down with water to create a thinner sauce, so I had a couple of batches to go in the freezer.

I served it with shallow fried Panko breadcrumb-coated tofu and rice vermicelli noodles.

For the tofu: slice firm tofu to required size, dry with kitchen paper, dip in beaten egg or milk, then coat in seasoned breadcrumbs or flour. Then shallow fry them, turning occasionally, until golden brown.