I’m not going to lie, it feels good to cast off the shackles of Chinese week – I love Chinese food but see, it’s like when you get a takeaway – you feel great for about thirty minutes, then you just want more, end up eating all the straggly bits leftover and then spend the rest of the night clutching your belly as it distends with wind. Just me? Anyway, we’re still away, and because you’ve had an awful lot of long blog posts lately, just a quick post tonight. One thing we always struggle with on Slimming World is a tasty side dish but we’ve found an answer from Greece – sautéed mushrooms! Give them a go – this makes enough for two large portions.

to make greek lemon and garlic sautéed mushrooms you will need:

• 450g chestnut or button mushrooms
• 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 5 peppercorns
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp dried parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 60ml water

top tips for greek lemon and garlic sautéed mushrooms:

• peppercorns will give a stronger flavour, but if you don’t have any 10 twists of a pepper grinder will do the job
• mince that garlic in seconds without faffing on with a garlic press – get a Microplane grater and you’ll use it every day!
• give the pan a good coating of oil with a mister – this is what we use

to make greek lemon and garlic sautéed mushrooms you should:

• remove the stems from all of the mushrooms
• slice the lemon in half and juice one half of the lemon, and keep aside
• rub each mushroom against the flesh of the other lemon half
• spray a large frying pan with a little oil and put over a medium heat
• add the mushrooms, garlic, peppercorns, thyme and bay leaves and fry gently for 4-5 minutes
• add the water and lemon juice to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms are soft but not mushy
• sprinkle over the dried parsley and serve

Hungry for more veggie options? We’ve got loads! Have a deeks at some of our favourites below:

• greek potato hash (syn free)
• fancy greek salad (syn free)
• sizzling rainbow salad (syn free)
• roasted grapes and goats cheese stuffed sweet potatoes (syn free)
• rainbow superfood salad with syn-free yoghurt and mint dressing (syn free)
• Armenian tomato salad (syn free)
• peppers, herb and feta salad with roasted mushrooms (syn free)
• stuffed greek wraps (less than half a syn)
• gallo pinto (0.5 syns)
• goats cheese and honeyed blackberries on toast (1 or 2 syns)
• baked cheesy courgette chips (1 syn)
• crunchy tomato feta dip (3 syns)
• summer salad with fried feta (3 syns)
• cheese and spinach stuffed aubergine rolls (2.5 syns)
• sweet potato bread buns (4 syns)

Enjoy!