Quick healthy meals
Forget elaborate sauces (full of fats you don’t want as a regular part of your diet) and extensive lists of ingredients.
Start by selecting a protein, such as meat or tofu or fish, for example. Then pick a few vegetables that you feel would work well. For instance, with beef I like tomato, onion, cauliflower, green peppers, celery and mushrooms. But with chicken I prefer broccoli, mushrooms, shallots, celery and sweet red peppers. The fun part here is that you get to make up your own combos. Select several veggies for lots of variety and keep the ratio of vegetables to meat high.
Another part of the flavor will come from cooking the meat first, then sautéing the vegetables in that same pan. The steam that is released will deglaze the pan and the juices from the meat will season the veggies. And for a wee bit more complexity and flavor, add a bit of cheese. I usually stick with parmesan, asiago or romano. Buy it in a solid chunk and store in a freezer bag in the freezer. It can be finely grated straight from the freezer and a mere ¼ cup will add tons of flavor.
HERE'S A RECIPE TO GET YOU STARTED! For other ideas, check out more healthy recipes here.
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Many people want to eat healthier but don’t have a lot of time to devote to cooking. Enter quick healthy meals as part of a healthy eating plan. The key is to KISS. You've got to keep it simple.
Instead, focus on simple and delicious ingredients that you love, and tend to have on hand.
And instead of sauce, focus on the simple, delicious flavors of the ingredients. Let them shine through instead of smothering them in heavy sauces. Accentuate those flavors with compatible herbs and spices, but not too many. Refer to recipes you have used and loved in the past for ideas about which spices to use, according to your own tastes.
As a final touch I sometimes add a few squirts of real lemon. Of course it depends on the seasonings you’ve used but with a French or Italian influenced dish, it adds a lively note.
