Quick and nutritious
You know the facts: Preparing meals at home is good for your health and your wallet. But let’s face it — you have other priorities taking up space in your schedule and minimal free time, so spending hours or even minutes in the kitchen isn’t always at the top of your to-do list.
So many things can crowd out meal prep (think: long hours at work, significant others, keeping in touch with family, maybe even a workout here and there).
But before giving in to endless Seamless clicking, becoming a regular at the Chinese place near the office, or living off frozen meals, know that in the time it takes to watch your favorite cat videos on YouTube, you can make a nutritious home-cooked meal.
All these recipes are easy and healthy — and ready in 10 minutes, tops. For every meal of the day, including make-and-take breakfasts and lunches, this is fast food that health experts would approve of.
Breakfast
1. Peach Cobbler Oatmeal. Forget flavored oatmeal packets and go au naturel with this oatmeal that’s reminiscent of a cobbler. With fresh peaches, chopped pecans or your nut of choice, and cinnamon, it will satisfy your sweet tooth so well that you may find yourself making it for dessert.
2. Simple Poached Egg and Avocado Toast Avocado toast is all the rage, but adding a poached egg takes it to a new level and completes the trifecta of nutrition: protein, fats, and carbs. Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs sprinkled on top make it look and taste fancy.
When properly prepared, tofu is anything but blah — and this version provides as much protein as a scrambled egg. Toss the vegan staple with cheesy nutritional yeast, turmeric, cumin, and paprika (buy smoked for even more flavor). Even egg lovers will enjoy it.
Toss your favorite breakfast meat (or skip it if you’re vegetarian), salsa, eggs, and cheese in a mug and zap it for 1 minute. Stir, and then cook for another 30 to 45 seconds.
Season to taste and top with more cheese. Breakfast has never been easier to make — or to clean up.
Lunch
1. Butternut Squash Ramen Bowl with Rice Noodles, Tofu, and Fresh Pea Shoots A delicious dinner for one, this noodle bowl has all the flavors of your fave quick-cook noodle cups but none of the icky additives. Rice noodles provide the bulk of this vegetarian-friendly bowl, which uses boxed butternut squash soup as a base for fast cooking.Pea shoots taste like, well, peas, and are rich in vitamins A and C and folic acid. If you can’t find them, you can use spinach.
This colorful, crunchy salad is just what the doctor ordered when leafy-greens-based varieties are boring you.
Crunchy coleslaw mix and dried ramen noodles (swap in crunchy rice noodles for a less-processed option) are tossed with avocado for healthy fat, edamame for protein, and mango for vision-protecting beta-carotene.
Leftover chicken finds a new home in this quick burrito. Mix it with avocado and cheese before wrapping it up in a tortilla and cooking it. We’d take it one step further and add some peppers, onions, and maybe some greens to the filling. Bonus: Make a few at once and freeze the extras for an even faster lunch next time.
Bored with tuna salad? Try canned salmon mixed with creamy cannellini beans, veggies, and fresh herbs for a super easy meal that’s as delicious on its own as it is in a pita or with whole-grain crackers.
If you always reach for the wings on game day, this is the lunch quesadilla for you. It’s spicy, creamy, and loaded with flavor. Black beans bump up the fiber and protein, and green onions add a little extra zing. Feel free to scale back on the sour cream or use Greek yogurt instead.
Dinner
The addition of cashews — a good source of bone-building phosphorus, energy-producing magnesium, and other minerals — makes pesto incredibly creamy. Make the sauce in a food processor, spiralize zucchini (or use a vegetable peeler), and combine the two. Then dig in!
Fried rice is a dream for cooks pressed for time, and this version is no exception. Leftover brown rice works best for this, but if you’re in a pinch, microwaveable rice stands in well.
Peas, eggs, and corn get tossed with salty soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix in any of your other favorite vegetables, too. You really can’t go wrong.
With 5 ingredients and 10 minutes, dinner is ready. Cooking the broccoli with a Parmesan rind infuses cheesy flavor into every spoonful, and a touch of soy adds umami — that savory flavor that you can’t quite describe but taste hints of (in a good way).
This pureed soup packs vitamins A, B-6, and C, plus phytochemicals that may fend off cancer.
A complete seafood dinner in 10 minutes? Oh, yes. While the salmon sears on the stove, toss arugula with a lemon–olive oil vinaigrette, cubed avocado, and Parmesan.
Once the fish is done, plate it on top of the salad. Your heart will thank you, since two servings of fatty fish weekly may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
There’s a reason rice and beans is such a popular dish: It’s inexpensive and easy. But it can also be boring. Not so with this flavorful take.
Traditional Latin flavorings like sofrito, cumin, and chili powder are added to cooked rice. Toss in green chile peppers for heat and black beans for protein and you have a full meal in no time.
Source: Greatist
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