4 Tips for Quick & Healthy Meals

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I had my first (very informal) catering job this weekend. My mission was to create a few healthy and delicious salads for a graduation party. Thankfully, I love being creative in the kitchen and chopping veggies is quite therapeutic for me.

I love looking at recipes on Pinterest or cookbooks, but I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I use a recipe as a guide, and go with the ingredients I have on hand. Many people are turned away from trying new recipes because they require unique spices or take too much time. The secret is: you don’t have to really follow the recipe. Play around in the kitchen, and make cooking an experiment.

My weekday dinners are always made in less than 30 minutes, and they are definitely not labor or time-intensive. Who has time to cook a fancy meal after work, getting your workout on, and all the errands to run?

Instead, these are the tips I rely on for quick, healthy, & delicious week-day meals.

1.) Meal Plan!

On weekends, I plan out a few meal ideas for the week. I plan out my dinners, but some people, especially families, find it helpful to plan out all meals and snacks. Meal planning will help you create a list for grocery shopping and prevent that early-evening “what’s for dinner” scramble. Browse Pinterest, recipe blogs, or cookbooks to come up with ideas. Find a few staple meals that you can rotate through every few weeks – for me, it’s a chicken curry, or a chili in the winter.

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Make sure you plan balanced meals that includes high-quality protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fiber, so you stay satisfied and are getting tons of nutrients. An example would be – salmon (protein), sweet potato (carbohydrate), avocado (fat), and kale and zucchini (fiber).

Stock up on frozen vegetables, so you never have the excuse that you ran out of  veggies. They are just as nutritious as fresh ones, not to mention being ridiculously convenient.

2.) Rely on leftovers.

I love leftovers. I always cook more than I plan to eat at dinner, so I can eat it for lunch the next day. During the week, I typically cook a few servings of whatever protein I’m having (salmon, chicken, etc.), and plan meals around that. That usually is the most time-intensive part of a meal, so cooking it in advance really helps cut down on time. Tonight, my dinner took 10 minutes tops to throw together. I grabbed a leftover piece of salmon, cooked up some veggies with coconut milk and curry powder, and threw a sweet potato in the microwave. Voile – 10 minutes later, I had a tasty, balanced, and nutritious meal.

You can use this idea for snacks as well. On the weekends, chop a bunch of veggies that you can pack for lunches. Make a snack bar, such as a homemade LaraBar, to have a few snacks on hand for the week. When you prepare, you’re less likely to mindlessly eat on whatever you have around the house. If you intentionally plan a prepared snack, you will stay satisfied between meals, so you won’t be starving once you get to dinner.

3.) Get creative with seasonings.

Stock up on fresh or dried spices and herbs. These can really boost the nutrient content of your meal, but most importantly, they add flavor and depth to your food. Throw in some cilantro when making your favorite Mexican dish, or some curry powder for curries.

My favorites are turmeric and curry powder, cilantro, oregano, cinnamon, and ginger. If you’ve never used spices before, try experimenting with them. Recipes typically call for exact amounts, but it’s up to you based on your preferences. If you want it super spicy (like my boyfriend’s mouth-burning salsa), then throw in lots of peppers or chili powder. If you don’t, then go easy on the spice.

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4.) Have a go-to meal.

There will always be that night that you get home late from work or are way too tired to spend even 15 minutes in the kitchen. Find a few “go-to” meals that can provide you with some nutrition rather than relying on snacks or a bowl of cereal. When you go for the easy and yummy snacks like chips, it’s easy to munch down several hundred calories without feeling satisfied or filling your body with vitamins and minerals.

Eggs are quick and easy to prepare, and you can throw in some veggies for some nutrients. You could also throw leftovers and various frozen veggies in the microwave for a few minutes. If putting together a meal is too much, then just eat an intentional mini-meal or snack, such as a smoothie, sweet potato with almond butter, or yogurt and fruit.

What are your “go-to” meals?

Super Spice: Turmeric

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Cinnamon always sneaks into my morning smoothies or snacks, but turmeric is the spice I add to most of my dinners. If you’ve never used turmeric before, run to the store and grab your first bottle. You’ll want to after reading out how spectacular it is for your health.

Turmeric is one of the ingredients found in curry powder, and it is a traditional Indian spice. In fact, in India, they regard it as the “holy spice.” Turmeric is a root, much like ginger, and it is ground up into a spice. It has a mild, earthy flavor, but it does add a bright yellow color to your food. Let it color your food, but be careful – it can stain. 

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Turmeric’s active ingredient – curcumin – is anti-inflammatory, and limiting inflammation in your body is a key goal to preventing disease. Turmeric is the spice, but curcumin can be found in supplement form. I always prefer food first, but curcumin supplementation has been used therapeutically in various health conditions. Here are a few ways it boosts your health.

  • Anti-inflammatory. Curcumin has been shown to inhibit enzymes involved in the inflammatory response in order to limit and stop inflammation. Less inflammation keeps your body happy and healthy.
  • Arthritis. Arthritis is related to inflammation within the body. One study looked at curcumin for osteoarthritis patients and found a 58% decrease in overall and stiffness in the curcumin group! They found a drop in inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein), and patients were able to decrease their use of anti-inflammatory medications.
  • Alzheimer’s Disease. India has some of the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s Disease in the world, and it’s hypothesized that turmeric – as part of daily curries – may be a protective factor.
  • Cancer. In animal studies, curcumin has been shown to inhibit the growth of melanoma and stop the spread of other cancers. Of course, this is an animal study, and there are many factors influencing cancer growth, but adding turmeric is an easy way to potentially inhibit the growth of skin cancer.

Turmeric can be added to numerous dishes.

  • Curries. It obviously is a main ingredient in curry, so buying curry powder, or making your own curry powder will include turmeric.
  • Soups & Stews
  • Stirfries or Sauteed Vegetables. With dinner, I usually saute various vegetables and greens and mix in some turmeric or other spices in the cupboard. Cooking is all about creativity – just mix and match until you find a combination you like.
  • Egg or tuna salad
  • Turmeric Roasted cauliflower. This is delicious! Just mix some cauliflower with olive oil & turmeric and roast.
  • Turmeric Tea. I would love to try turmeric tea sometime. Here’s a recipe if you want to try a potent anti-inflammatory tea.
  • Homemade Salad Dressing. Check out this one with avocado, lemon, & honey.

To get the most out of turmeric, add a little black pepper to the dish you’re cooking. The compound piperine found in black pepper has been shown to increase the absorption of the active compound curcumin.

turmeric-black-pepper

Now, I’m craving curry! If you’ve never tried a curry before, you’re missing out. My two favorites are a spicy Thai coconut milk curry with shrimp and an Indian Channa Masala (chickpeas). Yum!

Have you ever used turmeric before?

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