Quick meal ideas

Here are some quick and healthy meal ideas I got from my dietitian for when I don’t have a lot of time to prepare a meal.

Quinoa

Cook quinua or whole wheat couscous according to directions, add stir-fried vegetables with olive oil and minced garlic, frozen peas and chopped up chicken or chicken sausage. Pour in Trader Joe’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup for sauce. Takes less than 10 minutes.

Whole wheat couscous with shrimp

Cook whole wheat couscous and serve with sauteed frozen shrimp, onions and other vegetables. Whole wheat couscous takes only about 5 minutes to cook.

Brown fried rice

Sautee your favorite protein source with onions, garlic, mushrooms and peas. Add precooked brown rice (Trader Joe’s has precooked brown rice in their frozen section). Pour eggbeaters into this and stir until the egg coats the mixture and begins to cook.

Baked tofu

Marinade thin pieces (cut so they are about 1/4” to 1/2” thick) of extra firm tofu in low fat, low sodium, low sugar sauce/marinade overnight. Spray cookie sheet with PAM, place tou slices on sheet, and bake at 350 degrees until browned. Eat warm, refridgerate and eat plain as a snack, or cut into pieces and put in a salad.

Whole wheat pasta

Cook whole wheat pasta. Top with Trader Joe’s low fat turkey meatballs or another lean turkey sausage and a low sugar, low sodium marinara sauce.

Soup and salad

Find a low sodium bean or lentil soup/stew (Walnut Acres, Health Valley). Serve with a big spinach salad. If you don’t want to hassle with the salad, add 2 cups fresh spinach to the soup before microwaving.

Mini pizza

Spread marinara or tomato sauce on a whole wheat English muffin or whole wheat pita bread, sprinkle with low fat cheese and vegetables, and bake in the oven

Healthy nachos

Cut low fat, whole wheat tortillas into strips. Spray cookie sheet with PAM, place strips on cookie sheet, lightly spray tops of tortilla pieces with PAM and sprinkle some salt on them. Bake in the oven until browned, then melt some shredded low fat cheese on top. Serving suggestions: black beans, salsa, cottage cheese, small portion of avacado, hummus and/or cilantro.

Breakfast burrito

Scramble Omega 3 eggs, egg beaters or egg whites with low fat chicken sausage, low fat cheese and vegetables. Serve with whole wheat tortilla, adding cilantro, salsa and fat free sour cream if desired.

Whole wheat pasta salad

Cook whole wheat spiral pasta noodles. Chop up an assortment of vegetables (bell pepper, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) and pieces of low fat cheese if desired. Mix noodles, vegetables and cheese with some olive oil. Add balsamic vinegar, desired spices (oregano, rosemary, pepper, chili flakes, basil, salt and pepper) to taste. Add protein source such as 1 can of albacore tuna in water or cooked chicken sausage.

This post is closed to new comments.