Easy Healthy Meals

Here’s a quick selection of easy healthy meals, for days when you can’t think what to cook.

Stuck for ideas? Sometimes it can be a challenge to keep on feeding the family healthily, day after day. Here are four basic healthy meals I cook time after time. They’re all so simple to make, and the variations are endless, depending on what’s in season and what you have in the store cupboard.

Just make sure you include some fresh produce each time,either mixed into the basic recipe, or served as a side dish.

• Easy healthy meals: Perfect pasta with fresh vegetables
  

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  Where would we be without pasta? My kids would happily eat it every day. For a really healthy way to serve pasta, while your pasta is boiling, cook up some fresh chopped vegetables, using a little oil – or cook them in the microwave with a little water. I always use onion, and usually garlic as well for flavour. Then add any of the following: finely diced mushrooms, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, diced carrot, peas, sweetcorn niblets, canned pulses (chickpeas, any type of bean), finely chopped leeks, chopped mange tout or snowpeas – or any other fresh, seasonal vegetable. Add fresh herbs to taste if you have them. When the pasta is cooked, stir the vegetables through, with some pesto or tomato sauce – either home made or organic bottled varieties – scatter over some grated Parmesan, and there you have it.

• Easy healthy meals: Pasta bake
  Make this when you have a little more time, on those days when just a bowl of pasta doesn’t seem like enough. Make pasta with vegetable sauce as above. You can add a can of flaked tuna or some diced cooked chicken to make the dish more substantial. Put the dressed pasta into an ovenproof dish. Make a béchamel sauce, by blending together 50g (1/2 cup) flour with 50g (1/4 cup) butter or vegetable spread over a low heat, and gradually beating in 450ml (2 cups) skimmed or semi-skimmed milk to form a sauce. Season with pepper and grated nutmeg and pour over the pasta. Scatter grated cheese on top and bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is browned and bubbling. Serve with green vegetables or salad.

• Easy healthy meals: Simple stir fry
  Now a stir fry recipe can be an invitation to half an hour’s solid chopping – not the ideal solution for a busy mum. The trick is to keep it very simple, and select vegetables that are easy to prepare. I usually stick to two or at most three different types. First in, is either a finely chopped onion, or a chopped bunch of spring onions (scallions). Toss those around in your wok for a few minutes, then add a couple of chopped red or yellow peppers. Finally, in goes a big pile of washed and shredded green leaves – spinach, spring greens, pak choi. Keep on frying until the greens are wilted. For more substance, add cooked prawns, finely sliced chicken or cubes of tofu. Dress with soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon, serve with rice or noodles.

• Easy healthy meals: Baked chicken
  Chicken is a perennial favourite, and I always keep a bag of organic chicken thighs and drumsticks in the freezer. On days when you can plan ahead a little, and have time to wait while the chicken cooks, try one of these Baked chicken recipes. None of them takes more than a few minutes to put together, all of them are delicious. Bake a few potatoes alongside, and serve with fresh green veg.

MORE IDEAS FOR EASY HEALTHY MEALS
Like most mums, I have to think about what we’re going to eat virtually every day. Fortunately, I enjoy it – and often a trip to the local shop inspires me to try something new. See how it works, and get some ideas with my "Cook’s Diary" , a 9-month-long record of ideas and suggestions which I wrote as a blog for this site when it first started. You’ll find lots of my favourite quick easy recipes in here.

If you want ideas for easy healthy meals for specific times of day, check out:

• Healthy breakfasts
• Lunch boxes

For me, the key to coming up with ideas for easy healthy meals is to enjoy the process. See it as one of the more creative parts of life – much more fun than doing the washing or cleaning. Have fun!

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