Healthy Dinner Recipes

HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES - CHICKEN & TURKEY

Poultry is quick to cook and the flavour doesn't dominate, so you can serve it with numerous different sauces and dressings for variety. Chicken's always useful in low fat menus.



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Baked chicken
Slow-baked Aromatic Chicken Redolent with garlic and herbs, the chicken tenderises beautifully.

This dish takes a while to cook, but the slow cooking means that the meat is falling off the bone by the time you come to serve, and all the flavors have had time to mix and mellow.

Good with rice or baked potatoes.

Spicy Baked Chicken with Peppers, Chickpeas and Rice A one-pot dish that takes an hour to bake.

Flavored with chilli, garlic, ground coriander and fresh cilantro (coriander) this is a really delicious dish. Initial preparation takes about 20 minutes, and then you can just leave it to cook.

Make sure you skin the chicken pieces first, and remove all visible fat.

Oven-baked Chicken with Vegetables Very straightforward. Use any veg you have to hand.

This is perfect mid-week food, and if you bake potatoes around the chicken, along with a mix of other vegetables, you won't need to cook any accompaniment - your whole meal will be there.

Quick chicken and turkey recipes

Citrus Grilled Chicken Add a spark of flavor to simple broiled chicken with citrus.

Cooks faster if you use cubed chicken breast. If you use chicken legs or thighs on the bone, make sure the meat is cooked right through.

Leftover Turkey Recipes A range of ideas for using up the remains of a roast bird.

Turkey is a very low fat and nutritious meat. Use it in sandwiches, salads and hot dishes, then make the carcass into soup.

There's no need to waste a scrap, so you really get your money's worth.

Tangy Lemon Chicken with Mushrooms Leave this easy, healthy supper dish to simmer until ready.

Chicken thighs are inexpensive and very tasty. Skin them before cooking in this quick little recipe which gives you a fresh-tasting lemon sauce which you can soak up with rice or mashed potato.

Turkey Meat Loaf Excellent hot or cold.

My kids love slices of this as a filling for sandwiches, subs or rolls in their lunch boxes.

Serve hot on the first day with gravy, rice or potatoes and a green vegetable, and cold after that with relishes, salad and baked potatoes.

Chicken with rice or grains

Delicate Chicken Curry Not too spicy, for those who prefer a mild dish.

Creamed coconut in the sauce adds flavor and texture but winches up the fat content - use a low fat coconut milk if you prefer.

Lemon Chicken Risotto A tang of citrus lifts this rice-based dish.

The trick with a risotto is to have the liquid at boiling point before adding to the rice, and keep stirring gently as it cooks. Once a risotto sticks to the bottom of the pan, you're in trouble!

Let the rice swell slowly and turn creamy - when there's still a slight hint of crunch, it's ready. A sprinkle of dried tarragon added with the liquid is a great addition.

Lemon Tabbouleh with Chicken A simple salad based on bulghar wheat.

This couldn't be easier, and if you're really strapped for time, use cous cous, ready in 5 minutes, instead of bulgar, which takes 15 mins to cook.

Tandoori Chicken Curry Yummy finger-food - spicy chicken pieces.

Another big favorite with kids, which is also great served cold with salad or as a sandwich filling next day.

Thai Green Chicken Curry Use tofu instead of chicken for a vegetarian alternative.

Thai curries have a distinctive flavor, which comes from the lemon grass, chilli and kaffir lime.

Make your own, or buy from an oriental supermarket to get the most authentic taste - some of the mass-produced curry pastes have been dumbed down and made bland. What you're looking for is a glorious hit of flavor.

Chicken and turkey salads
Chicken and Potato Lemon-dressed Salad Light and easy for summer.

Simplicity itself. For speed you can use ready-cooked cold chicken, but check labels carefully and avoid battery-reared meat. Better to buy free-range chicken and cook it yourself.

Turkey Salads A choice of healthy dinner recipes for this perennial favorite.

Turkey blends well with all manner of ingredients, from nuts to avocado, cous cous to noodles. It takes up flavors obligingly as well, so give it plenty of oomph by dressing with fresh herbs and spices.

HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES - VEGETARIAN

Butternut Risotto An unusual way to use butternut squash.

Tackle this one only if you own a food processor to grate the squash, or don't mind spending ages doing it by hand. Either way, it's a lovely dish.

Easy-Peasy Curry A lovely spicy dish, very simple.

This was one of my daughter's first attempts at cooking when she was about 8, and has been on our menus frequently ever since. Most children like peas because of their sweetness.

Gnocchi and Leek Bake Warming, a good, satisfying dish.

Gnocchi is quite gooey, and adding cooked leeks and tomato sauce make it lighter.

Pasta with Fresh Vegetables A healthy pasta recipe that doesn't take long to make.

You really can use any veg you have to hand - a good way to use up those odds and ends that tend to accumulate in the fridge.

Pasta with Italian Mushroom Sauce This penne dish uses several types of mushroom.

Don't omit the oyster mushrooms as their delicious flavor permeates this dish and makes it very appetising.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato Sauce Raw tomatoes release all their fresh flavour in this interesting dish.

An Italian treat, but definitely one to keep for late summer, early autumn, when tomatoes are in season and have their finest flavor.

Polenta with Spicy Beans and Mushrooms Polenta makes a great base for a veggie topping.

Look for the quick-cook polenta, which only takes a few minutes to prepare.

Stir Fry with Fresh Vegetables Chop the veg ahead of time, and assemble the dish when you want to eat.

You can buy bags of prepared veg specially for stir-fries, but they often look brown and limp, and you'll get a better flavor and a more nutritious dish if you buy produce that's as fresh as possible and prepare it yourself just before you cook it.

Stuffed vegetables
Stuffed Green Pepper Recipe A tasty recipe that's always popular.

You can use the same filling for peppers of any colour - green peppers are simply red peppers which haven't ripened yet!

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe A good way to use Portabella mushrooms.

The filling uses beans, and is topped with cheese before baking.

Stuffed Peppers Another of our healthy dinner recipes based on stuffed peppers, this recipe uses a very simple, flavorsome filling of cous cous and herbs.

Bake the peppers in a tomato sauce which you can mix into the stuffing when you break them open.

Roasted vegetable recipes

Mediterranean Vegetables with Couscous Lovely, brightly coloured sun-soaked veg, roasted together with garlic and herbs and served on a simple bed of rice or cous cous. Delicious!

Pasta with Roasted Fennel and Zucchini Roasting brings out the sweet aniseed flavor of fennel, in this unusual and delicious salad.

Salad of Roast Carrots and Beetroot

I first had this salad in a local cafe and liked it so much I came home and created a similar recipe. Beetroot is not to everyone's taste, but if you like it, you'll love this recipe.

Healthy Quorn recipes

Quorn Recipes
Spanish Style Quorn Casserole So many flavorings go into this dish, including garlic, paprika and chilli.

It's as rich and tasty as it looks, a lovely way to serve Quorn.

Quorn Bolognese So much healthier than a bolognese made with meat, this sauce works well on pasta, or you could use it as the base for a shepherd's pie.

HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES - SALADS

HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES - FISH

Fish with noodles, pasta, rice or potatoes

Chinese-Spiced Salmon with Fragrant Noodles A mouthwatering stir-fry that's full of flavour and makes an excellent healthy meal.

I've been cooking this dish regularly for at least 5 years - it's a perennial favorite with everyone.

Succulent flakes of salmon mixed, and noodles jazzed up with fresh herbs, spring onions (scallions) and grated ginger.

Chinese 5-spice is the secret ingredient that gives it a special lift.

Eggy Prawn Chow Mein A healthy cooking stir-fry recipe.

It's fun adding eggs to a stir fry because they set in threads through the dish.

Kedgeree with Coriander (Cilantro) The curry/rice classic dish made with smoked haddock.

I like the fragrance of cilantro (coriander) on top, but you can use chopped fresh parsley, or dill instead.

Pasta with Shrimp and Spinach An unusual Italian pasta dish.

The sauce uses yogurt and feta cheese - use low fat varieties of both for the healthiest option.

Savoury Haddock Hash Little salad potatoes mixed with fish, topped with a poached egg.

Smoked Salmon and Cous Cous Salad Use wholegrain cous-cous to make this even healthier.

Another simple summery dish with lots of color and interest.

Quick Spicy Salmon Rice Extremely speedy, a dish to cook over and over again, it's so easy.

This recipe uses canned salmon which has a milder flavor - kids sometimes prefer it to the fresh fish. Be sure to pick out any bones.

Baked or broiled/grilled fish

Fast Cooked Herby Fish Pop this one in the oven.

A dish to make in the summer, because it cries out for fresh herbs. Dried ones really won't work this time.

Grilled Salmon with a Yogurt Crust A quick, easy topping adds savour to simple salmon steaks.

Low fat yogurt with fresh herbs and spices stirred through turns crusty when the fish is cooked and enlivens an easy midweek supper.

Oven-fried Fish Kids love this crisply baked fish.

Cut the fish into strips, and you have your very own homemade fish fingers! Much healthier than the bright orange manufactured variety.

Salmon Steaks with Black Sauce A deeply savoury tapenade-style topping makes the sauce.

Olives, capers and anchovies give this a deeply aromatic flavour with a strong hint of the Mediterranean.

HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES - MEAT

Fortunately, you don't need much to achieve a smooth and silky sauce - a dish for a special occasion.

Easy Shepherd Pie Recipe A real family-pleaser.

Tasty ground beef under a topping of browned mash, shepherd's pie is always popular and is so easy to eat that even small children can spoon it up easily.

Spring Shepherd’s Pie Sliced potatoes instead of mashed on top of the ground meat mixture make a pleasant change.

Par-boil the potatoes before slicing, then let them brown off as the dish cooks in the oven.

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