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What is a healthy dinner?
How can you cook up a healthy dinner when you're hungry, and in a hurry?
One simple way is to make sure that you always include the right foods to create your healthy supper menu. It's easier to ensure that all your dinners are healthy if you keep your store cupboard and freezer stocked with some nutritious basics.
Keep a supply of wholewheat pasta, brown rice, canned or dried pulses, nuts, seeds and cans of oily fish like tuna, salmon and sardines, plus frozen chicken breasts, diced turkey and fish fillets.
On this page you'll find a checklist of foods to include in a healthy meal.
Eat More Wholegrains
Ideally you should serve wholegrain foods at every meal. Starchy foods (including potatoes) should make up around one-third of your daily food intake.
Make the switch from refined versions of these foods gradually. You may find your family don't even notice - and if they're like mine, they could surprise you and say they even prefer the wholegrain version of some of their best-loved dishes.
Include these wholegrains in you dinner menus more often: wholewheat pasta, brown rice, wholegrain bread, wholegrain cous cous, quinoa.
Serve Plenty of Vegetables
Are you getting enough fresh veg? To hit the recommended five or more servings a day, get into the habit of serving two different vegetables at dinner. Find out more ways to include fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet.
Serve a green vegetable like broccoli, peas or leeks, alongside a baked or broiled (grilled) tomato, some braised chopped mushrooms, or a sweet-tasting oven-baked onion. Serve vegetable accompaniments with everything, including pasta dishes which don't always merit a veggie.
Chop up a dish of raw vegetable crudites, or put together a little salad bowl and either serve these alongside your main dinner dish, or put them on the table ahead of mealtime for nibbling.
Fresh fruit is a great ending to a healthy dinner. You can simply munch on an apple, or prepare a quick fruit salad with chunks of fresh pineapple and mango, tossed together in fresh orange juice. Vary the fruits you serve - banana one day, kiwi the next, baked pears on another.
Go Easy on Protein
Most people eat more protein every day than their body needs. As long as you're enjoying a balanced diet, there's every chance that you're getting enough protein.
Plant-based proteins are a great choice, and make a good healthy alternative to animal proteins. Use tofu and tempeh, or try pulses such as beans, peas, lentils. Three heaped tablespoons make a portion of pulses, and you can count one portion daily of these foods towards your vegetable servings.
Nuts and seeds are excellent plant-based proteins, but they are high in fat, so keep an eye on serving sizes. A small handful of either nuts or seeds is sufficient.
Dairy and eggs. Milk, cheese and yogurt are good sources of protein, but can be high in fat. Eat moderate amounts, and use skim milk and reduced fat versions if you wish. Eggs make a great healthy dinner, especially if you use a low-fat cooking method such as boiling or poaching, rather than frying.
Limit red meat to twice a week, and cut off all visible fat. Poultry is a good source of protein, as is fish.
What not to eat...
You probably don't need reminding, but fast foods and highly processed foods are a no-no in a healthy diet. Keep a check on fatty, salty or sugary foods and reduce the amount of sweets and snacks you eat.
