5 Healthy Dinners Under 20 Minutes
This post was sponsored by Eat Smart as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. I received product samples to facilitate my review.
The older I get the more I appreciate easy, simple dinners, especially ones that take just a few minute to whip up. Today’s post is all about 5 healthy dinners under 20 minutes that are not only versatile but also simple, quick and healthy. It’s so hard to eat healthy when you’re a foodie (let’s face it, I could eat pizza and burgers every day if I allowed myself) so I have to create ways to accomplish that without boring myself to death.
1. FRESH STYLE PASTA
I’m sure you’re thinking “what the heck is pasta doing on the healthy list?!” but I’ll be honest, I don’t think a little pasta ever hurt anyone. And if done correctly (and infrequently), it’s a great option for a light dinner. If it were up to A, we would have pasta at least once a week. I’m not kidding when I say he wouldn’t ever complain if it was pasta and sauce from a jar. If I want to go the healthy route and not the typical A route (which involves vodka sauce and a ton of cheese), I’ll add fresh ingredients like vegetables and herbs. Those can go a long way from turning something heavy and fatty into a food that’s light and perfect for summer. But if you insist on cheesy goodness, try a lighter cheese like this goat cheese garlic linguine.
2. OMELETS
We love eggs. It helps that we live in rural town Pennsylvania so we have access to cheap local eggs – I’m talking $2 for a dozen of regular eggs, $3 for a dozen of cage free. So you can imagine we eat a lot of omelets. Our favorite way to make them is to stuff them with as many vegetables as humanly possible. It’s the best way to clean your refrigerator of any vegetables that need to be used up. This basil and tomato omelet does just that and most importantly, it actually makes a small dent in that basil bush growing in your backyard!
3. TUNA SALADS
If you love quick and easy recipes, then tuna salads are your friend. My current favorite way to make tuna salad is this cilantro lime tuna salad which is made even lighter by using olive oil mayonnaise in place of regular mayo. It’s a classic with a twist and we’ve enjoyed it on bread, crackers and even plain.
4. GRAIN SALADS
Grain salads encompass anything from quinoa to bulgur to wheat berries to any other grain out there. I like to pair the grain with some vegetable (either fresh or roasted), olive oil, some type of acidic flavor and a nut of some sort. I love this quinoa, pepper and parsley salad which also uses pine nuts. It takes just a few minutes to throw together and the results are chock full of flavor and feel good ingredients.
5. SALAD KITS
And last but definitely not least, salad kits. The best salad kits come with ingredients beyond the basic lettuce and dressing. Eat Smart Gourmet Vegetable Salad Kits offers up five different salad kits to choose from: strawberry harvest, sunflower kale, southwest vegetable (with an amazing chipotle dressing), sweet kale, and Asian sesame. Each kit comes with a lettuce mix, cabbage or kale, and delicious toppings like cashews, almonds, feta, crispy quinoa, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, you name it, making it an easy go-to for dinner. Eat Smart has done an outstanding job pairing each topping with the appropriate dressing. It’s important to think outside the box with salad kits – just because the kit is all prepped for you doesn’t mean you can’t be creative and add your own ingredients or protein. One evening we enjoyed the Asian sesame salad kit and I topped it off with maple soy salmon – the flavors complimented each other nicely and we not only got a healthy dose of vegetables but we got our omega-3s in as well. If you’re wondering where you can find the kits, check the Eat Smart locater here. Eat Smart is also running a giveaway from 9/16/16-10/07/16. Enter at the bottom of the post for your chance to win 1 of 10 AMEX gift cards ($50 each) and samples of all 5 salad kits. And you can like Eat Smart on Facebook and sign up for their monthly e-newsleter via the contest as well.
Eat Smart Gourmet Vegetable Salad Kit Contest
I-C will randomly select winners from all program entries and will facilitate fulfillment of the winning prizes (10)
