When you’ve had a long, tiring day at work, cooking a complicated dinner may not be something you’d want to do. It may even be tempting to just order pizza so you don’t have to clean up after.

But if you want to help you or your kids develop healthy eating habits, you can start by preparing meals using quick and easy recipes like Asian beef lettuce cups or roast chicken with Brussels sprouts.

Asian beef lettuce cups recipe

This dish is good if you want to serve something filling but without too many carbs. Asian beef lettuce cups are fun to eat, and they’re a sneaky way to get your kids to consume more leafy greens!

Not in the mood for beef? Replace beef with ground chicken or turkey. For a vegetarian dish, remove the meat and replace it with tasty superfoods like carrots or zucchini.

Use a paring knife to remove the skin of the ginger, then use a sharp chef’s knife to mince ginger. Note that the excess ginger can be frozen for at least two months.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 

• Large bibb lettuce or iceberg lettuce leaves
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 green onions, finely chopped and divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced
• Sriracha (optional)
• Chopped cashews or peanuts or (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, then saute the ingredients for one minute or until fragrant. Add the red bell pepper, half of the green onions and water chestnuts, then saute for several minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add the ground beef and cook. Stir the beef for at least five minutes or until it’s no longer pink.
3. Add the cooked vegetables back to the pan, then add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce. Cook everything for one to two minutes or until everything is combined.
4. Scoop the cooked beef mixture into lettuce cups. Sprinkle with the remaining green onion and chopped peanuts, then add a drizzle of hot sauce before serving.

Roast chicken with Brussels sprouts

This recipe for sheet-pan roast chicken with Brussels sprouts turns a regular dish into a special dinner.

With flavorful ingredients like crunchy walnuts, fresh mint, spicy harissa and sweet pomegranate, you can produce a tasty meal that hits all the flavor notes. If you’re in a hurry, you’ll only need 30 minutes to prep this dish.

Ingredients: 

• 4 boneless, free-range chicken thighs
• 4 cups of Brussels sprouts, shaved
• 2 cups of kale, chopped
• 1/2 cup of pomegranate molasses
• 1/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds
• 1 tablespoon of harissa paste
• 4 cloves garlic, finely grated
• 1 shallot, sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh mint, to garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F.
2. Get a large bowl. Whisk the pomegranate molasses, olive oil, harissa and garlic. Dip the chicken thighs in the mixture
3. Season each chicken thigh with salt and pepper, then set on one side of the sheet pan.
4. Toss the Brussels sprouts, shallot and kale with the remaining liquid, then spread it on the other side of the pan.
5. Roast the chicken and Brussels sprouts in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Once done, remove, garnish with chopped walnuts, pomegranate seeds and torn pieces of fresh mint before serving.

Cod with parsley pesto

This dish pairs nutritious cod with parsley pesto. Keep the fish from sticking to a pan by taking it out of the refrigerator and letting it rest on the counter for 30 minutes before you start cooking.

Ingredients for four servings:

• 1 1/2 pounds of cod or other firm, flaky white fish fillets
• 1 cup of loosely packed whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 2/3 cup of walnuts
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil plus 1 teaspoon of olive oil, divided
• 5 to 6 large basil leaves (optional)
• 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

Preparation:

1. Slice the cod into four fillets, then sprinkle both sides of each fillet lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan over medium heat.
3. Carefully add the fillets to the pan. Make sure to leave enough room around each fillet. If the pan isn’t large enough to fit all 4 fillets, cook the fish in two batches.
4. Cook the cod fillets for at least five minutes or until the bottom and sides of each fillet turns opaque. Carefully flip the fillets, then cook for three more minutes. Let the fish continue to cook through from the residual heat.
5. While the fish cooks, prep the pesto. Add the parsley, basil (if you want to add some), walnuts, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the remaining one teaspoon of olive oil to a mini food processor. Pulse the ingredients to coarsely chop. Taste then add additional salt and pepper if needed.
6. Plate the cod fillets, then top each with generous spoonfuls of the parsley-walnut pesto before serving.

Roasted broccoli, radicchio and chickpeas

While radicchio can be eaten raw in salads, cooking the vegetable helps mellow its bitter flavor. Adding raddichio to this dish gives it an earthy flavor that’s perfect for any vegetarian meal.

If you’re having trouble chopping an onion, don’t cut from the hairy root end. Start cutting from the other end, cut the onion lengthwise, peel off the outer layer, then lay the cut side down before you start chopping.

You can replace pine nuts with other nuts or seeds like almonds or sunflower seeds. If you don’t like goat cheese, replace it with shaved Parmesan.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 heads of Treviso radicchio, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 ounces of goat cheese, softened
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons of pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Prep a rimmed half sheet pan that’s about 11 by 17 inches with foil or parchment. Add the broccoli, radicchio, red onion and chickpeas in a single layer. Sprinkle the ingredients with pine nuts.
2. Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the zest, garlic and salt. Drizzle the mixture over the pan then toss. Add black pepper to taste.
3. Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook and toss once or twice for at least 15 minutes or until the broccoli is crispy and tender. Remove the veggies from the oven and dot with spoonfuls of goat cheese before serving.

If you’re in a hurry but you want to serve tasty and healthy dinners, follow these recipes and surprise your family with a unique dish like Asian beef lettuce cups!

Sources:

Today.com 1

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