Healthy Dinner Ideas!

Dinner is probably the meal where the majority of us will falter, opting for that take-out or KFC rather than getting started on that health plan. It is often the largest of the three daily meals and so lends itself to all possible sabotages of a healthy diet. Not to mention the likelihood of a delicious dessert for afters. Below is a quick list of tasty (and, more importantly, healthy) dinner ideas.

Salmon.

First on this list is salmon. A true staple for the fitness freak, salmon is packed full of protein and healthy fats and is incredibly delicious to boot. I am pretty busy the majority of the time so I tend to cook mine in the oven for around 25 minutes with seasoning/spices, wrapped up in foil with a little garlic. If you have the time, cook it in a pan with a little butter, cajun seasoning, garlic and thyme. Trust me, you will not regret it. Serve up with a handful of carbs and veggies and you’re all good. If you fancy a lighter bite, salmon can also be eaten in raw slices on a bagel for breakfast or tossed into a salad for lunch.

Steak.

Steak is one of those irresistible proteins that you just can’t help coming back to time and time again. It is so easily prepared and cooked that it is often top of my list when I need a relatively quick meal. It is also one of the first things that I am drawn to when browsing a menu at a restaurant. If you’re watching your fat intake, be sure to trim the outer layer of fat off your cut of sirloin and keep an eye on the marbling. Delicious with sweet potato or eggs.

Stir fry.

Quite literally a fifteen minute meal, this one. Stir fry, whether you make it with chicken or beef or scallops or some other fourth thing I’ve yet to try, will always be high in protein, packed with flavour and packed with vegetable. Add your own choice of seasoning to the meat (play around, find one that works for you) and pick out a low cal sauce to enhance and serve on a bed of wholegrain noodles.

Paella.

It is, I’ll admit, very rare that I have paella, but this is not because I don’t like it but simply because it is a meal I often forget about. Chorizo is always a must for me with this dish, and paired with either chicken or prawns. If you’re more skilled than I am in the kitchen you can pack some serious flavour into this one.

Curry.

Bit of a grey area this one because certain curries are relatively good for you, and some are not. Kormas and masalas for instance contain lots of cream and should be avoided, whereas a jalfrezi, madras or rogan josh will often contain considerably less and (in my opinion, at least) taste far better. You must also look at what you are serving it with. Naan breads and chips are, needless to say, very fatty, and many of the supplements (ie onion bhajis and the like) are deep-fried and chock full of calories. But if you make the right choices, you can enjoy a guilt-free meal.

Pasta.

Wholegrain pasta, I stress here, and tomato-based sauces rather than cream. As a child, pasta was always amongst my favourite foods, and it still is today, but with a few alterations. If I eat it, I try to slip in as many veggies as I can without overcrowding the dish. Tenderstem broccoli works well here, as well as spinach, tomatoes and onions. Lean turkey sausages are a good option for the protein, and, if you can spare a few calories for flavour, crumble in a little feta.

Ratatouille.

Like the paella before it, ratatouille is a meal I do not have often. In fact, I think I may have only eaten it once before, but its importance in terms of health cannot be understated. That and the fact that I thought maybe a vegetarian might read this and so I believed I should cater to them a little bit. Ratatouille is a French stew composed entirely of vegetables, with perhaps a few seeds or beans thrown in for good measure. It is surprisingly tasty (surprisingly because I do struggle with vegetables when there is no meat to pair it with) and can still pack in around 20 grams of protein in a serving. Not bad for a few courgettes, eh?

Thank you for reading. If there is anything I’ve missed, please comment and let me know.