I’m on a health kick (don’t worry, statistically this will end in 10…9…8…) But while it’s happening, I’m curious: what’s your favorite “healthy” (in quotes, because I know that term is relative) weeknight dinner? Feel free to share links too!
Michael Rhulman interviewed someone (can’t remember her name) somewhere several years ago who said “people are healthy- food is just nutritious…or not” and that this distinction was important when thinking about eating and what can be expected by altering what we eat. I have held onto this since. We see what you eat. It looks nutritious to me. Maybe you can think about portion size but I think what you desire can mostly be achieved by exercise. For me diets are unsustainable. I suddenly only want to eat fried clams when I diet.
Everyone has a different definition of what is healthy. I eat an autoimmune keto diet which means that I emphasize fat, protein and low carb vegetables and I avoid sugars / carbohydrates / grains. One of our favorite weeknight dinners is a simple slow cooker pork served with all kinds of taco sides. I chop up good lettuce and put avocados, pickled onions, a few cherry tomatoes and the slow cooker pork into my bowl while my family does what they want with the rest of the toppings. It’s high-protein very low carb and super yummy!
When I want to feel extra healthy, I try to pack in extra vegetables into whatever I am making…. I increase the vegetable to other things ratio in whatever I make. I make a lot of vegetable-centered soups, because a soup can be reheated and I often feel more like hot food than a cold salad at night. Last thing I do when I feel like returning to balance is I aim to have a vegan dinner, which for me is usually a veggie and tofu stir fry with some sort of flavorful sauce. I wouldn’t want to be vegan all the time, but it makes me feel good to take small break from butter, cheese and refined carbs, and it seems easier to use them more sparingly when I take a regular break.
(but i only use 1t of the sichuan peppercorns because i'm sensitive to their flavor/heat, and do just a dash of hot sesame oil instead of the 1T roasted sesame oil)
then i blend up 1/4c soy sauce, a knob of ginger, a few cloves of garlic, and some rice vinegar and oyster sauce, and add a bit of hot sesame oil. pour it into a shallow dish and marinate the salmon flesh side down (so the skin stays dry). meanwhile i boil some rice noodles (rice sticks, not vermicelli), rinse them really well, toss with some of the chili oil, and set aside or do it earlier in the day and refrigerate in a ziploc bag.
cook the salmon skin side down in a lil veg oil, then flip it and after a couple minutes add the marinade and bring it to a boil. remove the cooked salmon to a plate, and add a mess of sliced scallions to the pan and then dump in the rice noodles to soak up the sauce. finish the noodles with fresh lime juice. serve the salmon drizzled with chili oil over the noodles.
i usually have a whole bunch of cucumbers on the side in a little rice vinegar and soy. if i have cabbage on hand you can also make a quick slaw to put on top of the salmon - just shredded cabbage with the chili oil, a tiny bit of mayo, and a dash of soy sauce & rice vinegar, maybe a pinch of sugar.
Fish or shrimp tacos on fresh corn tortillas with fresh herbs, salsas, and avocado. Also, smoked salmon kale salad with lots of veggies and a dressing made with a touch of oil and a glug of Kongs Khao Man Gai Sauce! Delish.
I really get into spring rolls this time of year, but I hate rolling them up so I usually just dump all the ingredients in a bowl and use the dipping sauce as dressing. So spring roll salad I guess...
Oh also, bean tacos.... chop and saute onion and some garlic, add a can or two of drained black beans, then from there just treat the beans like ground beef! Add avocado, plain yogurt spiked with lime juice, cabbage, etc!
Melissa Clark's turkey meatballs are soooo good. I make a super quick sauce with canned whole tomato (olive oil, garlic and tomatoes, that's it) - puree right after adding tomatoes with immersion blender - then plop the meatballs in the sauce for cooking. I eat them with a lot of sauce on top of a mound of (previously frozen) spinach and my family has with pasta. They are delicious and you can eat a lot of them!
Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022Liked by Adam Roberts
Quesadillas! - some sort of shredded protein (we make it ahead and freeze to make life easy), roasted vegetables and cheese folded in a tortilla and griddled.
I also really love a simple, farmers market fresh salad with really excellent salami, nuts and or cheese added to it to make it tasty, filling, and high protein enough to be nourishing. This might seem silly too but another weeknight favorite is garden omelettes — we take whatever is popping in our patio garden, even if it’s only basil, and build some kind of simple omelette around it.
Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa has a simple recipe for long cooked Romano beans with tomato and onion. I use haricots vert, increase the tomatoes, and add red chili flakes, and end up with something like a shakshouka that I poach two eggs in - delicious at any time of day
I often don't even add the toasted sesames. (I have used them, but omitting them makes this an even faster, one pot meal.) And I use chili crunch in place of the chili oil. I will eat it with the gaba brown rice from the zojirushi setting. And also, I will sometimes make an impromptu (no recipe) red cabbage slaw, if I have the ingredients in the house. I really love this recipe and crave it often.
When I want a reset, but don’t want a cold salad, I turn to cabbage…
You need 2.5 hours to accomplish this, but it honestly couldn’t be easier or more hands-off. Is great with a poached/fried egg on top, and reheats like a dream
Also this cabbage soup is a staple in my house… over the years I have upped the ground cumin and coriander, nixed the fennel seed, and subbed fire roasted diced tomatoes, used better than bouillon, etc. I like it with a piece of whole grain cheese toast on the side
Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022Liked by Adam Roberts
Smitten Kitchen's take on Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu (I add green beans to the sheet trays for the second 20 minutes, also a splash of rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to the sauce) or Melissa Clark's Shakshuka
Tuna, apple, and a bit of cheddar on a whole wheat pita broiled; brown rice, roasted broccoli, feta and chia seeds sprinkled on top; a breakfast burrito on a healthy tortilla with scrambled eggs, avocado, and salsa; an old recipe from the Guardian for Turkish lentil and bulgur soup which is somehow insanely delicious and easy - or a snack plate - cut veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers.
Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022Liked by Adam Roberts
My go to 'healthy' meal is in fact healthy. Or at least as healthy as I care to make it. It's a version of cooking some kind of vegetables in the same pot as pasta. It's based on the classic Pugliese Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, which is cooked together then dressed with olive oil, garlic and anchovies. I often branch out with other vegetables (broccoli, fennel, cauliflower) and sometimes sauted some pancetta instead of anchovies, or else add a cup of grated parmigiano or pecorino at the end. The healthy balance comes into play when you decide on the ratio of vegetables to pasta. I often get away with using only 50 gr of pasta per person, with tons of vegetables and no one knows the difference. ;)
Tofu ginger stir fry with lots of veggies and sesame paste (not tahini, roasted sesame seed paste). Absolutely delicious with a little rice on the side
also i usually have this for lunch but, i mix storebought hummus & greek yogurt 1:1 (shoutout to dinner: a love story for this "hummus hack" riff) and then drizzle with olive oil and sumac or everything bagel seasoning. top with a mix of salted tomatoes and cucumbers or veg of choice. (in the winter roasted root veg over hummus is SO GOOD...or roasted baby potatoes and blistered shishito peppers...i could go on.) if you added some sliced grilled chicken it would be dinner, i think.
Sheet pan dinner..roasted tomatoes, chicken and broccoli- they all roast about the same time and then tons of chopped herbs with a bit of balsamic vinegar- it feels indulgent, but it’s just tasty!
This thread is awesome! Just doctored up a can of no salt added beans following the orangette link someone posted in thread (i added some salt). Pan-fried salmon, skin down, removed skin (plenty of fats in bowl) with gaba brown rice, curtido i made weeks ago following https://www.mexicanplease.com/spicy-curtido-pickled-cabbage-slaw/, sour cream, cotija and the doctored beans. Topped with market deli aisle salsa from a while back. Pretty freaking delicious. Stuffing my face now.
The Mediterranean Couscous and Lentil Salad from Epicurious site. I like it with grilled chicken breast or sauteed shrimp with garlic and red pepper flakes.
I make some version of sheet pan salmon and veggies for dinner every Monday - a nice reset after weekend eating. I don't really use a recipe anymore, just preheat the oven to 425, toss in veggies (go-to's are cauliflower, little potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, because my kids will eat those). Let the veggies roast for 15ish minutes, then add the salmon for 12 minutes. I use two separate pans and line them with foil, so clean-up is also very easy. I usually rotate between the following for the salmon:
-salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, squeeze of lemon at the end
7-6-5 grilled pork tenderloin with a cherry or apricot preserve "sauce" with (fall/winter) mashed sweet potatoes or (spring/summer) rice and whatever veg is speaking to me and is in the house. Fast - you get everything else done in the 18 minutes it takes to cook the pork.
Melissa Clark's miso salmon and the apple and celery salad from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden with a side of brown rice or the grain and vegetable medley in the frozen section at Trader Joe's.
Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022Liked by Adam Roberts
I make a version of this boneless chicken thighs/ tender stem broccoli/ garlic ginger and sesame seeds stir fry about once a week. With or without rice. It definitely slots into the easy quick and ‘healthy-ish’ meals category.
Thin cut pork chops marinaded for 30 minutes or more in soy sauce and red pepper flakes, then cooked quickly in a medium hot pan, served with noodles or brown rice, and whatever veggie looks great that day. If feeling fancy, toss some fresh pineapple chunks in at the end of cooking the pork chops.
I have a recipe for Roasted Spaghetti Squash topped with black bean sauce and a tomato/avocado salsa. The seasoning is Mexican. Delish, and it's vegan.
This is an incredible list of suggestions. I only browsed it- I will do a deep dive later. I try to cook "healthy" every evening but it is a struggle as I would like pizza or pasta every night. I am going to think about this and send a few links of my favorite recipes. Over 60 and it is really hard to beat back the expanding waistline, even with working out almost every day. WINE and SUGAR and FLOUR (processed carbs) are the devil for my body, but also my absolute favorite things.
Thanks, Adam, for this conversation. I will get back to you.
It's so easy that it's barely a recipe, but my go-to for years has been Smitten Kitchen's black bean tacos with cabbage slaw. https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/02/crispy-black-bean-tacos-with-feta-and-slaw/
It's packed with protein and fiber, it's ready in 15 minutes, and it's so tasty.
Michael Rhulman interviewed someone (can’t remember her name) somewhere several years ago who said “people are healthy- food is just nutritious…or not” and that this distinction was important when thinking about eating and what can be expected by altering what we eat. I have held onto this since. We see what you eat. It looks nutritious to me. Maybe you can think about portion size but I think what you desire can mostly be achieved by exercise. For me diets are unsustainable. I suddenly only want to eat fried clams when I diet.
Everyone has a different definition of what is healthy. I eat an autoimmune keto diet which means that I emphasize fat, protein and low carb vegetables and I avoid sugars / carbohydrates / grains. One of our favorite weeknight dinners is a simple slow cooker pork served with all kinds of taco sides. I chop up good lettuce and put avocados, pickled onions, a few cherry tomatoes and the slow cooker pork into my bowl while my family does what they want with the rest of the toppings. It’s high-protein very low carb and super yummy!
When I want to feel extra healthy, I try to pack in extra vegetables into whatever I am making…. I increase the vegetable to other things ratio in whatever I make. I make a lot of vegetable-centered soups, because a soup can be reheated and I often feel more like hot food than a cold salad at night. Last thing I do when I feel like returning to balance is I aim to have a vegan dinner, which for me is usually a veggie and tofu stir fry with some sort of flavorful sauce. I wouldn’t want to be vegan all the time, but it makes me feel good to take small break from butter, cheese and refined carbs, and it seems easier to use them more sparingly when I take a regular break.
chili oil salmon and rice noodles. i make the chili oil from this recipe:
https://www.seriouseats.com/sichuan-wonton-chili-oil-suanla-chaoshou-recipe
(but i only use 1t of the sichuan peppercorns because i'm sensitive to their flavor/heat, and do just a dash of hot sesame oil instead of the 1T roasted sesame oil)
then i blend up 1/4c soy sauce, a knob of ginger, a few cloves of garlic, and some rice vinegar and oyster sauce, and add a bit of hot sesame oil. pour it into a shallow dish and marinate the salmon flesh side down (so the skin stays dry). meanwhile i boil some rice noodles (rice sticks, not vermicelli), rinse them really well, toss with some of the chili oil, and set aside or do it earlier in the day and refrigerate in a ziploc bag.
cook the salmon skin side down in a lil veg oil, then flip it and after a couple minutes add the marinade and bring it to a boil. remove the cooked salmon to a plate, and add a mess of sliced scallions to the pan and then dump in the rice noodles to soak up the sauce. finish the noodles with fresh lime juice. serve the salmon drizzled with chili oil over the noodles.
i usually have a whole bunch of cucumbers on the side in a little rice vinegar and soy. if i have cabbage on hand you can also make a quick slaw to put on top of the salmon - just shredded cabbage with the chili oil, a tiny bit of mayo, and a dash of soy sauce & rice vinegar, maybe a pinch of sugar.
Fish or shrimp tacos on fresh corn tortillas with fresh herbs, salsas, and avocado. Also, smoked salmon kale salad with lots of veggies and a dressing made with a touch of oil and a glug of Kongs Khao Man Gai Sauce! Delish.
Egg white omelette with greens, protein shake, maybe one Reese’s egg
I really get into spring rolls this time of year, but I hate rolling them up so I usually just dump all the ingredients in a bowl and use the dipping sauce as dressing. So spring roll salad I guess...
Oh also, bean tacos.... chop and saute onion and some garlic, add a can or two of drained black beans, then from there just treat the beans like ground beef! Add avocado, plain yogurt spiked with lime juice, cabbage, etc!
Melissa Clark's turkey meatballs are soooo good. I make a super quick sauce with canned whole tomato (olive oil, garlic and tomatoes, that's it) - puree right after adding tomatoes with immersion blender - then plop the meatballs in the sauce for cooking. I eat them with a lot of sauce on top of a mound of (previously frozen) spinach and my family has with pasta. They are delicious and you can eat a lot of them!
Quesadillas! - some sort of shredded protein (we make it ahead and freeze to make life easy), roasted vegetables and cheese folded in a tortilla and griddled.
Roasted (or air fried) cubed sweet potato with cumin, chili powder, s&p, along with Orangette’s bean recipe: http://orangette.net/2015/03/the-bean-doctor/
Sometimes as a bowl or sometimes with corn tortillas and arugula with a squeeze of lime. Also good for breakfast with eggs if there’s leftovers!
I also really love a simple, farmers market fresh salad with really excellent salami, nuts and or cheese added to it to make it tasty, filling, and high protein enough to be nourishing. This might seem silly too but another weeknight favorite is garden omelettes — we take whatever is popping in our patio garden, even if it’s only basil, and build some kind of simple omelette around it.
Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa has a simple recipe for long cooked Romano beans with tomato and onion. I use haricots vert, increase the tomatoes, and add red chili flakes, and end up with something like a shakshouka that I poach two eggs in - delicious at any time of day
I make this all the time for lunch. So, why not dinner? https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022562-silken-tofu-with-spicy-soy-dressing
I often don't even add the toasted sesames. (I have used them, but omitting them makes this an even faster, one pot meal.) And I use chili crunch in place of the chili oil. I will eat it with the gaba brown rice from the zojirushi setting. And also, I will sometimes make an impromptu (no recipe) red cabbage slaw, if I have the ingredients in the house. I really love this recipe and crave it often.
I keep going back to this one. It’s so simple, easy to change up with flavors or veggies you like/have around, and still filling. https://minimalistbaker.com/sheet-pan-meal-curried-sweet-potato-chickpeas/
Roasted salmon with brown rice and veggies!
When I want a reset, but don’t want a cold salad, I turn to cabbage…
You need 2.5 hours to accomplish this, but it honestly couldn’t be easier or more hands-off. Is great with a poached/fried egg on top, and reheats like a dream
http://orangette.net/2006/01/tender-is-the-cabbage/
Also this cabbage soup is a staple in my house… over the years I have upped the ground cumin and coriander, nixed the fennel seed, and subbed fire roasted diced tomatoes, used better than bouillon, etc. I like it with a piece of whole grain cheese toast on the side
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cabbage_soup/
Smitten Kitchen's take on Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu (I add green beans to the sheet trays for the second 20 minutes, also a splash of rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to the sauce) or Melissa Clark's Shakshuka
The NYT’s braised white beans with greens. Easy and filling!
Tuna, apple, and a bit of cheddar on a whole wheat pita broiled; brown rice, roasted broccoli, feta and chia seeds sprinkled on top; a breakfast burrito on a healthy tortilla with scrambled eggs, avocado, and salsa; an old recipe from the Guardian for Turkish lentil and bulgur soup which is somehow insanely delicious and easy - or a snack plate - cut veggies, fruit, cheese, crackers.
My go to 'healthy' meal is in fact healthy. Or at least as healthy as I care to make it. It's a version of cooking some kind of vegetables in the same pot as pasta. It's based on the classic Pugliese Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, which is cooked together then dressed with olive oil, garlic and anchovies. I often branch out with other vegetables (broccoli, fennel, cauliflower) and sometimes sauted some pancetta instead of anchovies, or else add a cup of grated parmigiano or pecorino at the end. The healthy balance comes into play when you decide on the ratio of vegetables to pasta. I often get away with using only 50 gr of pasta per person, with tons of vegetables and no one knows the difference. ;)
I rarely repeat recipes, but I do this very often:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/herbed-chickpeas
(I only use 1 can though, 2 cans never get crispy enough!).
I make these chickpeas + served over yogurt + roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds
Tofu ginger stir fry with lots of veggies and sesame paste (not tahini, roasted sesame seed paste). Absolutely delicious with a little rice on the side
Bacon and shrimp. It’s Keto so healthy to me!
also i usually have this for lunch but, i mix storebought hummus & greek yogurt 1:1 (shoutout to dinner: a love story for this "hummus hack" riff) and then drizzle with olive oil and sumac or everything bagel seasoning. top with a mix of salted tomatoes and cucumbers or veg of choice. (in the winter roasted root veg over hummus is SO GOOD...or roasted baby potatoes and blistered shishito peppers...i could go on.) if you added some sliced grilled chicken it would be dinner, i think.
Weekly-ish we make broiled salmon or steelhead trout, basmati rice, and this delicious broccoli tahini thing: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/crispy-roasted-broccoli-with-tahini-sauce/amp
Mine is an Herby three bean salad (NYT)
Sheet pan dinner..roasted tomatoes, chicken and broccoli- they all roast about the same time and then tons of chopped herbs with a bit of balsamic vinegar- it feels indulgent, but it’s just tasty!
This thread is awesome! Just doctored up a can of no salt added beans following the orangette link someone posted in thread (i added some salt). Pan-fried salmon, skin down, removed skin (plenty of fats in bowl) with gaba brown rice, curtido i made weeks ago following https://www.mexicanplease.com/spicy-curtido-pickled-cabbage-slaw/, sour cream, cotija and the doctored beans. Topped with market deli aisle salsa from a while back. Pretty freaking delicious. Stuffing my face now.
So many wonderful ideas! I loved reading everyone's responses. Here are links to the ones I cook again and again:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/01/sheet-pan-meatballs-with-crispy-turmeric-chickpeas/
(but with ground chicken instead of turkey)
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chicken-and-rice-meatballs-with-hummus
(excellent way to use leftover rice; I make these all the time even without the hummus and the salad)
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/green-seasoning-baked-cod
(BEAUTIFUL and delicious)
https://www.saltandspine.com/recipe/green-estrone
(from Carla Lalli Music's Where Cooking Begins)
https://www.budgetbytes.com/easy-rosemary-garlic-white-bean-soup/
(CHEAP and yum and so creamy sans cream)
https://agoodcarrot.com/miso-mustard-dressing-recipe/
(amazing salad dressing recipe from Queen Samin; I prefer maple syrup to honey)
Also the chickpea pancakes with shaved veg salad from Carla Lalli Music's That Sounds So Good.
The Mediterranean Couscous and Lentil Salad from Epicurious site. I like it with grilled chicken breast or sauteed shrimp with garlic and red pepper flakes.
I make some version of sheet pan salmon and veggies for dinner every Monday - a nice reset after weekend eating. I don't really use a recipe anymore, just preheat the oven to 425, toss in veggies (go-to's are cauliflower, little potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, because my kids will eat those). Let the veggies roast for 15ish minutes, then add the salmon for 12 minutes. I use two separate pans and line them with foil, so clean-up is also very easy. I usually rotate between the following for the salmon:
-salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, squeeze of lemon at the end
-the miso salmon from Dinner: A Love Story (https://www.dinneralovestory.com/miso-glazed-salmon)
-2:1 mix of dijon mustard/maple syrup, slathered on top of the salmon before baking
-a healthy sprinkle of any of the Penzey's spice mixes - Fox Point is a recent favorite
7-6-5 grilled pork tenderloin with a cherry or apricot preserve "sauce" with (fall/winter) mashed sweet potatoes or (spring/summer) rice and whatever veg is speaking to me and is in the house. Fast - you get everything else done in the 18 minutes it takes to cook the pork.
Melissa Clark's miso salmon and the apple and celery salad from Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden with a side of brown rice or the grain and vegetable medley in the frozen section at Trader Joe's.
Salmon Rice Bowls!
Roast any veggie (broccoli is our favorite) on a sheet pan at 425°. (Toss w olive oil and salt and pepper before.)
After 10-15 min, remove sheet pan from oven and add salmon (top w olive oil, s+p, Za’tar seasoning).
Continue roasting another 10 min or so depending on thickness of salmon.
When done, add veggies and salmon to a bowl with rice (or pasta) Delicious!
Optional; add greens, hot sauce, mango salsa, tzatziki, etc.
I make a version of this boneless chicken thighs/ tender stem broccoli/ garlic ginger and sesame seeds stir fry about once a week. With or without rice. It definitely slots into the easy quick and ‘healthy-ish’ meals category.
https://nettleandquince.com/2022/02/28/student-food-or-weeknight-meal-chicken-and-broccoli/
This is really tasty. I like it over quinoa. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020976-lentils-cacciatore
This is mine - so delicious! https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chicken-and-rice-soup-with-garlicky-chile-oil
1) Mixed greens, sliced pear, goat cheese, toasted walnuts, and slow roasted salmon, with a dijon vinagrette. 2) Sliced grilled steak with a quinoa Greek salad
Thin cut pork chops marinaded for 30 minutes or more in soy sauce and red pepper flakes, then cooked quickly in a medium hot pan, served with noodles or brown rice, and whatever veggie looks great that day. If feeling fancy, toss some fresh pineapple chunks in at the end of cooking the pork chops.
We've been loving this recipe: https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/braised-eggs-with-leek-and-za-atar
I have a recipe for Roasted Spaghetti Squash topped with black bean sauce and a tomato/avocado salsa. The seasoning is Mexican. Delish, and it's vegan.
Also, I agree that as we see what you eat, you DO eat healthy food!
This is an incredible list of suggestions. I only browsed it- I will do a deep dive later. I try to cook "healthy" every evening but it is a struggle as I would like pizza or pasta every night. I am going to think about this and send a few links of my favorite recipes. Over 60 and it is really hard to beat back the expanding waistline, even with working out almost every day. WINE and SUGAR and FLOUR (processed carbs) are the devil for my body, but also my absolute favorite things.
Thanks, Adam, for this conversation. I will get back to you.
Steamed vegetables in peanut sauce, closely followed by roasted vegetables with tahini sauce.