There Are Three Healthy And Nutritive Dinner Recipes

If you want to find quick healthy dinner ideas that you enjoy, you need to find your inspiration. An uninspired dinner tastes, after all, uninspired. One of the main reasons that diets fail is because people limit themselves to only a few food choices. There are three perfect dinner recipes you can try:

1. Quinoa & Black Beans

 Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup frozen corn kennels
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir the onion and garlic and sauté until lightly browned.
2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin and cayenne pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Stir frozen corn into saucepan until 5 minutes heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

If you are not yet familiar with quinoa, you soon will be. This super-food is one of the most nutritious foods on earth according to Menshealth. Packed with fiber, calcium and protein, this unique, high quality whole grain demanded a recipe that did its nutritional value justice. Quinoa is rich in all essential amino acids. Combined with corn and black beans, this nutritious quinoa recipe is the ultimate source of fiber, protein, and, most importantly, deliciousness.

2. Coconut Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups plain or vanilla soy milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 container (8 oz) plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Pour the milk and salt in to a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir in the oats, raisins, and cranberries. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in walnuts and coconut, and let stand until it reaches desired thickness. Spoon into serving bowls and top with yogurt and honey, if desired.

Although more of a breakfast meal, I will advocate for oatmeal every chance I get. This recipe literally has it all, from the complex carbs, fiber, and b-vitamins found in oatmeal, to the protein content in soymilk, almonds, and yogurt, it is impossible for me to list all that you will take out of this meal. Incidentally, this would be the ultimate workout food, if you were to look at my blog about the most effective workout snacks you would find that this has 3 of them; oatmeal, almonds, and yogurt. Do your body and your taste buds a favor and try this delicious recipe.

3. Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, cubed
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery
• 3 ½ cups crushed tomatoes
• 1 ½ cups lentils – soaked, rinsed, drained
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¾ cup white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1 sprig fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ teaspoon fresh paprika
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, sauté the onions until they are glossy. Stir in garlic, paprika, celery, carrots, and sauté for 10 minutes.
2. Once the vegetable have sautéed for 10 minutes, stir in chicken stock, lentils, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir well, then add the wine and bring the mixture to a boil. Slowly reduce the heat, then cook for one hour on low to medium heat; or until the lentils are tender.
3. Sprinkle the soup with parsley and parmesan before serving.

A fantastic source of protein, fiber, b-vitamins, iron, thiamine, and complex carbohydrates, lentils are another food that I just refuse to stop talking about. Lentils are listed as 1 of the 5 healthiest foods by Health Magazine and it is easy to see why. Like all of the other featured foods in this blog, it really does have it all. Lentils are also very affordable, and will leave you with a fatter wallet and slimmer waste. Throw in healthy vegetables like vitamin A rich carrots, and vitamin K infused celery, spice them up with calorie free products like paprika and pepper and you have yourself some delicious nutrition.