I’m seriously lacking inspiration for quick, easy and healthy meals I can have for dinner & lunch. Not fussy – I eat everything! Would love some recommendations. Trying to get better with meal prep so any inspiration from that side also would be FAB - I am single, so a one man band which often ends in leftovers or food waste unless I’m mega organised x
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It’s no secret I am obsessed with Rukmini Iyer’s books, but her quick roasting tin book is particularly good if you’re looking for easy and speedy meals. They can easily be scaled down but I love making the quantities she says and then having the leftovers for lunch/supper the following day. Some more healthy than others though, I must admit! But nice to have a selection… x
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I agree - the Veggie one I suggested on another thread is my favourite for fresh inspo and minimal washing up too! x Available here
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I also love Rukmini’s books. But my other go-to is Donna Hay! I have Week-Light, Everyday Fresh and her new one The Fast Five – and they are all excellent. Loads of the recipes are riffs on each other, so you don’t need to have loads of ingredients and she loves Aussie-style Asian dishes so there are lots of nice Asian salads and healthy stir-fries which I often have as leftovers the next day. She also has lots of pasta recipes, but always packs them with veg and healthier cheeses so they feel lighter and fresher!
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This is a go to recipe for me
Once you’ve brought the ingredients for the glaze you can use time and time again.
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This is a quick and easy pasta dish that’s worth a try!
When I lived alone, I tried to have a stable of mix-y matchy super simple things I could jazz up. I would pick a protein and then add a starch or veggie, then a flavor profile. Here are some ideas:
- Protein: chicken breast, salmon, pork tenderloin (split in half, cook half and freeze half for next time if you’re solo).
- Starch: farro, quinoa, pasta, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, pearl couscous, rice, black beans
- Veggies: green salad (field greens, arugula, baby spinach, baby kale, romaine are my go-tos), roasted carrots, onions, and tomatoes, simple side of raw crudités, roasted asparagus.
Basically I would pick one from each category, than say - ok, I will add Mexican flavors, or asian flavors. So you could roast salmon (using some asian marinade) and put it over rice with a side salad of baby greens. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions, make a ginger dressing if you want to get fancy. Or do pork tenderloin, black beans, and roasted asparagus (I heat up a can of black beans with a small amount of oil and a bunch of rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes). Add sour cream, queso fresco, or cheddar to your beans. Or chicken breast, roasted carrots/onions/grape tomatoes, couscous. Add feta to the veggies to jazz them up.
For me, I don’t particularly like to cook and I find following a recipe sort of tedious. So I try to stick with simple - just a whole food, either cooked or raw, simple seasonings, and things that I know how to cook - mostly roasting, which is nice bc you can use 1-2 sheet pan and most of the time is not active time and you can do something else.
Another go to:
- eggs + simple greens salad (oil + vinegar dressing). Jazz it up with toast with butter, toast with any kind of nice french cheese, a couple of warmed goat cheese crusted in panko in the salad, or croutons and big flakes of parm in the salad.
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Amazing - mega helpful! Thanks so much x
YUM! x