Healthy Dinner

How many times did your Mom tell you to eat your vegetables? When you think of a healthy dinner, does your nose curl in disdain, remembering those canned peas? Today, a healthy dinner does not need to earn your contempt. As a matter of fact, a healthy dinner can be as tasty and nutritious a meal as you’ve ever enjoyed. Fresh ingredients are the key to a good meal you’ll look forward to eating.

Although convenient and tasty, most fast food shops do not constitute a healthy dinner. Overloaded with salt, sugar, additives and preservatives, these dinners aren’t going to rate very high on the healthy scale. I hear you. “It tastes good! Healthy means yukky and boring fare!” That’s absolutely a myth.

Cooking is becoming a lost art in the United States, a truly sad commentary on our society. You’d be surprised to learn that even as a non-cook (“I hate to cook!”), if you just choose ingredients you like the taste of and combine them in your own style of savoir faire, you’ll be able to produce a healthy dinner you actually like.

The rule of thumb in this cooking without recipes approach is simply to include foods from the major food groups. You can employ the “Dutch eater’s” approach, with segregated foods on a plate that make a healthy and delicious dinner. For example, a lean fish or piece of chicken and a little sauce, with a mound of rice and your favorite vegetables is a complete healthy dinner that beats the fast food counterpart all across the board.

For those of you who like the one-dish dinner, you’re in luck. Most recipes that claim to be a one-dish meal usually automatically include all the components necessary to be declared healthy. Fried rice is a good example. You’ve got your grains, protein and vegetables all in one spoonful. A glass of milk or fruit and yogurt for dessert satisfies the definition of a healthy dinner. Much better than a greasy burger and greasy fries!

If you’re not concerned with your weight, your possibilities expand. Take a batch of lasagna. By itself, it fulfills all the criteria for a dinner you can love to love eating. With grains, vegetables, meat and cheese, lasagna is truly healthy and nutritious, filling and you don’t even need the classic garlic bread as an accompaniment.

The old standby of soup and salad is another healthy dinner choice. Again, the pyramid of food groups is covered, providing all the nutrition, but most importantly to your taste buds, a yummy dinner.

So shed the memories of the canned pea and get with the modern age. Use olive oil to do your cholesterol level a favor. Throw together a dish of your favorite ingredients and enjoy a healthy dinner every night!