A great way to ensure you’re eating healthy is by preparing meals yourself. When you do your own cooking, you know exactly what ingredients are going into your meals.

But what do you do when you’re in a hurry or don’t have a lot of time during the day to prepare nutritious meals yourself?

Here are 10 simple recipes that are delicious as well as healthy. The best part? They only take 15 minutes or less to make and won’t lead you to turn to fast unhealthy foods when you’re in a rush:

1. Oatmeal Galore

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (preferably organic)
• 1 cup water
• ½  cup blueberries
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

Instructions: 

Add water and the oats to a pot. Cook while stirring over high heat for 5 minutes or according to the package instructions. Top with the blueberries, chia and sunflower seeds. Drizzle with the agave nectar. Enjoy!

2. Nutritious Tricolored Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tri-colored quinoa
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup roasted pumpkin seeds (roast for 3 minutes with ½ tsp coconut oil over high heat)
• ¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds (roast for 3 minutes with ½ tsp coconut oil over high heat)
• ½ cup chopped parsley and coriander
• ½ cup chopped celery
• Juice from ½ of a freshly squeezed lemon
• ½ avocado, sliced (optional)

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, toast dry quinoa for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 12-15 minutes until quinoa is tender and tails have popped. Drain if need and place in a bowl. In the meanwhile, toss pumpkin and sunflower seeds a hot pan for 3 minutes with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Add seeds to quinoa. Add chopped parsley and chopped celery to quinoa. Season with black pepper and Himalayan salt. Add juice from a freshly squeezed lemon. You can also add avocado. Enjoy!

3. Delicious Lentil Soup

(using a pressure cooker – an excellent investment if you like soups, whole grains and hot pots and have no patience for long cooking hours)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, cut into half moons
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 6 cups water or 6 cups all-natural vegetable broth (can be made with natural soup powder — look for fat-free varieties)
• 1 ½ cups green or brown lentils and ½ cup red lentils
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces
• ½ tsp Himalayan salt
• ½ – 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

In the pressure cooker, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add carrots and sauté for another two minutes. Add the bay leaves, thyme, lentils, potato, and water or broth. Stir well.

Lock the lid of the pressure cooker and bring mixture to a boil over high heat or until you achieve high pressure. Reduce the heat to and cook for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaves and thyme stems. Add salt and pepper only if you did not use soup powder. Enjoy!

4. Savory Black Beans with Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups frozen black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 oz. jar high-quality prepared salsa with no additives
• 1 large handful pumpkin seeds toasted in a pan over high heat for 2  minutes
• Head of red lettuce, washed, cored, and separated into leaves

Instructions:

Prepare quinoa as in recipe # 2. When quinoa is ready, add beans and salsa, stirring gently to combine well. Cover and cook for 3 minutes until dish reaches the desired temperature. Fold in pumpkin seeds and serve on a bed of lettuce leaves. Enjoy!

5. Appetizing Open-Face Burrito

Ingredients:

• 1 whole-wheat tortilla (Most of the tortillas for sale are made with unhealthy fats, so check the ingredients. If you want, you may exchange the tortilla with a whole grain pita in this recipe instead)
• ½  cup frozen black or chili beans
• squeeze from one lemon
• ½  cup romaine and iceberg lettuce, chopped
• ½  cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1 avocado, mashed

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (375°F). Open the tortilla or pita and spread beans on top. Let them bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Add mashed avocado on top of the beans, sprinkle with chopped tomatoes, and add lettuce on top and dash with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Enjoy!

6. Refreshing Roots and Lentils

Ingredients:

• one big sweet potato
• ½ butternut pumpkin
• 1 cup of orange lentils, soaked for 10 minutes in boiling water
• 2 cups water or all-natural vegetable broth (can be made with natural soup powder — aim for fat-free varieties)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp cumin

Instructions: 

Fry garlic in coconut oil in a pot. Peel and cut sweet potato and butternut pumpkin into chunks and place in the pot. Add orange lentils and water or vegetable broth, and spices. Cook for about 15 minutes. Presto, a deliciously healthy and quick meal.

7. Spring Spaghetti Puttanesca

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces whole-wheat thin spaghetti (no. 1) or whole wheat or whole grain rice vermicelli
• 1 diced garlic clove
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup pitted chopped Spanish or Greek olives
• 1 tbs capers
• 1 tbs fresh oregano leaves or 1 tsp dried
• 1/8 teaspoon spicy red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 tbs sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• 1 (14-ounce) jar of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh arugula

Instructions: 

Place spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes or according to the instructions on the package. In a large frying pan add the chopped garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the parsley, olives, capers, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes and the red pepper flakes to the frying pan, and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the arugula and simmer for 1 minute more, until the greens wilt slightly. When the spaghetti is ready, drain well and add it to the frying pan, tossing it with the sauce to combine. Enjoy!

8. Creamy Mushroom and Almond Pasta

Ingredients:

12 ounces whole wheat pasta or frozen gnocchi

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• ½  cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Pinch of Himalayan salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
• ½  cup frozen peas, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse
• 3 tbs almond paste

Instructions: 

Place spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes or according to the instructions on the package; when ready, drain well. To make the sauce, fry the basil and garlic in coconut oil for 2 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice on top, and season with salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and peas. Toss for 5 minutes. Add almond paste. Fry for one more minute. Enjoy!

9. Tofu Cauliflower Fusion

Ingredients:

• 1 purple onion sliced
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 cup cauliflower parted into pieces (To part the cauliflower remove stalk from the head of cauliflower by cutting it out with a sharp knife. Once the stalk is removed, the core with the florets attached remains. Cut each cluster from the core, leaving a little stem on each cluster)
• 1 cup tofu, sliced
• Himalayan salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tbs tamari sauce

Instructions: 

Fry onion in coconut oil, add cauliflower, salt, pepper and tamari sauce. Stir and cover frying pan. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Serve with brown rice. Enjoy!

10. Berry Bowl Delight

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs. frozen berries
• ½  – 1 tsp stevia
• coconut creme
• White chia seeds
• Some cacao (optional)

Instructions: 

Combine all of the ingredients in the hand food processor bowl. Stir continuously for 2 minutes Let the mixture stand for half an hour. Serve and Enjoy!

11. Bonus: Fresh Fun Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• ½ pint blackberries halved
• 2 cups diced fresh pineapple
• 1 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 4 ripe kiwis, peeled, halved and sliced
• 1 banana

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Enjoy.

 

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