How Can I Make a Healthy (and Vegetarian) Main Course when I get home, only Right Now?

If you were to poll people on the reasons that they don’t make a healthy, homemade dinner when they get home, I’d bet you’d find that the most common responses would be 1) time, and 2) energy.  Sure, some people love to cook, but when you come home exhausted, cooking can feel like more work…like you’re still not done for the day.  Meanwhile, if you settle for something like a microwave dinner, or, worse still, fast food—you’re only making things worse by maintaining bad diet habits.

But if you knew you could throw together a dinner that’s super healthy and tasty in just 10 minutes, possibly even quicker, wouldn’t that make preparing something homemade worth just a little extra effort?  This is a red lentil main dish that I like to keep in heavy rotation, usually accompanied by some steamed vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or beets, which of course can be cooked right alongside the lentils.  This version serves 2 adults with modest appetites, or 1 with a very hearty appetite, and can be multiplied in proportion for more servings.

Vegetarian Red Lentil Main Course

Ingredients

• ½ cup red lentils (I get them from bins at the health food store)
• 1 wide slice medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• Dash of salt
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 cup water

Pour the ½ cup red lentils and 1 cup water into a small saucepan/pot (use a medium saucepan if you’re making 1 ½ cups lentils or more; you want to leave a couple of inches between the top of the water and the top of the pot).

Turn heat to high, add a dash of salt, stir to separate lentils, and cover.

While water is warming, cut wide slice from onion and dice.  Move to side of chopping board, and then mince 2 cloves garlic.

Lift cover of pot and carefully slide in diced onion and minced garlic.  If water isn’t yet boiling, return cover (with this small-sized portion, water will come to boil quickly, so keep a frequent eye on it even while chopping onion and garlic).

Once water begins to boil, turn heat down to low.  Add in curry powder and stir.  If possible, balance pot cover on pot handle so that good amount of steam rises out, but not all of it (if you need to leave pot cover off altogether, that’s fine, but be sure heat is on lowest setting.

Depending on heat source and pan type, this part of the cooking can range from about 5 to 8 minutes.  Continue to stir lentil mixture every couple minutes, and as water gets low, monitor regularly.  You want water to cook down all the way so that it’s completely absorbed, but to turn off heat before lentils begin sticking to pan.  This takes some practice, but if you’re monitoring the final minute(s), you should be fine.  Stir lentils to check that water has been absorbed, and if so, add in optional cayenne pepper pinch, if using.

Serve immediately.  Accompany with preferred condiment, as long as it’s mustard, preferably of decent quality, such as Dijon.

And that’s it!  You have a nice, healthy, vegetarian main course that includes protein and plenty of good vitamins and minerals, and all in 10 minutes or under.  You may notice that some recipes call for the onion to be cooked in oil first to carmelize, but I find that this version still provides ample onion and garlic-ness, and is much quicker and easier.

Michael Shaw writes about food and nutrition at his website, No Flour, No Sugar Diet, where he includes a guide to unrefined sugar sources among other healthy alternatives to refined flours and sugars.

Photo courtesy: SteveFE

Hmm, who would have thought that something so different would taste so good.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp margarine or butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 to 2 tsp curry powder (depending on taste)
4 cups chicken or veggie stock
1/4 cup uncooked rice
2 cups diced unpeeled zucchini
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Instructions:
Melt the margarine or butter in a saucepan and sauté the onion and apple until just soft. Add the curry powder and stir for a few seconds. Pour in the chicken or veggie stock and bring to a boil. Then, add the uncooked rice, zucchini and salt, cover and simmer until rice and zucchini are tender. This takes about 30 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the saucepan and add the milk. Heat up again, but don’t let the mixture boil.

Serve this soup hot with crusty bread.

Guacamole a Little on the Lite Side

Ingredients:

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cut in chunks
1 tomato, peeled and chopped

Instructions:

In a food processor add onion, salt, lemon or lime juice, cottage cheese, garlic, cayenne pepper, and avocado. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and gently stir in the chopped tomato. Cover with plastic wrap allowing the plastic to actually touch the entire surface of the guacamole.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and serve with low-fat tortilla chips, carrot sticks, celery, green pepper strips, and pita chips.

I love this salad because I can fix it so far ahead and in the mornings when it’s too warm to cook.

Ingredients:
2 cups canned butter beans
2 cups canned kidney beans
2 cups canned green beans
2 cups yellow beans
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup red onions, chopped
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp celery seeds

Method:
Add all drained cans of beans to a large serving bowl. Add chopped celery, pepper and onion and gently stir.

In a saucepan, combine vinegar, olive oil, celery seeds and sugar and bring to a quick boil. Pour the mixture over the beans and gently toss.

Cover and marinate for 24 to 48 hours.

Very easy recipe to modify to the families likes and dislikes.

Ingredients:
12 oz mixed dried fruit of your choice (dates, apricots, raisins etc)
4 oz nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts or Brazil nuts)
4 oz grated coconut
Grated rind of 1 orange or lemon
A little orange juice
Extra grated coconut for coating

Method:
Process dried fruit mixture and nuts in a food processor until finely chopped.

Add coconut and grated rind of orange or lemon and process again, adding the orange juice to make a firm paste.

Sprinkle coconut in an 8inch square cake tin, press the fruit mixture into the tin and finish off with some more coconut. Press down well!

Put a weight on top of the cake tin and chill in the fridge. When chilled and firm slice into 1inch squares and enjoy!

I love toasted sesame seeds. Brings just the right hint of flavor to an Asian inspired dish.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs green beans
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 cup water
1 onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
8 large lettuce leaves

Method:
Cut off the ends of the green beans.

In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add onion, garlic, lemon juice, beans and cauliflower florets. Reduce heat immediately and simmer the vegetables for about 8 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain and remove garlic.

In a little bowl, combine soy sauce 1/4 cup water and oil and pour over the vegetables. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Toast sesame seeds in the oven at 325° Fahrenheit for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

When ready to serve, toss the vegetables gently and drain the marinade. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a service platter and spoon the vegetables on top. Sprinkle with the tasted sesame seeds and enjoy!

I love bread. It’s my weakness. So I love when I can find a way to indulge a little and still keep it a little healthy.

Ingredients:

4 (1/4 oz.) packages active dry yeast
4 cups 110 degree warm water
1 cup 110 degree warm milk
6 Tbsp brown sugar substitute
1/8 cup sugar substitute
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups rye flour
10 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup caraway seeds

Directions:

1. Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Pour in the warm milk and both sugar substitutes. Stir to dissolve the sugar substitutes. Let yeast mixture sit until it becomes frothy.

2. Add the shortening, molasses and both types of flour. Beat with an electric mixer on medium until the mixture becomes very smooth.

3. Fold in the caraway seeds. The mixture should form a soft dough if not add 2 Tbsp flour at a time, stirring after each addition, until a soft dough forms.

4. Lightly flour a flat surface. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and knead with your palms until smooth and elastic. This process takes about 6 minutes or so.

5. Coat a large bowl with a non stick cooking spray on the bottom and up the sides. Place the dough into the bowl and coat with the cooking spray. Cover with a towel and place in a warm area allowing the dough to rise double its size. This takes about 1 hour to achieve.

6. Remove the towel and punch the dough down with your fists. Lightly flour the flat surface again and place the dough on the floured surface.

7. Divide the dough into four sections and form into loaf shapes. Place the loaves into 4 loaf pans.

8. Cover with towel again and allow to rise for another 30 minutes.

9. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the bread for 30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Allow to cool before slicing.

Nutritional Information: (Approximate Values based on 1 slice of bread)

106 calories; 1 g fat; trace saturated fat; 1 mg cholesterol; 225 mg sodium; 21 g carbohydrates; 1 g fiber; 3 g protein

Ingredients:

2 (5 ounce) packages mixed greens
2 cups fresh nectarines, sliced
1 (13 1/4 ounce) can beets, drained and sliced
1/2 cup feta cheese (or crumbled goat cheese if you can only find feta that is from cow’s)
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Place the greens into a large salad bowl.

2. Add the nectarines and beets and toss to fluff.

3. Sprinkle the salad with the feta cheese to cover the entire salad.

4. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the entire salad.

Nutritional Information: (Approximate Value per 1 cup serving)

85 calories; 4 g fat; 1 g saturated fat; 4 mg cholesterol; 293 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrates; 2 g fiver; 3 g protein