It can often be hard to stick to a healthy diet. Still, it’s important to consider that what you eat influences your body and mind.
Eating unhealthy food can lead to feeling run down and sluggish and cause serious health problems like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. It isn’t important to count every calorie you eat most of the time. Still, it is important to keep track of whether you’re getting enough minerals, vitamins, and other key nutrients.
Fortunately, there are many ways to add these important components to your diet without sacrificing portion size or flavor. These dinner ideas are delicious enough to impress visitors and healthy enough to give you the nutrients you need daily.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
One of the most standard things you can do to make dinnertime more healthy is to eat salad. A strawberry spinach salad is ideal for this since its ingredients are full of nutrients. Spinach is well known to be an excellent source of fiber, vitamin K, and iron.
Strawberries are loaded with antioxidants, making the two a perfect match. Covering it with walnuts rather than croutons reduces carb consumption. To make this a main course, top the salad with grilled chicken.
Whole-Grain Spaghetti
To make a healthy Italian dinner, whole-grain spaghetti and fresh marinara sauce are the way to go! Many of the most common ingredients can be substituted for whole-grain varieties, making the meal instantly much healthier.
The taste difference is minimal, especially when smothered in sauce, but the health benefits are important. Deciding to use whole grains over refined grains has been shown to lower the risk of many major health problems, including cardiovascular disease.
Veggie Pizza
If you love pizza but need to reduce the amount of unhealthy food intake, veggie pizza is the way to go. Create your own pizza by using whole-grain dough for the crust, then topping with fresh marinara sauce. A small amount of low-fat mozzarella cheese will add flavor without spoiling your diet. Still, the key to a healthy pizza is what you put on top.
Mushrooms, onions, and peppers are a great way to start. For an even more healthy pizza, add spinach, Roma tomato slices, or even artichoke hearts. Vegetables are good for heart health. Using them in place of toppings like sausage and pepperoni will reduce fat intake.
Chicken Stir-Fry
Stir-fry is a great and easy go-to meal to turn to when you search for something healthier. It is easy to add in extra vegetables and improve the nutritional value of your meal. To begin, grill chicken using a seasoning that is low fat. In a deep skillet or wok, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and mix in your vegetables.
Great stir-fry veggies include corn, carrots, peas, peppers, onions, mushrooms, squash, bok choy, and water chestnuts. Stir in the chicken, keeping the portions to about 75% vegetables, then serve over steamed brown rice. This chicken stir-fry will give you plenty of fiber, protein, and other important nutrients.
Steak Kabobs
Beef often gets disregarded when trying to eat healthily, but plenty of great recipes include lean cuts of meat.
Normally, these are not as good for your heart as chicken or pork, but they provide fiber, iron, and protein.
To make these kabobs, skewer small chunks of beef tenderloin with healthy seasonal veggies like squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms.
These veggies will keep your calorie and fat intake down, provide lots of nutrients and vitamins, and fill you up. Use low-cal marinade on the meat, and grill the entire kabob for a healthy and delicious meal!