Sesame-Ginger Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry

Who doesn't love a good stir fry? They come together quickly, they're warm and flavorful, and they can be designed to fit any palate. They're essentially guilt-free comfort food, and who can resist that?

In this case I combine tofu, broccoli, and baby bok choy for a vegetable-forward dish that will even satisfy a meat-lover. Bonus? If you're in middle of baby led weaning with an 8-month old, as I am, then the broccoli easy translates to dinner for the little one! She does love her brassicas...

I used a pre-made sesame ginger sauce from Wegman's so it comes together extra quickly, but don't worry if you don't have a Wegmans nearby. Use another pre-made (low-sodium!) sauce or quickly whip up your own with some soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and fresh garlic and ginger.

Time: 30 min

Roasted Onions and Portabellas with Swiss Chard-Grain Pilaf

Oh, winter. Or, to be fair, late fall. Is it weird to anyone else that winter doesn't start until the end of December? To me, December will always be winter and March will always be spring but, alas, I guess I don't get to make that determination.

Still, with the cold weather, whatever season it may be, comes the craving for warm, filling, comfort food. However, comfort food and health have historically rarely gone together... but that simply doesn't have to stay that way. This vegan (yes! vegan comfort food!) meal hits all of the right notes - thick textures, hot food, sweet and savory notes - without any of the guilt. You can feel free to bring out the big (really, quite enormous by historical standards) dinner plates this time because there's no reason to skip seconds on this dinner. It's packed full of veggies and whole grains with little else, leaving you content and full yet happy with your decisions.

Time: 55 min

Mushroom-Hazelnut Tagliatelle

Okay, so it's not the healthiest meal I've ever made, but it's certainly not bad either, and sometimes you really just need a comforting plate of pasta. Besides, I'm a sucker for all things mushroom and this dish highlights the best fungus ever produced by nature. What's not to love?

Doubling down on the carbs, I paired this meal with some garlic bread. Typically I like to make my own, but as regular readers know, balancing a baby with my career and other responsibilities means that as much as I love cooking, shortcuts are now far more welcome than they used to be. While I'll still whip up my own garlic bread at times, this weeknight meal meant I purchased a frozen garlic bread from my neighborhood grocery and popped it in the oven. The best garlic bread I've ever had? No, but it sure did hit the spot as this meal came together in under half an hour.

Time: 20 min

Vegetable Noodle Passata

Passata? Eh? If you aren't familiar with the term, don't worry. I had never heard it before coming across this recipe I adapted from Wegmans, but I was curious to learn more. Turns out, it's a tomato puree used most frequently in Italian cooking. It's pure tomatoes, cooked and strained, and ends up thinner than a paste but thicker than a sauce. Can't find it in your local supermarket, though? Not a problem! Simply substituting tomato sauce (the canned, no sodium version) with a bit of tomato paste (ditto) mixed in will yield a similar-enough result.

This recipe makes the passata into a (what else?) fresh tomato sauce over veggie noodles and potatoes. It's hearty enough to be a stand-alone dinner but healthy enough that you don't have to worry about going back for seconds. I made it with zucchini and yellow squash "noodles" but get creative here - really any vegetable noodle would work well! Let us know in the comments if you find a particular tasty combination.

Time: 40 min

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Rice and Sauteed Greens

I'm not usually a scallop fan, but my mother convinced me that these large sea scallops, on sale at Wegmans, were sweet, tender, and delicious and worth an extra trip to purchase immediately. She was right! I followed her instructions to the T (thanks, Mom!) and ended up with an absolutely delicious, incredibly healthy meal that came together extremely quickly but was still impressive enough for a fancy dinner party.

I did very little to the scallops, letting them shine on their own, and paired them with some cauliflower rice and sauteed greens. I purchased the cauliflower already riced to speed up the process but you can easily rice it yourself using a food processor if you can't find it already cut or want to save some extra cash!

Time: 25 min

Tahini Cauliflower and Chickpea Quinoa

Yum! This vegan dish manages to hit all of the right notes. Even dedicated meat-eaters won't realize they're enjoying an animal-free meal since this entree is filling, delicious, and flavorful with a mix of textures and colors that leads to a delightful meal.

I served it along with some roasted delicata squash (an easy and delectably sweet favorite of mine) but this could easily stand alone or go with many other sides. Or, mix together a big batch and take it to work for lunch all week. The added bonus of a vegan meal? It keeps extremely well (and this one works at room temperature just fine) making it an easy to-go lunch.

Time: 40 min

Etruscan Salmon over Millet with Sauteed Spinach

I didn't know what Etruscan Salmon even was when I first came across this recipe, but I'm quite happy I found out. This recipe, making a delicate tomato broth sauce, and poaching the salmon in it, is fabulous. The salmon is richly infused with flavor and stays tender and moist. The sauce is delicious and will leave you soaking up every last morsel. If this is what Etruscans ate, no wonder Italy has such good food still today!

I served the salmon over millet, a whole grain native to Africa and Asia. It's a small grain rich in protein, fiber, and a number of vitamins and minerals. When cooked it leads to a creamy texture, almost like oatmeal or mashed potatoes. In this case it was a great vehicle with the Etruscan sauce, but other whole grains would work well as substitutes. Use brown rice, cous cous, or quinoa in it's place - or go find millet to branch out to a new varietal!

Time: 30 min

Black Bean-Butternut Squash-Corn-Quinoa Casserole with Enchilada Sauce

This deceptively simple vegetarian slow-cooker meal manages to imbibe layer upon layer of flavors for a cool-weather dish that hits the spot. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out (I wasn't even entirely sure what 'enchilada sauce' was until I looked at the ingredients) but it was absolutely delicious, hitting all of the right spots. It provides tons of veggies, filling protein from the beans and quinoa, cheesy goodness, and lots of warmth as the weather begins to get cooler. It also takes all of 10 minutes to prep if you use frozen ingredients like I did, making this super fast to toss in the slow cooker before heading off to work. Bonus? You can assemble it the night before, put the slow cooker in the refrigerator, and just plop on to cook as you head out the door the next morning.

I chose to use frozen veggies (corn, butternut squash) for this meal, but you can certainly use fresh as well if the ingredients are in season. However, keep in mind that if you are choosy about your frozen veggies you may just end up with more nutrients. Look for flash-frozen veggies that are frozen on the spot and double check the ingredients to make sure nothing else (like salt) is added. There should only be one ingredient in a bag of frozen butternut squash...butternut squash! By flash freezing the produce all of the nutrients are retained. That fresh butternut squash you buy, however, might have been picked a week or more before and then sit on your counter for another week or two. By then, sadly, nearly all of the nutrients will have disappeared. Frozen is actually good in this case! So stop feeling guilty and go the easy route with this tasty meal.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 7.5 hours

Tom-Tom Shrimp (or Tofu) with Garlicky Bok Choy

Stop whatever you're doing and make this right now. It comes together shockingly quickly, is healthy, and is absolutely delicious. I was a little hesitant at first since the Tom-Tom sauce advertises that it's spicy (I'm not a fan of spicy) but it's barely spicy at all. I suppose this is bad news for some, but if you're like me, it means you can take advantage of this incredibly flavorful meal without worries.

I served the shrimp over fonio, an ancient whole grain, but any other whole grain would work equally as well. Go with some simple brown rice (buy pre-cooked, like the boil in the bag kind, for fast prep) or get creative with cous cous, quinoa, amaranth, sorghum, or any other grain you have sitting in the cupboard. If you are feeling creative, though, the creaminess of fonio was very good in this recipe.

Time: 20 min

Mint-Pistachio Pesto Tilapia with Cherry Tomatoes

Mint? Pistachio? In pesto? I know, it's a bit odd to consider if every time you think pesto, you think basil, but while I'm a huge fan of basil pesto you'll be missing out on all sorts of delicious flavors if you don't branch out. In this case, mint replaces basil and pistachios come in for pine nuts. The combination produces an incredibly flavorful topping that would pair well with a variety of proteins and vegetables. If pistachios are too expensive toss in pine nuts instead, but if you can spring for the pistachios they are quite delicious with mint.

I paired this with some roasted potatoes with Cajun spice to round out the meal, but let me know in the comments if you find a delicious alternative that can't be missed.

Time: 20 min

Roasted Delicata Squash

Not familiar with delicata squash? It's one of my favorite winter squashes - and it's incredibly easy to prepare! As you can see it's a smaller squash and it's a creamy yellow color with green stripes. Best of all, the skin is very tender and thin so you can just eat this entire thing with no need to peel like you would need to do with butternut or acorn squash. The flesh inside is yellow, a bit more delicate than it's heartier cousins, and quite sweet when roasted. What's not to love? In the past I've served it stuffed (you can see in the picture to the right that it makes convenient boat-shaped vessels when cut in half) but here I just roast it, letting the natural flavors shine.

I served this with some salmon topped with freshly cracked pepper (black and pink just for fun) and cous cous, but this versatile dish will go with nearly everything. Or - stuff it with a whole grain, dried fruit, and nuts and make it a stand-alone vegetarian meal.

Time: 35 min

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas and Brussels Sprouts with Tomato Pesto

I love mushrooms. I have for as long as I can remember and they remain one of my all-time favorites today. They tend to get a bad rep - they are a common food to dislike - and even among those who like the food I so often hear that they're "nutritionally void." This simply isn't true. While mushrooms do contain a lot of water, they also have other essential vitamins and nutrients. A single portobello cap, the mushroom featured in this recipe, has 3 g of fiber and 5 g of protein. It also has decent amounts of iron, potassium, and numerous other minerals and vitamins. To be fair, though, while they do in fact have health benefits, I think I'd eat them regardless. They are simply delicious! In this recipe mushrooms are the feature with the giant portobello standing in as a hearty base for a very healthy pizza. So dive right in and enjoy.

To pair with the mushroom pizzas I made brussels sprouts with tomato pesto and walnuts, but "made" is used loosely here. While in the past I would have shunned it, as regular readers know, I've had a few life changes recently! I actually purchased this pre-made kit from Wegmans which meant all I had to was open a cap, stir, and bake. Feeling guilty about not making the side from scratch? The good news is that while it might have a tad more salt than making your own pesto from scratch, it's still far better than anything you'll get in a restaurant or for take-out. You're still making dinner for less money and with more nutritious content than eating out. So give yourself a break and dig right in!

Don't have a Wegmans nearby? Have a little extra time? You can find Wegman's recipe, duplicating their efforts in the pre-made kit, right here.

Time: 25 min

Fresh Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes

It may not be the healthiest, but nothing beats fresh pasta. It's hard to ever imagine going back to the dried stuff once you've tasted it - and when you've tasted truly delicious fresh pasta you won't even settle for run-of-the-mill stuff ever again. But perhaps that's for the best... if you're going to engage in some useless, processed carbs you may as well go for the gold and truly, truly enjoy your meal.

In this case, I pair some fresh pasta with fresh farmer's market veggies - the tail end of this summer's tomato crop, crisp-tender baby spinach, and mushrooms direct from Kennett Square - the mushroom capital of the world! They come together in a fresh, simple meal that may even satisfy some picky children (or adults!) out there. After all, it might have a few extras, but it's really just spaghetti with tomato sauce... As extra incentive to eat your veggies, pair it with some fresh garlic bread picked up from your neighborhood bakery - or even frozen at Whole Foods or Wegmans if you don't live tantalizingly close to Philly's Italian Market like I do!

Time: 15 minutes

Pesto Whole Wheat Gnocchi with King Oyster Mushroom-Kale Saute

Wow. It's hard to believe that this delicious, healthy meal truly comes together in just 20 minutes. And what's not to love about it? Gnocchi, one of the best foods on the planet. Fresh pesto. King Oyster mushrooms (I LOVE mushrooms). Superfood kale. This easy-to-prepare meal not only comes together faster than ordering take-out, but it's also full of nutrients and *may* even just satisfy the pickier eaters among us since gnocchi is really, really hard to turn down.


This meal does make use of some pre-existing ingredients, like you'll see among many of my other super-fast posts these days. It's true - vacuum packed gnocchi, even this whole wheat variety, has some flaws. Most brands have a decent amount of salt. It's definitely worth reading the labels and ensuring that you get the best of the options available. However, I see it this way... this is a 20 minute meal that is still, overall, quite healthy. It's certainly a lot healthier (and cheaper) than ordering take-out. Yes, you could make things from scratch (like I love to do and did often pre-baby) but most families won't have the time, or even the interest, in doing so. So give yourself a break and do your best. Putting out a vegetable-filled home-cooked meal for your family is a success in any form - and just moderate out the salt elsewhere (you'll see my pesto includes no added salt) to make sure you're staying in reasonable daily limits!

Time: 20 minutes

Egg-Topped Black Bean Burgers and Mediterranean Grains and Tomato Salad

Another night, another fast, delicious, healthy meal. What's not to love? This wholesome dinner includes protein (black bean burgers, eggs), whole grains (a blend of garbanzo, quinoa, and orzo), and tons of veggies. It also provides a little room for improvisation, which is always useful when trying to get dinner out quickly since it means you can make use of whatever is in your fridge.

Starting with this post, you'll also start finding notes, whenever relevant, on prep that can be done ahead. As my husband and I adjust to this whole "new parent" thing, we're also learning that anything that can be done the night before is amazing. We've developed a bit of a routine where one of us is doing bedtime and the other is cleaning up dishes from the current night and doing all the prep work for tomorrow's dinner. This is one of the ways we stay sane when weeknights involve getting home from work, getting dinner on the table, and actually getting to see our daughter before her bedtime!

Time: 30 minutes

Chilled Fresh Corn Soup with Cajun Shrimp

What do you do when a thick, hot soup was planned and the day ends up being 100 F? Chill it, of course! Chilled soups hardly have to be the domain of tomatoes and gazpacho - there are plentiful delicious options that will hit your soup craving while keeping the weather cool. The only downside is that since this is already a slow cooker recipe you're talking about planning a day in advance. You'd need to put the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and then chill overnight... not always easy with long work days and children at home. However, the good news, is that it requires very little effort time. The ingredients go in with almost no prep and so the cooking and chilling takes very little additional "hands-on" time.

That being said, this soup is meant to be warm so you can certainly go that route if you want dinner tonight - or if you're simply making this in cooler weather than when I made it. Keep in mind the cajun shrimp will be the tiniest bit spicy. This pairs wonderfully with chilled corn soup but if you're not a fan of spice perhaps keep a lighter hand or try another favorite seasoning if you're going the warm route.

Time: 30 min "hands-on" -- 8.25 hrs total for warm soup -- add overnight if chilling!

Nut Tilapia with Red Quinoa-Tomato-Avocado Salad

Not only does this meal come together extremely quickly, it features some of my favorite foods (hello avocado and tomato!), packs in a ton of nutrients, and can even make use of leftover ingredients from past meals. If you're like me you frequently end up with handfuls of this or that which was purchased for a specific recipe. Finally, at some point, I always have to dive into my cabinets, pull everything out, and get creative out about how to use it up. This meal helps with just that - using up whatever leftover nuts you have sitting around.

Once again, I'll need to thank Wegman's for this meal since they contributed (most) of the recipe for the red quinoa-tomato-avocado salad. I tore it out of the annual magazine I get from them, excited to try it, and it has quickly become a staple in my house. While here you see it as part of a dinner meal, we'll also mix up a double batch and use it for lunches for the week. My husband loves it paired with some grilled chicken for a healthy meal at work.

Time: 25 min

Green Gazpacho with Fresh Corn Salsa

Not a fan of gazpacho? Don't despair - this is not your typical gazpacho. First, it's green! Second, while it does contain some (green) tomato, it's NOT a tomato soup. You'll also find a plethora of other greens in here - cucumber, honeydew melon, basil, avocado, and celery - plus some non-green interesting additions, like almonds and corn. Personally, I'm a fan of traditional gazpacho as well, but regardless, on a hot summer day like we've been having, what's not to love about a healthy, cold, refreshing soup?

This recipe comes from one over at Cooking Light and is specifically developed around eating more raw food. While the magazine is quite pragmatic (which is one of the reasons I love it) and hardly advocates raw eating as a primary diet, they do recognize that cooking often destroys some of the best nutrients in many foods (though not all - some, like sweet potatoes, have more accessible nutrients after being cooked) and so want to make some raw foods available as part of a regular, healthy diet. I see it as a bonus for another reason - the cooking time is short! All you have to do here is chop and blend, so get going while ingredients are fresh and the weather warm.

Time: 20 min (plus chilling time)

Honey Mustard-Mushroom Salmon, Pan-Fried Potatoes, Tomato Salad

This fast meal epitomizes the new focus of my blog extremely well. It's focused on healthy fish (and salmon to boot with its fantastic omega-3s) and vegetables, comes together in 30 minutes, and uses minimal processed ingredients (hi honey mustard). In fact, if you change the salmon's topping, you could have none at all. This meal reminds you that you can indeed have healthy, delicious dinners for your family after spending a long day at work.

The trick? Make use of the ingredients I used to shun in my pre-children days such as cleaned potatoes that microwave in a bag (don't worry, we make them tastier than that) and pre-sliced mushrooms. The downside is that these ingredients are slightly more expensive so they're not an option for everyone, but hopefully if you balance all of these pieces out it means you can at least have home-cooked meals some days of the week! After all, despite having a cooking blog, I still just pull up eat24 on a regular basis (and that's one of the things I'll miss the most if I move out of the city!)

Keep in mind, for all of these meal times, it assumes that once one thing is cooking you get started on another piece. Don't wait until one part of your meal is completely done before moving forward! But I assume you knew that.... so without further ado, let's dive right in to the fun after the jump.

Time: 30 minutes

Pesto-Caprese Flatbreads

Flatbreads is a term of art these days. You see them everywhere, from chain cafes to upscale farm-to-table restaurants to ethnic eateries. I'm not sure if we're simply embracing the food arcs that permeate so many cultures in similar forms or we just want to eat pizza constantly and need an upscale name to make it more acceptable (and less "Italian" if pizza in the US can truly be called that these days.) Either way, when made well there's no denying that they're delicious. And, excitingly, with a couple tweaks they can also come together shockingly fast on a weeknight without skimping on health!

As you'll quickly learn, I'm a huge fan of Wegmans. If they aren't in your area I'm truly sorry for you - maybe move to the mid-Atlantic? I remember when I was in college and my mother, who spent time living in Syracuse before I was born, excitedly announced that a Wegmans was opening up in our little town in southern New Jersey. She told me she'd take me as soon as I came home for a weekend. I rolled my eyes, not sure why I had to tour a grocery store when I was at home, but then I did, and I realized that Wegmans truly are a destination in and of themselves. Many of the shortcuts and easy swaps I will champion will come straight from Wegmans, so if it's helpful, I'll provide links and if you live elsewhere I hope you can find something equally as convenient and reasonably nutritious!

Time: 25 minutes

Recipe and links below the jump!

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

If you haven't experimented with spaghetti squash before, you are truly missing out. It's not only delicious and healthy, but fun. Seriously! It's squash, but when baked it comes out in spaghetti-like form. You get long strands that can easily be used in the place of the iconic pasta. Or, you can branch out with new recipes like I do below. In this recipe it's tossed with some homemade pesto and fresh heirloom cherry tomatoes for an amazing piece of a meal.

I made the squash with some homemade fries and macadamia tilapia. While the squash takes a while to make, this was still a relatively simple meal to pull together and I got to relax and get some work done while the squash was baking.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr 15 min
Cost: $19.08

Nutrition and recipe below the jump!

Mushroom, Shrimp,and Snap Pea Rice Bowl

Looking for a healthy, delicious, super-fast meal? Then you've come to the right place. As the life of a grad student has kept me busy and poor I've been experimenting with more inexpensive, super-fast, yet still healthy and innovative dishes. Hopefully you enjoy the rice bowl detailed below as much as I did.

I used mushrooms, snap peas, green onions, onion, and shrimp in this bowl, but the best thing about this type of stir-fry is that anything goes. This is a great way to utilize extra vegetables in your fridge that you're afraid will go bad. You can also toss in some leftover protein rather than creating a new meal. This can be a great recipe as is or a base for creativity depending on your own preferences and ingredients on hand. Let us know the best combinations that you discover in the comments below.

Difficulty: medium-easy
Time: 25 min