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!