AIBU to ask for your easy healthy recipes?

[clartymare]

I think I’ve forgotten what healthy food is. Got into some really bad habits over various lockdowns and am struggling to pull it back.
I looked at the Joe Wicks plan but it requires too much prep - I don’t get much time with a toddler!

What are your go to healthy meals? I really struggle with breakfast and lunch in particular so dinners that are good for leftover lunch are ideal!

Just add lots of veg to what you normally eat.
Just for some ideas, this week I’ve had
Tuna mayo with mixed leaves, red onion and a can of mixed beans

Spaghetti with a kind of bolognese but with loads of grated courgette and mushrooms in it.

Seasoned chicken baked in the oven with couscous salad

Thai Salmon and green bean curry with some rice

I eat salads for lunch. You can get amazing salads in if you like, as one poster called it here, chaotic ones.
Great weather for it, quick, can be done in advance and portable.
Use dark leaves instead of standard iceberg lettuce. Spinach, rocket, cress all have lots of flavour. Fresh herbs add a lot too.
Some of my favourites atm:
Green base, tomato, cucumber, radish, fermented onion, topped with mix of yogurt, chooped eggs, chives, parsley, cracked pepper, chili flakes, drop of worcester sauce.
Green base, spring onion, quick pockle raddishes and cucumbers (without the brine), fresh red onion, edamame beans, prawns, hoison.
Green base, red onion, cucumber, roasted pepper, chickpea, feta, parsley, tomatoes, arabic aalad spice, chilies.
Simple tuna salad but with yogurt instead of mayo is so refreshing.

Hot meals
White fish fillet (black pepper on one side and sriracha on the other before you flip it) and veg like tenderstem broccoli and fine beans with bit (or a lot) of amoky chipotle sauce over it. All can be done on one pan.
Another one pan wonder. Salmon, pan fried, lots of black pepper on it. Throw some mangetout beans to it and if you fancy some tenderstem broccoli or brussle sprouts. Add teriyaki to a pan just before it's all done, mix the veg in it and you can quickly reduce it as well like that to pour ovetlr after served. Quick mash, chop potatoes, put in a box, microwave until mashable, then add wasabi. Again. Can be done in 1 pan, plus the box.

Watching this thread with interest because I need some ideas too.

Black eyed pea salad

3 cans BEP (or other bean)
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
2 minced garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
1/2 c lemon juice
rind of 2 lemons

Use as a base. Today I added some romaine lettuce and a slice of ham to it.

Could add cucumber and can of tuna
Cucumber and some feta etc…

Also has 2 tomatoes in it chopped

Oh and if you use poached egg to top the salad it also acts as a delicious dressing😁

Omelette and salad, takes minutes, baked sweet pots with tuna and salad, new pots in a baking tray with frozen salmon fillets on the top in oven for 30 mins, spinach, mushroom and chickpea curry made with curry paste serve with whole grain rice and chutney. Poached eggs with sweet potato chips and peas

Salad with oil-free dressing. I especially like grated carrot in it. Usually served with chips from the air fryer (cooked without oil).

Ramen is another good one - add loads of tofu and veg with minimal noodles. The stock makes it seem much more filling than just a stir fry.

Last night I made this aubergine ragu with swede purée and it was amazing: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/aubergine-lentil-walnut-ragu

Oohh and homemade porridge with frozen berries or bananas and maple syrup for breakfast

I agree about egg and salad. A chopped soft boiled egg is similar.

Our fave quick and easy healthy tea is griddled boneless chicken thighs with a whatever’s in the fridge salad.

Batch cook a tomato sauce with loads of veg in that can form the base for a few meals. This weeks was fried chopped onions, peppers and courgettes. When soft I added 2 cartons of passata. I took out a third to which I added a tin of canelli beans, a tin of sweetcorn and some chopped fresh chillis served with tortilla wraps, mashed avocado and greek yoghurt.

Half of that was left was then used as a sauce with a tuna pasta bake. The rest was blitzed with a stick blender and frozen in 4 small pots to use as a base for pizzas or individual portions of pasta. Sometimes I'll take a couple of these small portions out to use with cooked mince and baked beans for a quick cottage pie.

You can freeze the sauce above as @londonmummy1966 said.
I make mine in a slowcooker over 6 hours to get rid of the tin taste and then portion into a freezer. It's super practical. Just add spices and herbs according to what is it you are making.
Good shout there

Traybakes of all kinds are my saviour. So easy and versatile, and because the base of most of them is a load of veg, they're generally pretty healthy. Also minimal washing up.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/traybake-dinner-recipes/amp

Thank you so so much. Tonight we are having another takeaway because it’s got to this time, veg that I planned to cook and gone off and everything is a shambles!
I’m going to write out a meal plan and go to Aldi in the morning so I can stock up and then be organised - if I’ve got things ready and it’s relatively quick i can stick to it, it’s when I have days like today that I struggle.

This is so helpful keep them coming!

Thanks for these ideas.

Another traybake fan, there’s a chicken and butternut squash with yoghurt & harissa recipe on BBC Good Food that I swear by, but lots of other good ones including some of those linked by a PP above.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/harissa-chicken-traybake-0?utm_source=app

When I’ve tried traybakes in the past I’ve found that the veg is never cooked properly, maybe I mess the timings up!

I have porridge or overnight oats for breakfast mostly. Porridge cooks very quickly if you soak the oats overnight. I eat them both with seeds & fresh fruit or nuts, no sugar or syrup. Sometimes a pinch of spice is nice, cinnamon or ginger.

I mostly eat salads in summer. I have a Pinterest board full of salads. All different kinds. Some are just side salads to have with leftover meat, fish, egg, cheese, pasta etc. Some are full meal type salads.

When the weather is cooler I do a pot of soup - not a creamy or carby one, something like chicken soup or minestrone. Store it in the fridge in plastic tubs & reheat a bowlful at a time. Good on its own, or as a starter. Soup is a good way of filling you up if you tend to overeat - lots of liquid is good.

Berries and Greek yoghurt for breakfast, with a little drizzle of honey. I buy bags of frozen berries, keep them in the freezer and just pour some out and microwave them each morning.

Salads for lunch. I just get my whole salad drawer out of the fridge, chop a bit of everything I have, add some tuna/cubes of cheese/leftover cold meat/hardboiled eggs etc, drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, maybe a sprinkle of sunflower seeds etc.

Seabass or salmon with salad or veg