Coming up with new healthy meals ideas is something I do on a regular basis.
Here is a collection of some of my favourite recipes. I hope these bring new flavours to your plate and gives you ideas in the kitchen.
Recipes
Healthy meal 1: Ginger beef noodles
This meal is perfect for fall and winter weather, bringing tons of fun flavours and heat to your plate. This is high in carbs due to the noodles, which makes it a great post workout meal. It's also good the night before a long run or hike or if you have a high training in general.
Notes:
- Make sure to use fresh ginger. Buy the ginger root, peel it and grate it into the pan. This will bring out a much better flavour than if you get pre packaged ginger.
- You can make this dish in 10 minutes if you use more than one pan. Keeping you kitchen organized is always good and can make dishes like this super easy to make.
- Make sure your beef strips are pretty thin.
- You can add sea salt and black pepper to the beef and veggies when they are cooking for a little more flavour
Ingredient:
- 600g beef, cut into strips
- 400 gram bok choy
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 green onions
- 1 cup julienned carrots
- 400g chow mein noodles
- 6 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- tsp corn starch
- 60g ginger
Instructions
1. In a large pan, cook the beef. I like to use butter in the pan and cook at a high heat. If you see that the butter is turning brown (burning) it means the temperature is too hot.
2. In a pot, make some water boil and throw the noodles in there for a 3-4 minutes. Once they're done, drain them.
3. Cut the onions thinly, cut the bok choy into small pieces, mince the onion and grate the ginger. Throw all of that in a pan. If you have a second pan that's perfect, if not, just wait until the beef is done and put it in the same pan.
4. Make the sauce: combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and corn starch with 1/4 water and stir.
5. Once the veggies are cooked (leave them in the pan for 4-5 minutes on medium heat), add the beef, noodles and sauce in the pan. Stir on medium heat for 2 minutes ish.
And voila! The dish will already feel a little spicy because of the ginger but you can always add more hot sauce to your mix.
Healthy meal 2: Zen Bowls
I call these Zen bowls because that's what I feel when I look at them. Not only do these look amazing, they also taste incredible! With chicken, avocado, yams and rice, you have yourself a full, balanced meal that will keep you happy for a while. Also the sauce is delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast
- 1/2 cup rice
- 1/2 cup yam, diced
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/2 avo
- 1tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
Instructions:
1. Cook the chicken in the oven at 425F for 28 minutes.. For extra flavour, season it with a little bit of black pepper, chilli flakes, garlic powder and cinnamon. (Although you can really season it with whatever you fancy.)
2. In a large bowl, combine the yams with the red onion and throw in some olive oil, black pepper and dried oregano. Mix well and then transfer the yams and onion on a baking sheet and cook in oven at 425F for 20-25 minutes. I just cook this and the chicken at the same time.
3. Cook the rice in 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer. Once it's done, put the coconut oil in it and mix until all the rice is coated with it. This will add flavour and provide healthy fats.
4. The sauce: combine in a small bowl the juice from the lime, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil. whisk until it's mixed perfectly.
5. Once the chicken and yams are done, all you have to do is assemble to whole thing! Remember to add the avocado, sesame seeds and cilantro.
Healthy meal 3: beef stew
This healthy meal is simple to make and contains protein and veggies, which is all you need to stay lean! You can also add a ton of additional stuff like corn and peas if you looking to add carbs.
The combination of ingredients are endless, but here is my favourite ones to do.
Ingredients:
- Beef
- Onions, any type will do
- Carrots
- Zucchini
- Celery
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Chili peppers
- Cinnamon
- Soy sauce or Teriyaki sauce
- Broth
- Yams or sweet potatoes. Note: if you are restricting your carb intake, I would substitute those with mushrooms or eggplant.
Directions:
1. Throw in the beef in the the large pot and cook until it's seared on all sides. You can throw in the cinnamon, onions and garlic at this time as well.
2. Add the broth. Add water if needed.
3. Throw in all the rest. Make sure you have peeled and chopped all veggies.
4. Once you see the liquid boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 45-60 minutes.
Tips:
If you are using any spices, add them with the veggies.. I used to just spice up my servings when I poured them but found that adding the spices early gives the whole thing a better taste.
Try to get a big pot! This dish is ideal for batch cooking. You'll be able to save some for later which will save you time for your next meal.
Like I said at the beginning, you can throw in anything you want in there. I love to add beans, corn, and cauliflower. Since the beans and corn are higher in carbs, I don't always include them unless I am training more than usual.
Healthy meal 4: Chocolate protein balls
These treats will keep you in a good mood all day long. Super easy to make, easy to store and even easier to carry around, they are life saving when you are having a hectic day.
They have a mix of fast and slow carbs which will give you a quick energy boost and avoid any crashes in the following hours. They also have healthy fats from peanut butter and coconut which will ease your hunger. Finally, they have a good source of protein, making them not only delicious but also nutritionally balanced.
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup peanut or almond butter
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 2 scoops of you favourite protein powder
- 1./4 cup flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pour all the ingredients in a bowl and mix
- Use the almond milk to reach the desired consistency. The past should be fairly solid, it shouldn't be able to move in the bowl when you tilt it side ways
- Put the past in a tupperware and leave it in the freezer for a few hours. After a few hours you can take it out, the past will have hardened and you can now break off small pieces and make little balls. The paste is pretty sticky so use some parchment paper to make it easy when taking it out of the tupperware.
That's it! It's that easy. The protein balls stay a long time in the fridge, but I recommend eating all of them before the week is gone. This way you can do a big batch of them, it will take you no longer than 5 minutes to make the past, you just have to mix the ingredients together. Then you put the batch in the freezer, take them out later and make a bunch of balls you can eat throughout the week.
Healthy meal 5: Chicken salad
Chicken salad is probably the meal I eat the most at lunch and dinner, all year round.
The beauty of this meal for me is the ease of making it. I usually meal prep all my chicken for the week on Sundays. The chicken breast are seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper, I put them in the oven at 425F for 28 minutes and they always come out juicy and delicious. Once all the chicken breasts and prepped for the week, this meal takes me less than 5 minutes to assemble when I want it.
I really try to mix up the salad ingredients according to the season, but really, the following is my classic go to:
Ingredients:
- Prepped chicken breast
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Baby tomatoes
- Bell pepper
- Olive oil
- Cashews or walnuts
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Through in the lettuce, spinach and nuts in a large bowl
- Cut the baby tomatoes in half and add in the bowl
- Chop up the bell pepper and add in the bowl
- Drizzle olive oil and season
- Serve with the chicken on a plate
Bon appetit!
Clem
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