Cooking delicious meals on a work week doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With good planning, you could be on your way to making quick, healthy dishes, in just 20 minutes or less. We’ve provided some tips to help guide you in preparing quick recipes.
Where to begin
Quick recipes must start from somewhere. Kick off by devoting one weekend every month to cook foods that can easily be combined with other ingredients to make quick meals. For instance, Ghanaian black pepper sauce (shito) can be eaten with rice or pasta and vegetables, or already cooked meat. All of these can quickly be tossed together in a few minutes to make a complete meal. Shito can be frozen or refrigerated for multiple uses. Learn how to make it.
Another food you should consider cooking to freeze or refrigerate is meat. We recommend lean meats such as turkey or chicken, and they can be baked with vegetables such as beetroot, carrots, zucchini, string beans, garlic and onions. Get our juicy oven-roasted turkey with vegetables recipe.
And remember, no matter how healthy you prefer to eat, there are certain staples that make this process easy. Ensure these foods are always available in your pantry or fridge.
The list
- Pasta – We like Banza penne made with chickpeas. If you can’t find this at the store, opt for other healthy choices or simply go with what you normally use. Just watch the portion size and eat it with more vegetables.
- Basmati rice (brown) – Delicious and healthy choice. We recommend cooking it on weekends and freezing in small portion sizes that you can quickly warm up. Try our Indian/Pakistani jeera rice recipe.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil – Great for vegetable stir fries.
- Vegetables (carrots, pumpkin leaves (ugwu), onions, garlic, spinach, cucumber) – Your refrigerator or pantry should never lack any of these.
- Roasted/baked organic turkey or chicken – We prefer turkey because it’s leaner. However, if you’re a die hard chicken fan, by all means go for it. It’s equally as delicious!
- Fresh shrimps/prawns – This can be quickly stir fried with vegetables and eaten with pasta, rice or sweet potatoes.
This list is by no means exhaustive; opt for your most preferred staple foods but ensure that they are well balanced with vegetables for a healthy diet. You too can become a pro at quick recipes.