Dinner is the main meal of the day, so make sure to choose the right meals that will provide you with plenty of nutrition values. While healthy breakfast keeps you energized during the day, healthy meals you eat at dinner will speed up your metabolism while you’re asleep. In that case, these 7-day healthy dinner ideas will help you start a healthy lifestyle for a week—and hopefully, will inspire you for weeks and weeks after that.
Day 1: Chicken with Apples and Brussels Sprout
countryliving.com
On Day 1, your healthy dinner ideas can include low-fat, yet high-protein dish. Chicken skillet with apples and Brussels sprout is a great choice that meets such criteria. Boneless and skinless chicken thighs are preferable because they have a lower amount of fat than any other parts of a chicken.
Moreover, this savory dish is sweetened by apples and sugar brown. Besides Brussels sprout, there are some additional ingredients to make the dish richer in flavor. These include thyme, white balsamic vinegar, toasted pecans, as well as garlic and red onion. As a side note, all ingredients should be cooked using canola oil which is rich in the fatty acid.
Day 2: Shrimp Stir Fry with Honey and Garlic
tipbuzz.com
Shrimp stir fry is one of the easiest healthy dinner ideas you can try at home. In addition to using shrimp as the main ingredient, you can include several types of vegetables to make the dish healthier. Some of the most popular options are broccoli, asparagus, snow peas, or mushrooms. You can choose the ones you like most, or tossing a mix of different vegetables all at once.
Because it belongs to Asian cuisine, shrimp stir fry is commonly served with rice—whether it is brown or white rice. Again, if you like, serving the shrimp with soba noodles or chow mein is also great.
Day 3: Baked Salmon Fillet
epicurious.com
Besides using vegetable oil, healthy dinner ideas usually replace stir-fry with other alternative ways of food preparing, such as baking and boiling. Baked salmon is a great example to cook on your third day of healthy dinner. You can bake the salmon in the oven for about 25 minutes. Remember to choose fillet salmon in medium size (3 pounds/500 grams).
Before baking the salmon, season both sides of the fish with salt, pepper, and lemon slices. Lemon slices add citrusy flavor that will make your salmon tastes great. Also, you can pour honey and butter with several herbs, such as thyme and oregano.
Day 4: Sweet Potato Skillet
oregonlive.com
If you are looking for healthy dinner recipes that can be done in less than 30 minutes, this sweet potato skillet is a great choice. What you have to do is cook a sweet potato on a skillet along with other vegetables, such as corns, tomatoes, and beans. Then, add some spices, including cumin, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. You may add some splashes of lemon juice for bolder taste.
As soon as the cooking is done, top the potato hash with cheese and let it melt. Serve it on a plate, and voila! You get a vegetarian dinner meal which is both tasty and healthy.
Day 5: Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables
foodnetwork.com
Beef stir fry is a common Asian dish that you can include on the healthy dinner ideas. If you want to make this healthy meal, it is advisable to choose firm vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, carrots, bok choy, and mushrooms. As for the meat, choose tender cuts like sirloin or tenderloin part.
Day 6: Cauliflower Fried Rice
tastingtable.com
One thing to clarify, what it means by cauliflower fried rice is not the actual rice which is cooked with cauliflower and other vegetables. Instead, it is made of cauliflower florets that are cut in chunks and sliced in a food processor. The process will result in ‘faux rice’ that has a lower carbohydrate amount than the actual rice. Therefore, it can be included in your healthy dinner ideas.
Cooking cauliflower fried rice is quite simple, just like you do while cooking the usual fried rice. You can add some vegetables such as carrots and peas or scramble some eggs to your faux, healthy rice.
Day 7: Vegetable Frittata
taste.com.au
Another menu on the healthy dinner ideas is a frittata, an Italian dish made by mixing eggs with other food, such as cheese, pasta, and vegetable. To make a vegetable frittata for dinner, the main ingredients you need are cooked sweet potato, snap peas, broccoli, eggs, and parmesan cheese.
For additional seasonings, use salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, as well as garlic and onion. Simply cook the main ingredients on a skillet, then add cheese and eggs on top of them. The final step is baking them in the oven for 20 minutes.
So, are you inspired by 7-day healthy dinner ideas above? Keep in mind that several choices of dinner meals that you just read mainly serve as a rough guide instead of strict rules. Therefore, you are always free to modify them or add alternative ingredients that are based on your preferences—as long as they meet the criteria of healthy meals.