Five Ingredients to Make Quick and Healthy Meals

If you are a busy person, like a lot of us, you may not have a lot of time to plan meals far in advance or make an elaborate dinner after a long day at work. But you can make sure you have your kitchen stocked with certain ingredients that work well with just about anything and are easy to create whole meals out of. Here are some ideas for essential groceries to have in your kitchen and what you could make out of them.

Avocado – This naturally fatty and delicious fruit has a meaty texture that can instantly make a simple dish more substantial. Throw sliced avocado into a salad, spread on a piece of toast with a fried egg, or grill it or roast it, stuffed with your favorite fixings.

Eggs – Eggs are another essential food that can easily be built upon or added to, or just eaten by itself, that works for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Make an omelet or frittata with your choice of veggies, an egg salad sandwich, baked eggs with cream and herbs and a side of potatoes, or add a boiled egg to a salad.

Sweet Potato – This cousin of the potato is sweeter and healthier, and works well as a side or as a main dish. Stuff sweet potatoes with geens or grains, sauté it with kale, make a soup with it, put it inside a wrap, or make a casserole with it.

Greens – You can add practically any food to your choice of lettuce or hearty green to make a delicious, healthy meal. Make a salad with greens and fruit or vegetables, nuts and cheese; make collard greens with bacon or sausage; serve fish or pasta over a bed of spinach, add greens to a vegetable stir fry or anything you can think of!

Grains – Grains are another excellent base for a hearty meal. Use rice, cous cous, barley, farrow or grits and cook with your preference of produce to make several meals out of.

Beans – Beans are a great source of protein that can be used in a number of different dishes, including chili, soup, red beans and rice, black beans with plantains, a vinegary bean salad and bean burritos.

Check out more 1st Lake blog posts for more cooking tips and recipe ideas!

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