summer meals

After the week that I had with 2 dinners out (Bin 26 Enoteca and Stephi’s on Tremont) and 2 wine tastings (Boston Wine Exchange and Vino Voyage), all I wanted was some healthy food and some rest. I found the below post, which was a guest post I shared on Simply Life awhile back, and decided to use it as inspiration for some of my upcoming quick, warm weather meals.

I wanted to share with you a few simple, go to ideas that we return to again and again for quick, delicious, after work and gym bites that are filling, inexpensive, and versatile. Maybe they will even inspire your grocery shopping list this weekend? 🙂

Wraps

Nothing is easier than tossing a wrap together at the end of a long day. This one is a brown rice wrap from Trader Joe’s spread with about 2 TSP of tomato paste, homemade pesto, ¾ ball of ooey gooey burratta, and baby spinach. All of the ingredients can be found at Trader Joe’s, and each wrap cost a couple of dollars at most. I love tomato paste’s super concentrated flavor. It adds lycopene to your diet, and provides a lot of deliciousness for about 15 calories a teaspoon.

Mexican night!

I love the flavors of Mexican food, but all of that cheese and sour cream can be fattening and make you feel sluggish. My favorite at home dinner of all time is a taco salad made with a huge bed of greens, lentils that have been spiced with cayenne and chili powder, jalapenos, a satisfying sprinkle of shredded cheese, 0% Greek yogurt, and a handful of chopped avocado. This meal is like eating at a restaurant, and it can be put together in about 15 minutes, especially if you pre soak the lentils with all of the spices over the weekend.

Soup and sandwiches

We eat a LOT of soup and sandwiches in our house. Making a veggie packed soup is so easy, and they can be made low fat and vegan by using light coconut milk or almond milk. This particular soup is a blend of fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, roasted red peppers, and almond milk, topped with a generous shake of red pepper flakes. On the side, I like to serve multi-grain bread with a soft cheese like goat cheese. It feels so decadent, and yet so easy to make, high in nutrients, and is a good way to use up things you may already have in your pantry. Other homemade soup favorites include butternut squash and green chili lentil chowder. tir fries

Another delicious mix of flavors, textures, and best of all, nutrients, stir fries are a must at least once a week. Whether its shrimp with broccoli, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes as in this photo, or beans stir fried with corn, peppers, and sweet potatoes for a succotash-like dish, stir fries are another way to have dinner on the table in under a half an hour while still feeling good about the food that you are eating. Take that fast food!:)

Crudite

Sometimes I like to eat like I am at a cocktail party. It’s fun to have a little bit of this and that, some veggies, whole grain crackers, shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce, hummus, olives, etc. This is especially nice for really hot nights where you can’t bear to cook. Pull up a blanket on the kitchen floor, open a bottle of vinho verde, and relax!

The added bonus of all of these meals is that they can be doubled or tripled and packed up for lunch. With another busy week ahead including an opening party for Basho, a new restaurant in Boston, and a Healthworks blogger bash (I am SO excited for this one!), I want to make sure I have plenty of healthy staples on hand to keep my energy up!

What are some of your favorite go-to meals?