My Go-To Easy Daily Recipes for Side Dishes, Breakfast, and Sweets to Boost Nutrition & Taste

To ensure I balance mine and my family’s daily nutrition, there are a few recipes and meal prep tips I use that help us achieve our nutrition goals and provide necessary vitamins, nutrients and fiber for optimal wellness. Below are a few of them, hopefully helpful:

Roasted veggies

(broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash and zucchini, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, potatoes, asparagus, eggplant, carrots, butternut squash). People often dread veggies, thinking they are bland and tasteless or need some time-consuming methods of preparation. They don’t have to! Roasting veggies is my favorite way of cooking them, which is simple, quick and delicious. Here are the tricks to perfect roasted veggies:

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 430 F, it has to be hot! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (tip: you can reuse the paper for next roast)
   2. Wash, dry (with paper towel or air dry on the counter) and cube veggies (enough to cover a large baking sheet in a single layer), place in a large bowl, add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, salt/pepper to taste, smoked paprika, rosemary for potatoes/sweet potatoes, oregano (tip: I use 3 large sweet potatoes for 1 sheet; or 1 head of broccoli and 1 head of cauliflower; or 2-3 medium yellow squashes and 2-3 medium zucchinis)
   3. Rub well with your hands (this is very important! – it ensures all veggie cubes are well covered and doesn’t require a lot of oil)
   4. Bake for 20-30 min, check for doneness after 20 min. Roast potatoes and sweet potatoes separately as they take more time (upwards of 30 min or slightly more)
   5. Store in the fridge and add to your meals or eat as is.

Sauté greens with mushrooms

If you don’t feel like eating your greens raw (kale, spinach, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion), and still believe that they don’t taste as much, here’s a tasty variation – sauté:

1. 1. I buy big bags of pre-chopped kale and collard greens, brings the prep time down when I’m in a crunch
   2. Heat up 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat
   3. Add mushrooms (baby bella or mixed), salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Sauté for 3 min
   4. Add greens, toss with more garlic powder,  smoked paprika, liquid smoke (optional – adds smoky flavor, sold at most grocery stores) and cook stirring occasionally for 3-5 min to keep greens green and crunchy. Eat your greens! (tip: spinach wilts down into almost nothing, so make sure to use lots of it – 2 plastic bags, or 1 large plastic box)

Boosted Pasta Sauce

To add fiber, protein and other vital nutrients to a store-bought marinara or other pasta sauce, just add mashed chickpeas, here’s how:

1. 1. If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse them well, then add to a shallow bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher
   2. Add chickpea mash to pasta sauce, mix well and heat  up
   3. Add to pasta and ask your family “what’s the secret ingredient?”. They’ll never guess 🙂

Easiest oatmeal pancakes

They are just as they sound – easiest! Here’s the how:

1. 1. Mixt 1 cup quick oats with 1/2 cup very hot water and set aside for 5 min to thicken
   2. Meanwhile mash 1 very ripe banana in a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp baking powder (tip: if you have a blender, you can crush old fashioned oats into small size, when out of quick oats)
   3. Add the oat-water mixture to the banana mix, stir well, the mixture will be thick – that’s what you need. If it’s too thick (barely gets on a spoon), add a little bit of water or milk/non-dairy milk
   4. Preheat a fry pan, add a touch of oil and spread it with a crumbled piece of paper towel (to cover the surface of the pan)
   5. Fry pancakes as any other ones, 2 min on each side or until golden
   6. Top with peanut or almond butter, jam and fresh fruits, or ricotta cheese and jelly

Whipped cottage cheese “ice cream”

It’s creamy, refreshing, sweet and protein-rich.

1. 1. Add 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or other frozen berries/fruit, mango is good in it too), few drops of stevia or 1-2 tsp honey or maple syrup to a blender or food processor (I use Ninja small food prep and smoothie maker)
   2. Blend until smooth and don’t share! Or make more and then share 🙂

Stay nourished my friends!