Here are just a few of my most favourite, easy, healthy, vegetarian dinners.
First up is ridiculously easy to make, and it's Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta.
The only time taken in this recipe is roasting the peppers but roasting them makes them far tastier, so it really is worth the little time it takes.
Homemade pasta sauce is perfect for a fuss-free, quick yet tasty meal for 2 or indeed for any amount of people, just double the recipe.
It's a great sauce to perk up pasta at any time and as you are making it yourself you'll know exactly what you've put in it and it will contain far less sugar and salt than most shop-bought jars available.
Top Tip!
You can make a big batch of pasta sauce. Freeze it in portions for fast food when you need it.
Sweet Potato and Chickpea Casserole might look like a long list of ingredients, but mostly it's spices and once it's in a casserole you can leave it to cook.
Actually, I've also cooked this in a slow cooker, I know I left it on low setting for 6 hours but I'm pretty sure it was ready earlier, it's only really the sweet potato that will take any real length of time.
Sometimes I'll have soup for lunch, or even dinner, although if it's for dinner I do tend to eat bread with it which of course isn't quite so healthy!
Roasted Butternut and Carrot Soup is my all-time favourite soup of all soup recipes. It's not only totally delicious, but it's straightforward and easy to make too.
Just like the red pepper pasta sauce, roasting the vegetables does result in a far tastier soup. You can also freeze this soup in portions so don't be worrying about making too much.
Crustless Quiche is extra easy to make and because there's no pastry this is ideal if you are trying to lose a bit of weight as I am because the lack of pastry means fewer calories 😉
Sounds a bit weird I know, but you can eat any quiche cold and it's still really nice (well room temperature) not ice cold from the fridge, so you could take it to work in your lunchbox.
Top Tips!You can make this earlier the same day, just prep and cook the veg. Make up the egg mixture but don't mix the two together until you want to cook it.
However, if you have it prepared beforehand and stored in the fridge, you'll need to remove it at least 30 minutes before to get to room temperature or the cooking times will be messed up.
Spicy Rice and Bean Feast is great for turning a pack of ready-cooked microwavable rice into a feast that would be ideal for students as it's cheap and filling.
You can buy tins of mixed beans in any good supermarket. They usually contain a mix of red kidney beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans, haricot and black eyed beans.
Plus you can eat this cold the next day, so it's great to take to work, but if you do, please be sure to how to store rice correctly to avoid getting sick.
Top Tips!
Beans are good for you and make you feel fuller for longer. You can eat this cold, so it's ideal to take to work in your lunchbox.
I hope these few dinner ideas are useful. I'll leave you with the recipe card for the Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta.
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 Red Peppers - sliced lengthways
- 1 Red Onion - quartered
- 2 Garlic Cloves - skin on
- 1 x 400g Tinned Tomatoes plus juice - be sure to use good quality brand or your sauce won't be as nice
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- Balsamic Vinegar - to taste
- Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Parmesan (vegetarian)
- *I use Cirio tomatoes as the juice in the tins is pretty much non-existent and really thick which is fantastic as you get a tin packed with tomatoes instead of watery juice in some other brands.
Instructions
- Put the prepared peppers, onions and garlic into a non-stick roasting dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Use your hands to coat well.
- Put the dish onto the middle shelf and roast for about 30-40 minutes until they have a good colour.
- Once they're ready, remove from the oven and transfer to a small dish.
- Cover in cling film and leave to cool for a bit (this will make it really easy to remove the skin from the peppers).
- Remove the skins and discard, and also, remove the skin from the garlic.
- Throw the lot into a food processor and whiz for a few seconds till you have a smooth texture.
- Get a frying pan and add a tin of tomatoes along with the peppers. Add a pinch of sea salt and a good pinch of black pepper and heat thoroughly.
- Now add a splash of balsamic vinegar and have a taste. Add another splash to suit your taste.
- Using a good quality balsamic vinegar give the sauce a lovely sweet taste. *If you don't have any although it won't be quite the same, you could add a squirt of tomato ketchup instead.
- Once the sauce has heated through, drain the pasta and add it to your sauce along with one tablespoon of the cooking liquid which will thicken the sauce nicely.
- Serve immediately topped with chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan or vegetarian alternative.
This sounds gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Thank you :)
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