Making dinners that offer variety and don't take hours of planning and preparation is hard enough, but creating healthy meals in a short period of time might seem like a daunting task. Following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid for healthy eating and making a few substitutions to your current menu favorites is an easy way to provide a healthy dinner night after night.
Fats
Fats offer flavor, but also contribute to obesity, high cholesterol and coronary heart disease. When making dinner, use cookware that lets you cook with less oil, and use monounsaturated oils, including olive and canola.
Proteins
People often expect a recognizable piece of beef, chicken or other protein on their plate for dinner as the "main" dish. Change their eating habits by using meat to accent dishes, including stir fries or pastas. These dishes will have pieces of meat throughout, providing the familiar flavor or pork or chicken or beef, but will complement the rice, noodles or vegetables.
Use leaner cuts of meat. Sirloin and flank steak are good beef choices. Use turkey breast and white meat chicken. High-fat fish, such salmon, tuna, cod and halibut, contain "good" fats, which help improve cholesterol numbers.
Pasta Night
Start dinner with a healthy bowl of low-sodium, low-fat vegetable soup, including minestrone or tomato. Follow with a Caesar salad with low-fat dressing, low-fat Parmesan cheese and whole wheat croutons. You can substitute heart-healthy nuts like almonds or walnuts for the croutons.
For the main course, use a commercial pasta sauce, but cut out the hamburger, which adds saturated fat and cholesterol. Add large chunks of carrots, celery, onions, peppers, mushrooms or other veggies you dice up to your sauce. Substitute canned tuna for hamburger to add protein and Omega 3 fatty acids, which help combat cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Use whole wheat pasta.
For dessert, serve fat-free gelato or an unusual fruits, such as figs or pomegranates.
Tex-Mex Menu
Start with a black bean or tortilla soup. Fill tortillas with fat-free refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and salsa for veggie burritos. Serve with low-fat cheese or sour cream for added protein. For tacos, consider fish or seasoned ground turkey instead of ground beef. Make veggie fajitas by caramelizing onion and peppers with a store-bought fajita mix, or by adding chili powder, cilantro and lime juice. Add any other veggies your family likes.
You can use a number of "just add water" Spanish rice mixes for a side dish. Add some crunch by dicing red and green peppers, and adding them five minutes before you serve. You can turn rice into a main course by boiling chicken tenderloins or breasts with the rice and serving with a side of black beans.
For dessert, serve a flan you make from a package, such as a gelatin or pudding dessert. Flan is a fat-free treat, but does have sugar, if that's an issue for anyone in your family.
Mac Aand Cheese
Take macaroni and cheese from a side dish to a main course by adding large chunks of ham and serving with a salad and rolls. Use low-fat or skim milk and low-fat cheese to reduce the fat and cholesterol. Add halved cherry tomatoes and other vegetables your family will like for more nutrition.
Using less butter, milk and cheese will help the casserole set better so you can cut it and serve it in squares, like a main entrée item, rather than having to spoon it on the plate. Make your mac and cheese unique by adding tarragon, a staple ingredient in classic French hollandaise and béchamel sauces.
Serve with a crusty French or Italian bread and side salad with extra veggies and a light dressing. Offer a fat-free sherbet or frozen yogurt for dessert.
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