Transitioning to a whole-foods based approach to eating can feel pretty intimidating. It seems like all the pro bloggers and YouTubers use more fancy, elusive ingredients than you have minutes in the day. Rest assured, you don’t need to spend a fortune, shop at special stores, or carve out two hours a day for slicing, dicing, chopping, or pureeing in order to eat healthier. Read on for my favorite ingredient shortcuts and four healthy, easy recipes, each under 30 minutes.
Frozen Vegetables
In most situations, frozen veggies (no added salt, sugar, or sauce) can stand in for fresh when you’re short on time. Fresh is best when you really want the veggie flavors and textures to shine (think fresh crisp-tender green beans or lightly steamed baby spinach -- use fresh for this!). But for stir-fries, many vegetable side dishes, veggie fillings for sandwiches and wraps, soups, chili, casseroles, omelets, sauces, and dips, frozen veggies save you a ton of time, because they’re already clean and cut up, so all you do is thaw, which takes a minute or so in the microwave. Often you can add them directly to recipes.
Bonus — frozen vegetables may even be more nutritious than those in the produce section, because they are flash frozen soon after harvesting, which locks in vitamins. On the other hand, long exposures to air and light, along with temperature fluctuations, can compromise nutrient retention in veggies — and this is often the fate of many fruits and veggies sold fresh in grocery stores.
I like to stock up when there’s a sale at the grocery store. I especially like leafy greens, peas, corn, cauliflower, edamame, corn, and mixed, like pepper and onion strips or a stir fry blend. One of the biggest bargains is chopped spinach -- you’re getting a lot for a fraction of the price of fresh, and it is a common ingredient in many healthful plant-forward dishes. Remember, frozen veggies are pre-cooked so they only need to be thawed and/or heated in your dish.
Jarred and tubed seasonings
There’s no question that when it comes to flavor, fresh lemon juice beats bottled and fresh garlic beats jarred. BUT sometimes we run out of fresh ingredients or we just are in a hurry to get dinner done! That’s why I keep these “cheats” in a bin in my fridge: crushed garlic (tube or jar), crushed ginger (tube or jar), lemon juice, lime juice, garlic-ginger paste (jar, found in Indian and Asian grocery stores), pureed cilantro (tube or frozen cubed), pureed basil (tube), and tomato paste (tube or jar), which lasts longer than canned.
Canned Beans
That’s right -- beans are not only incredibly health-supporting, but super easy to prepare. (I’m referring to dried and cooked beans, not green beans.) No matter what kind of food you enjoy, beans can shine as the star or play a supporting role. Just open the can, rinse and drain, and they’re ready to eat and be incorporated into your favorite dishes!
Go beyond baked beans -- you can enjoy them in chili, burgers, soups, dips, stir fries, burritos, eggs, and even desserts. And varieties abound! Depending on your cuisine and recipe, choose from black, white, red, pink, chickpeas, pinto, and many more. If you’re not a fan of the can, you can always cook dried beans in advance, store in the fridge, and use in recipes within 5 days.
Bagged and Boxed Pre-Washed Greens
With the amount of salads my family eats, buying pre-washed salads just makes sense. It takes quite a bit of time to wash and dry (or spin) and cut up greens, so dumping ready-to-go greens into a bowl is pure joy. The downside — bagged and boxed salads can be pricey, and they tend to spoil faster than intact lettuce. So let your budget guide you. Look for store sales, and always check the weight of the food — sometimes you will discover that pre-bagged is actually more affordable.
Another trick (for after the pandemic!) — if your grocery store has a salad bar sold by weight, getting the greens from there is often cheaper (and fresher) than buying pre-bagged.
Whole Grains in Pouches
While not a huge fan of the packaging waste, I have found myself in situations where I need a side dish pronto, and I don’t have 45 minutes to boil brown rice. Now you can buy shelf-stable brown rice and other whole grains in pouches, microwaved for 90 seconds. For more eco-friendly variations on this theme, you can buy bagged frozen whole grains or quick-cooking boxed brown rice.
Chopped Nuts
This one is almost silly, but given how often I use nuts, this one has saved me collective hours. I often toast nuts, and best results are when the pieces are relatively uniform in size. It’s not easy to chop nuts by hand (or food processor) to yield evenly sized pieces. Bonus — chopped walnuts and pecans are usually less expensive than whole.
Curry Pastes
I love to whip together a Thai curry that tastes like I slaved over a stove all day. It’s one of my best kitchen secrets. Just whisk a spoonful of paste into a can of light coconut milk, dump in a pound of cubed tofu and leftover cooked veggies, and you have an almost instant curry feast. Yum. If you’re following a vegetarian or vegan plan, look for brands free of fish sauce. You can buy them online or at Asian grocery stores. Store open pastes in the fridge in an airtight container.
Tomato Salsa
Salsa is awesome. It is generally tomatoes, peppers, seasonings, and that’s about it. More than just a chip dip, it’s a wonderful topping for sweet or white potatoes, tofu or egg dishes, and as an ingredient in many recipes. Its only downside — many brands contain too much sodium. So look for brands with less than 100 milligrams per serving.
Here are a few ways to put quick ingredients to use!
Quick Recipe #1: Wow Bean Salad
2 cans favorite beans, drained and rinsed
1 pint cherry tomatoes, split, OR 1/2 cup pre-chopped, jarred sundried tomatoes
Splash of favorite olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon OR 1/4 cup lemon juice
Chopped favorite herb
Sea salt
Toss everything together and serve.
Quick Recipe #2: Hurry Hurry Curry
Quick-cooking brown rice for 4
1 jar low-sodium Indian vegan curry sauce
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 bag frozen chopped spinach
Other frozen vegetables of choice
Leftover baked potato, chunked (optional)
Prepare rice. Meanwhile, heat onion in oil for 4 minutes, add veggies and sauce.
Quick Recipe #3: Swift Stir Fry
1 lb firm tofu, cubed (you can also get pre-cubed)
1 cup low-sodium bottled stir fry sauce
1 package frozen Asian vegetables
1 tbsp canola oil
Favorite quick cooking whole grain + water
Cook grain as directed. Meanwhile, pour sauce in bowl over tofu. While it’s marinating, stir fry the veggies in oil until crisp-tender. Add tofu and sauce and toss well. Serve over grains.
Quick Recipe #4: Flex Mex
1 can fat free refried black beans or seasoned black beans
1 package of corn or whole wheat tortillas
1 cup salsa
1 small can corn, drained or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
Shredded or chopped lettuce
Heat beans in microwave. Place ingredients in tortilla, and heat briefly on a griddle or pan.
