Fish. Super easy. Super healthy.

The argument that 'I just don't have time to make something healthy for dinner' will never cease to exist, unfortunately.  I will continue to try to prove to the world how lame that excuse is.  There are so many dishes that take minimal time and are nutritious and delicious.

When planning out a healthy meal, first plan for what needs to be on the plate.  There should be some sort of low-fat protein source like chicken, fish, or lean meat.  There should definitely be lots of veggies.  There should be a fruit.  You may or may not have a starch, but try to make it whole grain most of the time.  You may also have some dairy, but try to make it low-fat most of the time.  This general idea has formed the 'new food pyramid' which is now a picture of a plate.

This plate helps you form a healthy meal, but now you have to think about what is easy and takes little time to prepare.  Let's start with the protein foods.  Do you know how long it takes to steam shrimp?  It will depend on the size, but it is likely going to be less than 3 minutes.  If you buy them deveined and without the tail- then there is no prep time, only cooking time.  Really skinny fish might take about 5 minutes to be pan-fried on the stove.  Thick fish like salmon will take closer to 10 minutes.  Thin chicken (bought or prepared that way) will take around 8 - 10 minutes; thicker chicken around 12 - 15 minutes.  Depending on how you like your red meat cooked, it may take 8 - 12 minute for cuts like tenderloin; it will take longer for larger pieces like a flank steak.  What will take a long time to cook?  A whole chicken; large cuts of beef that are made for roasting;  tough cuts of beef that are made for stewing.  There is little prep work with protein foods unless you need to cut it up a certain way.

  

Veggie steamer

Ok let's move on to the veggies.  Salads generally have only prep time and no cooking time.  Depending on the salad ingredients, it may take a while to do all the chopping.  Still,  it is likely you will not spend 20+ minutes cutting up veggies.  Green beans or thin asparagus can be cooked in 10 minutes: 5 minutes steaming, 5 minutes sautéed in olive oil.  Zucchini and squash may take a little longer depending on how you cut them up and how you cook them.  Onions can take only 3 minutes if you are just trying to cook them until they are translucent.  But if you want caramelized onions,expect to spend a good 20 - 25 minutes stirring.  Most things you make in the oven, such as roasted cauliflower, is going to take longer than something cooked on the stove top.  Artichokes, no matter how you cook them, will take a while because there is quite a bit of prep work and very little edible portion inside the artichoke.

Now let's talk about fruit.  There are quite a few bite-sized fruits that you can just set on the table and pick at throughout the meal: berries, grapes, cherries.  This means that washing in the only preparation step.  There are some fruits you can eat whole, but would most likely cut up for the dinner table: apple, pear, peach slices. So you would need to spend time washing and cutting. Then there are foods that you cannot eat the outside: pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, mango.  Some of these you may just cut up and serve with the rind still on it; others you may need to separate the fruit from the outside layer.  In the case of mangos, you have to separate the fruit from the outside skin and the inside pit.  Mangos can take quite a bit of effort to prepare. No matter what fruit you use, you are likely to eat it raw, so there is no cooking time.

Grains are one food that may take a while to prepare and/or cook.  If you are making pasta, you have to wait a while for the water to boil (unless you have Justin and Julie's amazing stove), then wait for the pasta to cook.  Same deal with the rice.  If you are making potatoes- you may need to peel or cut, and you absolutely have to wait for them to cook.  This may take 20 - 25 minutes to cook new (small) potatoes on the skillet, or 30 - 45 minutes in the oven;  it would take longer for a larger potato to bake in the oven.  The time for corn depends on if you are boiling or grilling.  Peas... well I hate peas and we're all older than 5 so let's just move passed that food.  Winter squashes are going to take some time to cook because they have such a thick outside layer.

So here are some easy combinations:

-Heat up the skillet and heat a saucepan filled with a little water.  Start cooking a chicken breast; then chop some zucchini; steam zucchini for 5 minutes; cut apple and pear slices while food is cooking; flip chicken; saute zucchini in olive oil for 5 - 8 minutes. Total time: ~17 - 20 minutes

-Start heating water for rice; chop red and green bell peppers, then saute; heat a skillet; add rice to hot water; cook steak on skillet; chop pineapple (take off the skin).  Total time: ~25 - 28 minutes

-Heat water in saucepan with a veggie steamer inside; heat a skillet; add asparagus to saucepan; add fish to skillet; remove asparagus and saute in a skillet; flip fish; wash grapes. Total time: ~ 12 - 14 minutes

The last one is similar to a meal I made recently.  Earlier that day we had made and eaten a lot of fried food at school, so I wanted to make something healthy.  I was also tired from a long day, so I wanted to make something fast.  So here is what I made:

Pan-fried salmon with asparagus, and a side of chopped mango

What you'll need:

- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided

- 1 salmon filet

- 4 oz thin asparagus

- salt and pepper

- 1 lemon slice

What to do:

- Heat a small sauce pan fill with ~ 1/2 inch of water; place a veggie steamer inside.  When the water comes to a low boil, add in asparagus and cover.

- Heat a small saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt a pepper on the top of the salmon.  When pan is hot, add salmon with the top facing down on the pan. After about 3 to 4 minutes, flip.  If the bottom of the salmon does not have the skin still attached, turn the heat down to medium-low.

- Take the asparagus and the steamer out of the pan, and empty all the water. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil, and add asparagus back in. Stir frequently.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper and stir some more.

- The salmon should be cooked about 4 to 5 minutes on the bottom side. Fish is done when it flakes easily when using a fork.  The asparagus should be tender, but still have a little bit of crunch.

-  After plating the food, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over the salmon and asparagus.  Serve with any kind of fruit.

You may wonder how this will take since there is very little seasoning added to the food.  Salmon and asparagus are both very strongly flavored foods.  If you like the flavor of these foods, you don't need a seasoning to cover up those flavors.  If there was one seasoning I would add, it would be dill.  Dill goes very well with both.  However, Dubai does not have any dill in any grocery store I have been to. but I think this meal without the dill was perfect and delicious.