5 Quick and Healthy Recipes for Busy Families

What’s for dinner?

Getting a home-cooked meal on the table seven days a week is challenging during the best of times, but even harder when you’re bored of everything. If you need some inspiring new recipes to add to your rotation, Catherine McCord of Weelicious has a bounty of recipes that are simple and tasty. We’ve picked out some quick and easy recipes to give you some new ideas this week. 

Scroll through the arrows above to browse these delicious recipes. 

Salmon sheet-pan dinner

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 large fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise into steaks
• 1 zucchini, cut into coins
• 2 lemons, halved
• 1 1/2 pound salmon fillet, whole or cut into fillets
• Kosher salt, to taste

Steps:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place the first five ingredients on a sheet pan and toss them with olive oil to coat; salt to taste. Distribute the vegetables around the pan in a single layer and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the sheet pan from the oven and push some of the vegetables to the side to make space for the salmon fillets. Season the salmon with salt and bake for 12–15 additional minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon fillets).

Turn the broiler on for two minutes or until the vegetables are golden.

Place salmon and vegetables on a plate and serve with some lemon slices on the side. 

Vegetarian baked taquitos

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cooked black beans
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 corn tortillas

Steps:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place the beans, corn, cheese, cumin, garlic powder and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.

Place two corn tortillas at a time in between two sheets of damp paper towel and microwave for 20–30 seconds to loosen (this will prevent the tortillas from cracking when they are rolled).

With one tortilla in front of you place 2 tablespoons of the mixture on the side closest to you and roll it up.*

Place the taquitos seam-side down on a foil-lined cookie sheet, spray the tops lightly with cooking oil and bake for 25 minutes.

* If needed, use a toothpick to hold the taquito secure and remove it after baking.

Lazy BBQ chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• BBQ sauce 
• Parchment paper

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place a long piece of parchment paper in front of you and fold it in half like a book.

Unfold and pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce onto the parchment paper. Place the chicken breasts on top and coat them in the sauce.

Fold the parchment paper over, and starting at one end of the parchment, fold the edges of the paper over several times continuing to make creases all around the chicken until it’s completely enclosed and no air can escape.

Place the parchment packet on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Winter farmers market salad

Ingredients:

• 4 cups arugula
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup candied walnuts
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Steps:

Place all ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.

Drizzle with your favorite salad dressing. Balsamic vinaigrette is perfect for this salad. 

Spinach cake muffins

Makes 24 mini muffins or 8 large muffins.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh spinach, packed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps: 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the first six ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and combine.

Pour the spinach puree in a large mixing bowl.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.

Scoop batter into a greased mini or regular muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way.

Bake for 12 minutes for mini muffins and 18–20 minutes for regular-sized muffins.