Cooking Tips for Quick and Healthy Meals

The answer to getting a delicious and healthy meal on the table quickly is to use your local supermarket as your personal prep kitchen. Stock up on flavor-packed, convenient ingredients that will provide a few shortcuts and jump-start your cooking. Canned foods, assorted pastas, herbs and spices provide the perfect toolbox for constructing a quick and easy meal.

Here are just a few shortcuts that can help minimize meal preparation time:

• Kids love pizza. Adults love pizza. Something about flatbread with sauce, toppings and cheese has endeared itself to just about everybody. Homemade pizza can be prepared to suit every taste. Artichokes, diced tomatoes, red peppers, pineapple and tuna make preparation a cinch and nutrition a sure thing.
• Mix canned red, black and green beans with garlic vinaigrette and a dash of chili powder for a spicy Southwestern three-bean salad.
• Spread seasoned canned tomato sauce, artichoke hearts and shredded mozzarella cheese on English muffins. Heat and serve.
• Combine sliced leftover turkey or chicken with fajita seasoning, stir-fry with onions and peppers, and serve with warm tortillas. Toss a jar of salsa in your shopping cart to serve with your turkey fajitas.

Soup is a nutritious, convenient and comforting meal. I love the convenience of soups because they are easily created using nutritious ingredients that people usually keep in their pantry. Team those ingredients with a little bit of leftover meat or chicken and you have an economical, heartwarming, stomach-filling, fast-and-easy, one-pot meal.