Easy, Healthy Recipes for the Time Deprived

Each day, it gets increasingly harder for Americans to take the time to be able to cook healthy food for themselves. Often, turning to fast food to solve the problem just makes everything worse; eating greasy, calorie-laden food just makes you slower and less able to get everything you need to do done in a day. But what can be done about this? You may think nothing, but there are many easy foods that take very little time and won't lead to heart disease or other various health problems.

1) Sweet potato wedges

This easy-to-make snack can double as a side dish, and can be enjoyed by anyone in the family. To prepare, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put a baking sheet over a pan. Next, get sweet potatoes and cut them into wedges by first cutting them in half down the middle, the in half the other way, and from each of the quarters, cut two more times to make triangular shaped wedges. Place these on the baking pan, and drizzle with olive oil. If you would like to add more flavor, create a mixture of olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir the ingredients together, then, using a pastry brush, cover the sides of the wedges with the mixture. Cook until the wedges are soft all the way through, and then serve. These can be saved and are also tasty cold.

2) Cucumber salad

A very yummy and easy salad to make, all you will need is cucumbers, onions, olive oil, and vinegar. Slice the cucumbers as thin as thin as you possibly can. Then, slice the onions and separate them so whoever is eating the salad does not get a big bite of onion. Add either balsamic, red wine, or apple cider vinegar and olive oil, and toss until all of the cucumbers and onions are covered. Add salt if desired, and let set in the refrigerator for a while so the flavors can blend. Serve cold.

3) Hummus

As long as you have a food processor, this is one of the easiest things to make. You will need garbanzo beans, tahini sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and anything else you would like to flavor the hummus with, such as peppers or pesto. Pour 1/4 of a cup tahini sauce, a few table spoons lemon juice, a dash of salt, and about half a cup of olive oil into your food processor. If you are adding anything extra, add it at this time, too. Let these ingredients blend fully before adding the garbanzo beans, and add the beans slowly. If it appears looking too dry, add more olive oil. Allow the dip to blend until it is as creamy as you desire, and then serve with pita or crackers. Just mess around until you get exactly what you want.

4) Vegetable soup

This can last for days and is very simple to make. Get a pot of water and put it on the stove at medium heat. As the temperature rises, add either vegetable stock or bullion cubes. While the water is heating, cut up any vegetables you would like in your soup such as potatoes, corn, celery, carrots, canned tomatoes, etc. Add these in and cover the pot so everything can cook evenly. Add salt and pepper if desired, or curry if you are feeling adventurous. When the vegetables are cooked through, you're done. You can also add cooked meat or rice to this if you would like it to be thicker. This recipe is especially good for people who don't mind eating the same thing every night, as it only has to be prepared once for it to last a long time.

5) Tuna salad

This is another recipe that can be enjoyed more than once. Take a can of tuna, or more if you wish to eat this for more than one meal, and mix it with chopped celery, green peppers, onions, mayo, and a small amount of lemon juice. You can substitue any other kind of meat with tuna, such as chicken or turkey.

These are only a few suggestions for easy-to-make, healthy foods. With just a little bit of thought, you can create good-for-you foods that don't take much effort or excessive time, and that everyone in your family can enjoy!