Single Portion Cooking: Quick, Healthy Meals for One
Black Bean Quesadillas
Making quick healthy meals for one often involves using a frying pan, which is one of the fastest heating methods around. But that doesn’t mean that you have to use a lot of oil. In fact, you won’t use any oil at all for this recipe. Simply drain a can of black beans very well by dumping the beans into a colander and rinsing them under the faucet. Then place the beans into a bowl and mash well with a fork, potato masher or your clean bare hands. Mix in 1/4 cup of salsa to make a bean mixture.
Then turn on the flame under your frying pan. Layer a whole grain soft tortilla, a sprinkling of shredded cheese, half of the bean mixture, another sprinkling of cheese, and a second tortilla into the frying pan. Press down on the top of the quesadilla with a flat spatula in order to distribute the filling and flatten the quesadilla. When the bottom of the quesadilla is brown, flip it over to brown the other side. You can make a second quesadilla with the remaining bean mixture, or wrap it and save it in the refrigerator for another night. Serve by cutting into wedges with a pizza slicer.
Grilled Chicken Breasts - Reincarnated
If you’re only cooking for yourself, buying an entire pack of grilled chicken breasts can seem like a waste of money. Freezing them raw in individual packages and grilling them on different nights is just a waste of time. Instead, try marinating them in your favorite marinade, grilling them all at once, and eating one or two for dinner. Then freeze the rest in individual bags to use later as a fast addition to stir fries (shredded), pasta (chopped), or tacos (sliced). You can even put them over a Caesar salad for a refreshing lunch.
Pita Ideas
Whole wheat pita is cheap and healthy, and perfect for one serving. Just smear some hummus on the inside and stuff a pita pocket with chopped up cucumbers, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce. Alternatively, brown some beef, add spices to it, and fill up a pita pocket with the beef mixture. You can even lay the pitas flat on a baking sheet and top with tomato sauce, cheese, and vegetable toppings. Bake on regular heat for ten minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble.
Quinoa
Quinoa is a healthy grain that contains plenty of protein, and it is the source of many quick healthy meals for one person. Just cook up the quinoa according to the package direction, stir fry any vegetables that you have on hand, and add them to the cooked quinoa. Top with feta cheese and stir so that the cheese melts. Gooey and delicious!
References
Zelman, Kathleen M. “Easy Meals for 1 or 2.” https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/guide/easy-meals-for-1-or-2
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Healthy Meals: Cooking for 1 or 2.” https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-cooking/HQ00474
This post is part of the series: Healthy and Fast Recipes
We are all trying to eat a healthier diet, but who has the time? This series of articles contains healthy and fast recipes that you can use as part of a healthy lifestyle.
