Seven healthy dinners to make this week

NOT sure what to cook for dinner this week? We have vegetarians and nachos-lovers covered in this week’s meal plan.

Serve this salmon and peas up family-style with a tonne of fresh lemon.

MONDAY

This meal is not only ridiculously good looking but so easy to whip up on a weeknight. Salmon with pea puree and freekeh salad is light, nutritious and impressive if you feel the need to entertain on a Monday, but who would honestly do that? Ensure you perfect that crispy skin and this dinner is one you’ll be making on repeat.

TUESDAY

Oven-baking risotto is going to be your new favourite shortcut. Credit: Ben Dearnley

Use vegetable stock in this oven-baked risotto with pesto and goat’s curd for an easy vegetarian crowd-pleaser. Risotto is one of those dogmatic recipes made by incorporating stock one ladle at a time. However, this oven baked alternative is quicker, creamier and requires much less elbow grease … just don’t tell nonna how easy it is.

WEDNESDAY

Cheese, chorizo, chicken, pine nuts ... yep, all things you want to be in one pan right?

This one-pot, cheesy chorizo chicken with spinach is the dish you’ll cook once a week, every week, just because it is so simple and tasty. Also, chorizo and cheese are a Spanish match made in delicatessen heaven, so there’s that too.

THURSDAY

Chicken and couscous is a staple weeknight meal for a reason. Credit: BestRecipesTeam

Cranberry and herb couscous with grilled chicken is the dinner you make because it’s light, healthy and perfect for tomorrow’s lunch. Fresh herbs take this Mediterranean-inspired couscous to another level, and if you are a fan I recommend a dollop, or three, of tazaki so as not to miss out on that garlic — sorry never sorry about garlic breath.

FRIDAY

Nothing says summer nights like cold prawns and fresh salad.

Friday nights in summer are only made better by Asian-style prawn coleslaw with lime coconut dressing and perhaps a bottle of pinot grigio to wash it down. Not the whole bottle this is a healthy meal plan. Use a mandolin to chop the cabbage and onion and buy your prawns already cooked. The hardest thing you have to do is pull off the legs, and any prawn-lover knows that’s worth the fiddle.

SATURDAY

Just because you’re being healthy it doesn’t mean you have to pass on the nachos. Or the guac for that matter.

You thought healthy eating meant saying goodbye to a brimming plate of spicy nachos? Well, do I have good news for you! Crispy sweet potato paleo nachos is your answer to Saturday nights. Entertaining friends? Cooking for a loved one? Just plopping yourself down in front of the TV to divulge the latest episode of The Crown? We got you covered.

SUNDAY

Zoodles are back, this time with your favourite bolognese sauce. Credit: BestRecipesTeam

Zoodle bolognese is such a versatile dish, it’s the only thing we could recommend for a Sunday night, when you’re exerting any sort of effort. Run a couple of zucchinis through your spiralizer and toss through your favourite bolognese sauce. Go for a tomato base, or the traditional mincemeat version you’ve been eating since you were a three-year-old.

Originally published as Seven healthy dinners to make this week