With such busy lives these days it’s easy to skip meals or forget to make the right choices when it comes to your food regimen.
Every meal has its own importance, breakfast helps you to kick-start the day and lunch to take a break and re-fuel your body and mind. So what about dinner? As the last meal of the day, it can be overlooked sometimes, however, dinner is just as important as the other meals.
Here are some of the benefits of having a healthy dinner every day.
Fuels your body
Once you go to bed, this is when the body and mind rest, recover and rebuild. So it’s important to ensure that there is a steady supply of glucose for your body to use as fuel for essential processes whilst you are sleeping. Getting all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you can, before the lights go out, is essential.
Having a healthy dinner will also keep your blood sugar and insulin levels stable while you are resting.
Improves your metabolism
At the end of a long day your body could be lagging and you not even realise it. It's essential to eat a good dinner which combines both protein and carbohydrates ensuring a steady release of glucose to the blood stream. A healthy and wholesome dinner can promote better metabolic functions, by balancing the endocrine system and blood sugar levels. This promotes greater success in your weight loss efforts.
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Elevates your mood
By getting all the necessary amino acids it will be easier for the neuro transmitters to transport messages around the nervous system, which will help to prevent disturbed sleep and promote overall well-being and mood. For instance, we get serotonin after it has been converted in the body from eating foods which contain the amino acid tryptophan. Deficiency in serotonin is associated with mood disturbance, sleep problems and aggressive and compulsive behavior.
Improves socialization
These days, it’s easy to overlook some of the simple pleasures in life such as spending time with friends, family and loved ones. Not all families are eating together, most of the time, teenagers end up eating in their rooms or before their parents. This practice can encourage poor eating habits and choices as well. Sharing a meal with friends or family, can warm your heart and be beneficial to your health. Dinner offers a great opportunity to do just that. Eating dinner with your family increases family time and bonding between family members. Also those who have a well-balanced dinner each night tend to have a well-balanced life as well.
To help you start taking dinner more seriously, we’ve selected 3 healthy dinner recipes which are satisfying after a long, hard day of work.
Salmon with Cucumber–Yogurt Sauce and Carrot Salad
Ingredients
Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce
- 170g plain Greek yogurt
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- 1 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 cucumber peeled, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
Carrot Salad
- ½ tsp. cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 1½ tbsp. chopped coriander
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, plus more
- Fine sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
Salmon and Assembly
- 680g salmon, preferably wild-caught sockeye or king, skin on, cut into 5 fillets
- Fine sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp. neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed, plus more for drizzling
- Flaky sea salt
Preparation
Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce
Combine yogurt, garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Fold in cucumber and season with fine sea salt and pepper. The sauce without cucumber can be made up to 1 day ahead and stored.
Carrot Salad
Toast cumin seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat, about 1 minute. Add turmeric for the last 15–20 seconds and toast until fragrant. Combine toasted spices, carrot, coriander, oil, and 1 tbsp. lemon juice in a medium bowl. Toss and season with fine sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice. The carrot salad can be made up to 8 hours ahead and stored.
Salmon and Assembly
Season salmon with fine sea salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp. neutral oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Cook salmon, skin side down, undisturbed, until salmon skin is crisped and browned, 3–4 minutes. Gently turn fillets and cook until salmon is just opaque at the center, 1–2 minutes for medium rare.
Divide fillets among plates, skin side up, and serve with cucumber-yogurt sauce and carrot salad. Drizzle with neutral oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 280g finely ground raw almonds
- 60g pitted dates
- pinch of sea salt
- 1-2 tbsp. carob or cacao powder
For the filling
- Meat from 1 young coconut or 1 can (chilled) organic coconut milk
- Water from 1 young coconut (about 1 cup) – omit if using canned milk
- 3 tbsp. Spirulina
- 2 tbsp. raw cacao or carob powder
- 3 tbsp. coconut oil
- pinch of sea salt
- vanilla stevia – 20 drops or more for extra taste
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
Preparation
If you are using the raw version will you need to pull out your sturdy knife or cleaver to open a coconut and use the water and meat for the recipe. If you are doing the non-raw version, just get a can of organic coconut milk (full fat).
To make the crust, mix all the ingredients into a food processor and blend till it incorporates and start to stick (if you have to add a few extra dates – go ahead). Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.
Combine all the ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Pour this liquid mixture onto the pie crust and freeze overnight, or at least 4-6 hours before serving.
Let sit out 10-15 minutes to thaw a bit before cutting.
Ingredients
- 1 large shallot
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1-2 inch piece ginger, peeled, cut into pieces
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp. red curry paste
- 2 tbsp. turmeric powder
- 340g whole peeled tomatoes, plus juices from the can
- 1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
- Kosher salt
- 453g mixed vegetables (such as cauliflower, carrots, and/or shallots), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 453g firm white fish (such as halibut or cod), skin removed, cut into 2-inch pieces
- Cooked rice noodles, coriander leaves with tender stems, and lime wedges (for serving)
Preparation
Pulse shallot, garlic, and ginger in a food processor to finely chop. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add shallot mixture and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add curry paste and turmeric; cook, stirring, until paste is darkened in color and mixture starts to stick to pan, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, breaking up with your hands, then juices. Cook, stirring often and scraping up browned bits, until tomatoes start to break down and stick to pot, about 5 minutes.
Stir in coconut milk and season with salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until mixture is slightly thickened and flavors meld, 8–10 minutes. Add vegetables and pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 8–10 minutes.
Season fish all over with salt and nestle into curry (add a little more water if it’s very thick). Return to a simmer and cook just until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Spoon curry over rice noodles and top with coriander and a squeeze of lime.
Do Ahead: Curry base (without vegetables or fish) can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat over medium-low, adding water to thin as needed.
Don’t forget that since dinner is the last meal of the day it’s important to make the right choices because you won’t eat again for at least another 8 hours or so.
Try to avoid too many stimulants such as caffeinated drinks or smoking at dinner time. These act as stimulants and will keep you awake the rest of the night.
Eat early, about 3 hours before sleeping and have a light non greasy meal. Otherwise it will be harder to digest and break these down and it may lead to poor quality sleep, especially if you suffer from indigestion. Also try to choose desserts containing fruits and eliminate those that contain white sugar.
Have a look at our blog, we have plenty of ideas that will inspire you with healthy, delicious, energising, slimming, and totally satisfying recipes.
