Food not only provides the nutrients your body needs, it can also be a source of comfort and joy for many people. But finding all the healthy, fulfilling ingredients you may be looking for may be challenging.
One solution is to make simpler, three-ingredient meals. You can still eat healthy and delicious meals that contain just a few ingredients you can grab quickly during your next grocery run.
Focus on Your Food Groups
Julia tells people to try and not stress about food. “You don’t need to cook for hours,” she says, “and most recipes should be simple to make.” She recommends focusing on three food groups when you prepare a meal: a protein, a vegetable and a healthy grain.Holy Cross Health’s outpatient dietitian, Julia Mutter, tells people to try and not stress about food. “You don’t need to cook for hours,” she says, “and most recipes should be simple to make.” She recommends focusing on three food groups when you prepare a meal: a protein, a vegetable and a healthy grain.
Start with those basics, and if your meals need some extra flavor, you probably already have spices and other staples in your cabinets at home. Julia says cinnamon or nutmeg can sweeten a dish without adding extra sugar. You can use cumin, which has proven health benefits, to season tacos. Put paprika on fish, which gives it a wonderful color and has a lot of nutritional value.
Ready to try making three-ingredient meals? Here are some meal ideas Julia recommends for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacking.
Holy Cross Health’s Outpatient Nutrition Counseling Center helps people make healthy choices for an improved lifestyle. Our registered dietitians — who are accredited by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics — offer sound medical nutrition therapy to address patients' personal goals as they relate to all stages of life and various medical conditions. Virtual appointments are available in the morning, afternoon and evening. To schedule an appointment contact Julia Mutter at Julia.mutter@holycrosshealth.org or 301-754-7848.
3-Ingredient Breakfast Meals
Greek yogurt, fresh berries, nuts.
For an easy and delicious breakfast parfait, start with plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, add some fresh berries such as blueberries or raspberries, then top with walnuts or almonds. You can replace the nuts with all-grain cereal, but avoid using granola, which may have a lot of fat and sugar.
Egg, avocado, whole-grain bread.
Avocado toast is popular for a reason. It’s easy to make, and it’s good for you. Cut open an avocado and spread it on a piece of whole-grain toast. Then top it with a fried egg or pair it with a hard-boiled egg for a high-protein breakfast.
3-Ingredient Lunch Meals
Salad greens, cucumber, tuna.
Start with a big container of spring mix salad greens. Cut up some cucumber, then top with tuna. If you don’t like eating tuna right out of the can, you can mix it with a little bit of the plain Greek yogurt you had for breakfast.
Rotisserie chicken, cottage cheese, whole-grain bread.
A rotisserie chicken from the grocery store can be used for many lunch and dinner meals but be sure to remove the fatty skin and just eat the moist, lean protein underneath. For lunch, cut up some pieces of chicken and mix them with cottage cheese, then spread it on whole-grain toast.
3-Ingredient Dinner Meals
Salmon filet, pistachios, frozen mixed vegetables.
Fish is very lean and pairs great with so many vegetables. Look for fresh or flash-frozen salmon or another type of fish. Crush a handful of pistachios with a mallet or rolling pin, then press them onto the top of the defrosted fish. Bake or grill the fish until it’s cooked all the way through. Pair your fish with a bag of your favorite vegetables that you can steam in the microwave while the fish is cooking.
Spaghetti squash, lean ground beef, marinara sauce.
You can put a spaghetti squash in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes to soften it up, then scrape out the insides, which come out like spaghetti noodles. On your stovetop, heat up some 93percent lean ground beef or, if you’d prefer, ground turkey, until it’s no longer pink. Then mix in a marinara sauce that lists tomatoes as the first ingredient and not a lot of extras such as sugar.
3-Ingredient Snacks
Carrots, crackers, hummus.
Prepare a plate of fresh vegetables, such as carrots, sliced cucumbers or broccoli florets. Serve those with crackers and a store-bought hummus for dipping. Look for crackers that list “whole grain wheat” as the first ingredient and don’t contain added sugar. Be sure to follow the nutrition label’s serving size recommendation, typically 4 to 8 crackers.
Apple, peanut butter, raisins.
For a sweeter snack, cut an apple or a pear into triangular slices. Then spread a bit of peanut butter on each slice and serve with some raisins or fresh grapes. Look for peanut butter with the fewest ingredients, usually just whole roasted peanuts. The calories from raisins can add up quickly, so follow the nutrition label’s serving size recommendation, typically about 1/4 cup.
Watch Julia Make Cauliflower Fried Rice
If you’re looking for more healthy and delicious meal ideas, watch Julia prepare cauliflower fried rice using fresh cauliflower.
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Holy Cross Health presents the information in this blog as a resource for our community. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice or to endorse any particular entity or service. Personal health problems should be brought to the attention of the appropriate health professionals.