Living alone in a hostel or apartment and making tasty dinner on a rainy evening can be an amazing feeling. Since it’s not home so you cannot use the oven or blender, you can still make quick healthy meals dinner recipes. These 3 recipes are so easy and quickly made, the best part is that they can be prepared in only one pot, there are both veg and non-veg choices.
One-Pot Creamy Spinach Lentils
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 cups uncooked lentils
- 2 Yukon potatoes, chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- A few sprigs of fresh parsley
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for topping
Preparation:
Heat butter on a large pot over medium flame, saute the onion, carrots, and celery for 10 minutes, slowly add the wine & stir, it should give a little sizzle. Next add the lentils, potatoes, and broth; tie the bay leaf, parsley, and thyme together then toss into the pot. Stir often and simmer for 30-40 minutes on covered, when the lentils and potatoes are soft, mash them gently and stir to make it creamy. Remove the tied herbs, add half & half, add spinach, stir to incorporate, season with salt & pepper; serve with a drizzle of olive oil.
Red Pepper Roasted Chicken
Ingredients:
- 4 pieces boneless chicken breast
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces roasted red bell peppers, finely diced
- 1 ¼ cup chicken broth
- 4 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
- ¼ cup basil leaves, chopped
- Salt & pepper
- 1 lime juice
Preparation:
Season the chicken with lime juice, salt & pepper, keep for 10 minutes. Melt butter on a large skillet over medium heat, sear the chicken on both sides for 5 minutes, take out, and set aside. Saute the onion and garlic on the same skillet for 2-3 minutes, add diced red pepper and saute for another 2 minutes; now add the chicken broth, cream cheese, and crushed chili flakes, stir & simmer to melt the cream. When the sauce is smooth, add chicken, stir in the chopped basil, simmer for 2 minutes, add salt & pepper to taste; slice the chicken and serve with creamy pan sauce.
Garlic Butter Mushroom Rice
Ingredients:
- 300 grams Mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 tbsp Garlic (chopped)
- 3 tbsp Butter/Cooking oil
- 1 tbsp Stock powder/1 Stock cube/2 cups Vegetable stock
- 1 cup Rice
- 2 cups Water
- ⅔ cup Spring Onions, chopped
- Salt as taste
- Freshly ground Pepper
Preparation:
Heat a medium-sized nonstick pot or skillet, add butter, melt it, then add garlic and saute until it turns light brown and fragrant. Then add the sliced mushrooms, stir well, cook on a medium flame for 4-5 minutes until they start turning brown. Add rice next, stir, add water/vegetable stock, if you add water then add stock powder/cube, add salt, freshly ground pepper, mix all together gently; cover the pot and cook for 7 minutes on medium heat or until rice is well cooked. Turn off the flame and let it rest covered for 3 minutes, sprinkle spring onions and pepper while serving.
Conclusion
You can add your choice of vegetables or other ingredients to these recipes, you can also replace chicken with tofu/paneer. Garlic mushroom rice is a good main dish while the spinach lentils and pepper chicken goes well as a side dish.
