When the summertime comes around, other activities can take centre place whilst your weight goals can become an after-thought. At Curves, we’ve created a list of healthy summer recipes which are easy to make and packed with all the nutrients required in order to keep you on track to a healthier lifestyle.
- Sweetcorn and black bean quinoa salad
Eating salads can sometimes feel very unadventurous. If you don’t change it up regularly it can become mundane and uninteresting for your taste buds. Try mixing it up with a Mexican style concoction which will provide you with all the nutrients you need in order to power through a hot summers day.
Ingredients
- One cup ready cooked quinoa
- One (15-ounce) can of sweet corn
- Two (15-ounce) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
- One cup of fresh sundried tomatoes
- Half a cup of cilantro leaves
- Quarter cup of fresh lime juice
- One teaspoon of cumin (powdered or seeds)
- One thinly cut or dicey avocado
- One cup of cotija cheese (crumbled)
- One large red onion (diced or sliced)
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a medium pot, over medium heat. When hot add in the onions and stir for 4 minutes. At this point you’ll add the garlic – stir for another minute, avoid burning the garlic.
2. Add in the cooked quinoa, lime juice and cumin. Bring to boil. Cover and reduce the heat for about 3 minutes.
3. It’s now time to add in the can of black beans and frozen corn, half a vegetable stock cube and water. Bring to boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.
- Greek yogurt
Looking for something sweet and cold to keep you cool and energised on those long warm summer days? Personally, we don’t think there’s an easier recipe for a light summer snack than a personalised Greek yogurt.
So how do you add some excitement to your Greek yogurt? Fresh fruit such as bananas, berries and pineapple is an easy choice, although we would also recommend adding healthy variations as you please such as honey, nuts, chia seeds, avocado and cacao powder.
Directions
1. Place yogurt into a small to medium sized bowl
2. Add ingredients of choice on top of yogurt.
- Greek style stuffed peppers
Now it’s time for something savoury. Stuffed peppers, similar to the Greek yogurt, offers another chance for you to customise as you please! Here at Curves we believe these ingredients offer you the best taste and nutrition in fulfilling a healthy balanced diet.
Ingredients
- One pound of organic ground beef
- One onion (diced)
- Half a cup of bulghur
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Half a tea spoon of salt
- One third cup of feta cheese (crumbled)
- Half teaspoon of dried oregano
- Half teaspoon of cumin
- Two cans of organic chopped tomatoes
- Two packs of spinach
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Use a large sized bowl to mix in the spinach, oregano, salt, pepper, onion, cumin and bulgur to the ground beef until combined.
3. Cut and arrange the peppers cut side facing upwards and fill each halved pepper with the beef mixture. At this point pour the tomatoes and sprinkle the feta cheese onto the top of the beef mixture. Cover in foil and cook for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for another 25 minutes, or until the meat mixture is cooked.
- Baja-style chicken and vegetable skewers
Summer and barbeques are a match made in heaven. Although barbeque meals are often associated with unhealthy meat based meals, that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare a meal for the grill which will satisfy your current diet. Skewers are a great way to achieve healthy summer meals for dinner when accompanied with a side salad.
Ingredients
- Two pounds of skinless and boneless chicken (cut into 2 inch pieces)
- One teaspoon of shopped rosemary
- Salt and pepper
- One onion (chopped)
- Lime wedges (squeezed)
- Rosemary leaves
- One teaspoon of oregano
- Three garlic cloves chopped
- Choice of vegetable to accompany chicken (peppers, yellow squash, baby tomatoes, mushrooms)
Directions
1. Combine the lime juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, onion and rosemary leaves into a large bowl. Put aside a quarter cup of this marinade for later. After seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the bowl and mix. Cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Light the barbeque grill. Thread pieced of the chicken onto skewers. Place the skewers onto the grill, occasionally turning and glazing with the quarter cup of marinate until golden crispy and cooked.
- Skinny burrito bowl
If you can’t already tell, we LOVE Mexican inspired food! That’s why our last entry on the healthy and easy summer recipes is a lovely burrito bowl. Burrito bowls prove to be a great way to cram lots of healthy vegetables into your diet without much preparation and thought – which makes it perfect for a busy summers day. Similar to the other dishes, feel free to add/replace ingredients with other healthy foods at your choosing.
Ingredients
- One cup of jasmine rice
- Organic taco seasoning
- One cup of baby tomatoes (halved)
- Two avocados (sliced)
- One can of organic black beans
- Sugar free hotsauce
- Quarter cup of plain yogurt
Directions
1. Cook the cup of jasmine rice in a small pot.
2. Whilst cooking the rice heat the black beans in a small pot for 5 minutes.
3. In a small bowl add together the sugar free hot sauce and yogurt. Divide the rice amongst bowls, top with black beans, tomatoes, avocados, lettuce and taco seasoning. Drizzle the hot sauce yogurt on top to finish.
Find out how Curves can help you by booking your free consultation now or contacting your nearest club.
