Victor Arzutov

Looking for something filling and nutritious, but also light and delicious? Pumpkin and feta salad with bacon and grapefruit ticks all of those boxes! It can serve as an interesting side to pasta dishes, as well as become a king of the lunchtime on its own. Because the salad had feta and bacon in it, we advice not to season it with salt, unless you you prefer a strong salty taste in your meals. We also used olive oil in the recipe, but you are welcome to use the oil of your choice for this pumpkin and feta salad. The proportions of the ingredients are well suited for 2 full servings as a main dish, and it can serve 4 if pumpkin and feta salad is used as a side.

This pumpkin and kidney bean salad celebrates all four seasons! Summery, flavorful, and at the same time satisfying and filling - this pumpkin and kidney bean salad makes mealtime a little more tasty while being light on the waistline. It is warm enough to still eat salads as a main meal but cool enough to enjoy beans and pumpkin. There are many ways to make pumpkin and kidney bean salad, and this slightly unusual combination of classic winter ingredients and fruity summer vibes is one of the most nontraditional ways to make it. Feel free to use your imagination and make your own combination, using your favorite ingredients. This salad is good as a side dish and as a filling lunch salad for any day of the week.

Mushroom ragout is a healthy and hearty dish that is ideal for a busy weekday night. It is light, completely vegetarian, and full of flavors! We used brown mushrooms in this mushroom ragout recipe, but you are welcome to substitute them with any kind of mushrooms available, a mixture of different kinds can be even more interesting! Feel free to experiment! Mushrooms tend to absorb a lot of flavor while they cook, so by adding sun-dried tomatoes, spring onions and spices while cooking them you will add more taste to the final dish. You can try to experiment and add other kinds of vegetables to this mushroom ragout, but since this recipe already calls for a decent amount of cauliflower, we decided to keep accent on the mushroomy taste and not overwhelm the dish with other flavors. A good way to enjoy mushroom ragout is on top of a bowl of polenta (an Italian dish made from ground cornmeal). lightened up by cauliflower rice, which makes this dish even healthier and richer in nutrients! You can cook polenta using plain water, but suggest using chicken or vegetable broth instead (depending on your vegetarian preferences) as it will infuse the dish with lots of flavor. For this recipe, we added riced cauliflower to polenta and the broth to cook all ingredients together. The cauliflower flavors don’t overwhelm the polenta, but rather add more pleasant texture and vibe. The turmeric adds the yellow color and it’s inflammation friendly, so we definitely recommend keeping it part of the recipe. The melted butter and cheese add richness and help make the dish taste delicious. Don’t forget to finish the cauliflower polenta with some Parmesan cheese, it makes the dish creamier and adds a nice salty bite.

You will love this delicious mince dish, loaded with veggies, from the first bite. This beef and vegetable mince recipe is easy, quick and super tasty. It works perfectly for busy weekdays, it is fairly inexpensive, and a batch of this recipe can last a few days. The nutritional value of this dish is much better than plain spaghetti and mince dishes, because it is packed with the variety of vegetables. Feel welcome to experiment and add your favorite vegetables in addition or instead of the ones we recommend using in this recipe. Adding vegetables to the mince is a great trick to extend ground meat if you are trying to live on a budget. Eggplant is great at imitating the texture of the ground meat and it also absorbs the meaty flavor very well. Carrots and onions add a subtle sweetness and a lot of nutrition to the dish. This beef and vegetable mince should freeze well, if you want to make a double batch and have it on hand, or if you want to save the leftovers for another busy night later in the month.

This healthy and colorful salad can be a perfect addition to meat dishes, and also serve as a nice meal on its own if you prefer to pursue a vegetarian lifestyle. Beet is well-known for its indispensable health benefits. Betacyanin, a colorful pigment in beet, is an antioxidant that can significantly help your liver get rid of toxins, and thus improve its main function to keep your body clean by absorbing all the harmful chemicals from your blood. Beet also contains betaine, a substance can be used to help with some forms of depression due to its ability to relax your mind and improve general sense of well being. For healthy reasons we prefer using homemade sauces and condiments to those bought in a supermarket. There is value in making something from scratch, and you can always control what comes in a recipe and what quality product comes out of it. We used homemade pickled red onions for this beet salad. We recommend marinating some onions at the same time as you start cooking beet, or even some time in advance, it can be perfectly stored in the fridge and used for other dishes. We know that a lot of people out there like beet but don’t like to bother with cooking it because the process seems time and energy consuming. If you are one of those people, we invite you to check out our *How to cook beet* (or Easy ways to cook beet). We hope you like this beet salad as much as we do, and will learn to love beet not only for its health benefits but also for its taste and color!

This quick, easy and crunchy condiments can be a nice addition to plenty of dishes! It takes very little time to prepare and can last for weeks in the refrigerator. There are endless uses for pickled onions. Their crunchy texture, zesty tang and bright color will add vibes to almost any dish. They're excellent for serving with sandwich and salad buffets at parties. The pickled onions will preserve best in a glass or ceramic container with a tight lid. Most metals will react with the vinegar, and plastic may absorb the flavors. This pickled onions recipe can also be used for marinating yellow or white onions. You won't get that lovely bright-pink color, but if that's not important to you, then go for it. Just make sure to select the onions that are firm and free from soft spots.

These incredibly moist and pretty muffins are a delicious treat at any time of the year. They can be served as a dessert, but can also be eaten as a healthy and filling snack. Frosty citrus icing adds a great contrast to the cinnamon flavored butternut squash muffins. However, it is entirely up to you whether you want to ice your muffins or not, these butternut muffins would taste equally nice with a spread of butter or even peanut or almond butter. We used a silicone muffin pan to make this recipe but you are welcome to use paper liners if preferred. The recipe makes about 20 medium sized muffins. We hope you give these lovely butternut squash muffins a try!

This Homemade Mayonnaise will make you forget about buying it in a supermarket. It takes only a few minutes to make and is very easy, so if you think you don’t have the skill and the patience for it, we challenge you to give it a try! It is not only quicker to make your own homemade mayonnaise than to travel to the store to buy it, but it is also much healthier. You will definitely know what kind of ingredients you put there, and won’t have to wonder if it contains any unwelcome chemicals. You also wouldn’t need to look for a healthier substitute if you’re trying to pursue a healthy lifestyle. We used an immersion blender for this recipe, but you are welcome to use food processor with the small bowl attachment, or you can try making it completely by hand. The recipe uses 6% vinegar as a preservative, and gets its tangy taste from it. However, for even healthier option it can be substituted with 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice. We also recommend using only free range high quality eggs for homemade mayonnaise, as the egg will not be cooked. By following this recipe you should get about 1 ½ cups of homemade mayonnaise.

Traditional chicken salad recipe just never grows old, doesn’t it? Nowadays there are many variations of traditional chicken salad, and every second family prefers to add a bit of a personal twist to the classic recipe. Today we would like to suggest to you trying this simple recipe that adds green peppers, fennel seeds and lemon juice to the basic recipe you are probably so familiar with. You can serve it on a bed of mixed greens for additional esthetic look, you can eat it straight out of the bowl if desperately hungry, or spread it on whole wheat bread if you want to have a low-carb lunch. It is also ideal for picnics and potlucks, too! Just be sure to keep the salad chilled, when transporting it to a picnic or party, as it tasted best when chilled. In this recipe the chicken is chopped in small cubes, which makes it more present in the salad when you bite it. However, you can shred the chicken for a more subtle effect. For the dressing, instead of a store-bought mayonnaise, we decided to make our own! It takes only a few minutes to make and tastes soooo good! Try our Homemade Mayonnaise recipe and discover a new way of eating even healthier. Traditional chicken salad can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 2 to 3 days.

This meatball pasta is ready in 30 minutes, and with a short list of ingredients you have a healthy, creamy, vibrantly green, and absolutely delicious dish on your kitchen table. The meatballs are full of delicious flavor, and the creamy green sauce makes them even softer and juicer. A secret ingredient in the creamy sauce makes this dish healthier than ever! That’s right! Kale - one of the healthiest greens on the planet - adds plenty of vitamins, fiber and color to the creamy sauce for meatball pasta. What a clever way to make your children get the healthy nutrients they need!

Pork with peppers and onions makes a fabulous weeknight family meal. This recipe is extremely simple and absolutely delicious, it doesn’t involve a great variety of ingredients and doesn’t require any special cooking skills, so it can be cooked by anyone! It doesn’t take more than thirty minutes to cook pork with peppers and onions, what a time-saver! It’s an excellent idea to partner peppers and onions with pork chops, and to use the sauce to bind the tastes of al ingredients. A splash of balsamic vinegar makes the sauce incredibly flavourful and peppers - rather juicy. For those trying to cut on using carbs, the recipe can be used as is, however, if you can’t imagine your dinner as a combination of protein and veggies only, hot boiled boiled rice or mashed potatoes would be a perfect addition for serving.

We hope you will love this easy Apple and Grape Salad with Chicken! If you are looking for an easy lunch recipe that both you and your children will love, Apple and Grape Salad with Chicken is the one! It can also be a perfect picnic meal or a snack for those who can’t keep away from the kitchen for too long but don’t want to deal with extra pounds. Chicken adds the necessary protein to your body, and celery, grapes and apples give it just the right amount of vitamin crunch that even children will love. Make a double portion of this easy Apple and Grape Salad with Chicken to save some time preparing lunch for the next day, as it can be perfectly stored in the fridge up to 3 days.