The obesity rate in the US is surpassing 40%, which is alarmingly high. To protect your family from becoming unhealthy, you might be looking into making low-carb meals. But you’re afraid that changing up your diet may result in bland and flat dishes you’ll easily get sick of.
Not to worry; to prove you can eat healthily and still create mouthwatering meals that everyone in the family can enjoy, we’ve found 7 amazing low-carb meals you can prepare this week.
1. Pesto Chicken and Vegetables
For this recipe, you need olive oil, boneless and skinless chicken thighs, sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. With so few ingredients and this being a one-pan recipe, you’ll be able to cook a colorful meal for your family in under 30 minutes!
First, cook the chicken thighs with half of the sun-dried tomatoes. Remove everything except for the oil and cook the rest of your sun-dried tomatoes with the asparagus.
Put the chicken back in with pesto and stir. Remove from heat and mix in the halved cherry tomatoes. Then serve up everything on plates!
2. Baked Garlic Butter Salmon
This is an easy meal to put together that has a minimal mess so you won’t have to worry about cleaning up the kitchen afterward and having to do the dishes. All you need are some salmon fillets, lemon juice, garlic, butter, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
Put all the ingredients together except for the salmon, butter, and seasonings. Reduce the lemon juice and then melt the butter in the pan away from heat.
Put your salmon fillets in aluminum foil and brush with the garlic butter sauce. Then, season to your liking. Close up the foil packets and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes.
If you want to not only eat healthily, but also fight the effects of time, you’ll be pleased to know that salmon has anti-aging effects. So when you make this dish, not only are you preparing a delectable meal for your loved ones, but you’re also turning back the hands of time.
3. Tilapia Fillets with Mushrooms
This recipe is a great way to slip the kids some fish if they’re usually fussy about seafood. You’ll need butter, mushrooms, lemon-pepper seasoning, garlic, tilapia fillets, paprika, cayenne pepper, green onions, and a tomato.
Cook the mushrooms with some lemon-pepper seasoning, then add garlic. Put your tilapia fillets over the mushrooms and sprinkle the seasoning over the fillets. Cover the pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so.
You’ll want to keep a close eye on the fish after the 5-minute mark; it’ll be done when the fish flakes with a fork. Remove the pan from heat and top off the fillets with sliced tomato and green onions.
4. Garlic Butter Steak
For those of you who enjoy hearty meals and love steak, here’s a low-carb recipe you’ll enjoy. The ingredients are butter, parsley, garlic, soy sauce, steaks, salt, and pepper.
To make the garlic butter, whisk together some butter, garlic, soy sauce, and parsley. Set it aside for now.
Season your steaks with salt and pepper. Heat your pan and melt some butter in it. Cook the steaks to whatever doneness each member of the family wants, then top with the garlic butter.
5. Shrimp Avocado Cucumber Salad
If you’re short on time and want something cool to eat when the weather gets hot, you can try this shrimp avocado cucumber salad. The only real cooking you need to do is the shrimp; you can even buy this already cooked so you don’t even have to break out the pots and pans to get this dish going.
Chop up some avocado, cucumber, red onions, and bell pepper. Toss everything with the cooked shrimp. If you have raw shrimp, cook them first in some butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
This is the point where you can get creative. Any type of vinaigrette will work to add some flavor to this dish. While you can whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to top this salad with, the possibilities are endless when it comes to vinaigrettes. Find more information here on how you can experiment with this dressing.
6. Hamburger and Vegetable Soup
For those colder nights, consider serving soup for dinner to warm everyone up. While most other soups take hours to simmer, this one takes just 30 minutes to prepare.
You’ll need olive oil, ground beef, onion, green pepper, celery, chicken stock, canned tomatoes, cider vinegar, cabbage, salt, and pepper. After you’ve browned the beef, add all the vegetables except for the cabbage, plus the canned tomato and stock.
After the vegetables have softened, season it and add the cabbage. The soup should be ready in about 20 minutes after the cabbage has softened. You may have to watch the soup and top it off with water if you don’t want it to be too thick.
7. Grilled Pork Tenderloins
This one’s for the pork lovers. You’ll need honey, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, ketchup, onion powder, ground cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and pork tenderloins.
Combine all of the ingredients, besides the tenderloins. Pour half into a container and marinate the pork tenderloins for at least 8 hours.
The next day, remove the tenderloins and grill the meat for 20 to 30 minutes until the thermometer reads 145 degrees. Baste throughout the grilling process with the marinade you’ve reserved.
Once the tenderloins are done, wait five minutes before slicing to serve for dinner.
Prepare Low-Carb Meals That Are Tasty
Healthy and low-carb meals don’t mean you have to eat boring and bland foods. As you can see, there is plenty you can do to make some delicious meals that even the little ones and picky eaters will beg for. Plus, many of these recipes are quick and easy to throw together, so there are no more excuses for not making healthy and tasty meals for your family!
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