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The new year often means lots of resolutions, and if one of yours is to make healthy meals for your family, we’ve got you covered! Our roundup of 35 quick and easy recipes like baked fish tacos and healthy crockpot soup will make your weeknight dinners easy. Keep scrolling to get your menu planning on a roll.

This article is sponsored by Sun-Maid, one of the most iconic, timeless and trusted snacks in America. With delicious yet versatile products, busy parents can make wholesome recipes that are ready to eat anytime, anywhere. Learn more about Sun-Maid here!

Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Damn Delicious

Low carb, filling and ready in 25 minutes? That's what you get with this tasty Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe from Damn Delicious! Ground chicken and chopped veggies make this dinner not only gorgeous but healthy and something the entire family will love.

 

12-Minute Chicken and Broccoli

Gimme Some Oven

Need dinner in a flash? This healthy chicken and broccoli stir fry from Gimme Some Oven is here to save the day! Homemade sauce tops off this delicious meal made in just one pan. Add rice and enjoy!

Baked Bell Pepper Tacos

Peas and Crayons

If cutting the carbs is on one of your new year's resolutions, you'll want to sink your teeth into this Peas and Crayons recipe, Baked Bell Pepper Tacos. Low carb bell peppers are stuffed with high-protein meats, tofu or lentils and topped with your family's favorite goodies like cheese and sour cream.

Honey Lemon Chicken Stir Fry with Asparagus and Mangos

Carlsbad Cravings

It takes just thirty minutes from pan to table for Carlsbad Craving's Honey Lemon Chicken Stir Fry. Lightly breaded chicken and homemade sauce make this a perfect busy weeknight dinner that's bursting with flavor and is oh so easy on the waistline.

15-Minute Garlic Shrimp Zucchini Pasta

Gimme Delicious

Say hello to the best alternative to fatty butter and carb-loaded pasta with Gimme Delicious' 15-Minute Garlic Shrimp Pasta! Zucchini noodles (aka zoodles) are swapped for traditional noodles and seasoned with olive oil and Italian dressing that is so good, your kiddos will hardly miss the carbs.

10-Minute Italian Chicken Wraps

Chelsea's Messy Apron

Weeknight dinners have never been so easy once you try this 10-Minute Italian Chicken Wrap recipe from Chelsea's Messy Apron. Pre-cooked chicken is paired with bright and colorful lettuce, tomatoes and avocados and a zesty dressing for a healthy and speedy evening meal.

One-Pot Burrito Bowls

I Heart Naptime

All the things you love about burritos come together in this healthy and 30-minute burrito bowl recipe from I Heart Naptime. The best part? It only needs one pan, so cleanup has never been easier!

Hawaiian Chicken Bites

Rasa Malaysia

Juicy chicken and pineapple come together in Rasa Malaysia's simple and tasty Hawaiian Chicken Bites recipe. Skewers are pan-fried in the kitchen (no BBQ needed!) and brushed with tasty BBQ sauces that are so delicious you kids won't realize they're also eating fruit!

Quinoa Black Bean Wrap

The Wimpy Vegetarian

Packed with protein-rich quinoa, black beans, and hummus, these wraps are good for lunchboxes as well as dinners. Check out the recipe for this plant-based healthy meal in our archives.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Erin Clarke at Well Plated

This easy soup needs very little effort for a big result. Once the veggies are chopped, simply throw things into the pot and let it all simmer. Head over to Well Plated for the how-to.

Chicken Pomegranate Pasta Salad

Weelicious

Pomegranates are in season and high in fiber and vitamin C, making this recipe from Weelicious, a perfect addition to a healthy New Year menu. The seeds add great texture and flavor to savory dishes and this salad is quick and easy to prepare.

Green Detox Smoothie

Pinch Of Yum

This green goddess of a smoothie from Pinch of Yum will put you on track for a healthy New Year. Banana and kale are blitzed with nuts and topped with pomegranate seeds to make this the perfect January drink, with one eye on the festive season and the other looking forward to a healthy new year!

Healthy Nachos

You Totally Got This

Comfort meets healthy with these tray-baked nachos. Layer up tomatoes, cheese and spices on corn chips and top with avos and cilantro for a super easy meal that takes just 15 minutes to put together. Check out the recipe in our archives.

Mexican Lentil Quesadillas

Food Faith Fitness

Packed with protein, these lentils mixed with salsa end up tasting like refried beans. The lentils take just 20 minutes to soften, and you're set for an easy dinner the kids will love. Serve with guacamole for a superfood boost.

Lentil Sausage Lasagne

Homemade Food Junkie

Make use of seasonal kale with this soup that's high in fiber as well as dairy and gluten-free. The recipe uses chicken sausage, lots of beans, and is spiced up with Worcestershire sauce. Made in a crock pot or slow cooker, this soup is cooked largely unattended.

Zoodle Pizza Casserole

The Seasoned Mom

This recipe combines the genius of zoodles (zucchini noodles) with the kid fave pizza and the ease of a casserole. Layer up ingredients in an oven-safe dish and you'll have a veggie-packed dinner ready in around 30 minutes.

Easy Fish Tacos

Averie Cooks

This satisfying and healthy dinner from Averie Cooks is easy, family-friendly and ready in 15 minutes. The fish is lightly baked—switch out tilapia for another lean white fish if you prefer and serve with avocado, crunchy corn, cabbage and cucumbers.

Sweet Poodles

Kristine's Kitchen

Sweet potatoes are a winter favorite with all that Vitamin A and C, magnesium and potassium. Put the sweet veggie in the dinner spotlight by spiralizing it with chickpeas and green onions and adding a peanut sauce for a vegan meal that comes together in one pot, in about half an hour. Head to Kristine's Kitchen for the healthy how-to.

Easy Peasy Pasta Dish

Apron Strings

Combine chicken stock, chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic and you'll have a healthy pasta dish that virtually makes itself. Check out the recipe in our archives. Garnish with grated cheese and dinner's done.

Black Bean Burger

Our Family Eats

A healthy kick doesn't mean burgers are off limits—when they're made with black beans! High in fiber and served with a fresh salad, you can find this healthy recipe in our archives. You can even use lettuce as an alternative to brioche or burger buns.

Simple Filet Of Sole

Short Order Dad

This fish recipe from our archives comes from Robert Rosenthal's cookbook Short Order Dad. Sole has flaky white flesh with a mild taste - add some steamed greens and you've got a lean protein supper that can be ready in under twenty minutes.

Pumpkin & Cannellini Bean Soup

Boulder Locavore

There are just five ingredients in this soup from Boulder Locavore—and all of them are wholesome and healthy. Serve with toast for a meal that's not only easy to make but perfect for getting back on track after a diet of rich holiday foods.

Chicken Biriyani

The View From Great Island

Layer up browned chicken pieces with rice and lemon for a recipe that, while it has lots of carbs, is full of goodness. Garlic and nuts add flavor, but you can adapt the dish to your palate. Biriyani is a comforting, much-loved dish and this recipe from The View From Great Island keeps it simple too.

Salmon Bake

Scrummy Lane

This easy sheet pan dinner from Scrummy Lane is a quick way to bake salmon and makes for a healthy dish with a citrus zing. Not every child likes asparagus, so switch it out for a trimmed root veggie like carrot or parsnip if you think the kids will prefer it. 

Take Two Tapas

Here's a healthy twist on the potato salad—make it with sweet potatoes, black beans, crunchy pumpkin seeds, and juicy pomegranate seeds for a dish packed with vitamins and minerals. This colorful creation from Take Two Tapas is the perfect celebration of healthy.

Teriyaki Lettuce Cups

Tiny Oranges

These chicken teriyaki cups are easy to eat with your hands like all the best kid-friendly foods. Grill up chicken pieces and top it off with cheese and veggies. For kids needing more carbs, just serve with a side of warm jasmine rice.

Crock Pot Lasagne Soup

Pyhllis Good/Stock The Crock

Don't be put off by all the ingredients with this lasagne soup.  Packed with veggies, it's a mid-winter pick-me-up that's worth the shopping list, plus it cooks unsupervised in a crock pot or dutch oven. Open to lots of variations, you can switch out the sausage to ground turkey or beef and add different veg, like carrots, to the mix.

Smoked Salmon & Soba Noodles

My Little Larder

Salmon is packed with omega-3s, protein, vitamins, and minerals, and soba noodles are another protein powerhouse. Add crunchy cucumber and green beans (skip the radishes if you prefer), and you have this healthy dinner from My Little Larder that's hearty enough to fill empty bellies but healthy enough to give everyone lots of energy.

Pork and Apple Bake

Adventures in Comfort Food

Combine apples, chops and mashed potatoes for a sweet comfort food packed with nutritional value. The recipe involves just a bit of prep and then 20 minutes baked in the oven. This sweet and savory combo makes for a hearty meal the kids will love.

Greek Couscous Salad

Plated Cravings

Couscous works well with veggies and is easy to prep. This simple salad uses ever-seasonal cucumbers and tomatoes with olives and feta for a Mediterranean feel. Get the recipe from Plated Cravings.

Mexican Quinoa Mix

Cookie and Kate

Vegan, gluten-free and packed with nutrients, this stew from Cookie and Kate by way of No Excuses Detox is also super easy to cook. Thickened with quinoa and beefed up with black beans, it is fresh and full of flavor. Ditch the jalapeños and spices if that’s too much for tiny taste buds—it’ll still taste great.

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

Weelicious

Your kids will dig into this Spaghetti Squash Marinara from Weelicious and not even realize it's not spaghetti noodles! Dinner will be ready in less than an hour and everyone will gobble it up. 

Classic Tomato Soup

The Cake Chica

While this recipe has cream in the ingredients, tomato soup has lots of vitamin K and calcium and simmers with nutritional value. Head to our archives for this version of a classic. It's the perfect way to transition from holiday excess to a healthy New Year.

Air Fryer Preserved Lemon Chicken

Weelicious

You and your family will love this Air Fryer Preserved Lemon Chicken recipe from Weelicious! Between prep and cook time, you'll have dinner on the table in 30 minutes and the kids will love how it tastes.

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Easy Breezy Roast Veggie Salad

Weelicious

This Easy Breezy Roast Veggie Salad from Weelicious is no boring salad! With delicious roasted veggies and a sweet maple syrup dressing, your kids will get excited about this dish.

—Taylor Clifton, Emily Meyers & Karly Wood

 

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Shelley Massey, our Atlanta editor and a mom of four, tried plant-powered sweetgreen for a stress-free family dinner. Here’s how it went:

The last Thursday of the semester was predictably chaotic. With two end-of-year parties, one preschool performance, one baseball team white elephant party and two basketball practices to navigate, it seemed like finding time (or the groceries for) a healthy dinner was a pipe dream. But, Wednesday night wasn't much different in terms of commitments and chaos, so I'd already played my microwaved quesadilla hand. My fridge was empty and my conscience was heavy. It was one of those days where I wondered if scurvy was still a thing, and whether my kids could, in fact, get it. Luckily, I didn't have to find out. sweetgreen saved the day.

Tinybeans readers can get $5 off their first sweetgreen order. Valid for new customers only. Order Now—Expires 3/31/22.*

What I knew about sweetgreen was very little. I’d heard they were new to the scene in the fast-casual food category, and I also knew that they delivered. Unfortunately, our recent move to the country put us just outside of their delivery range, but they are conveniently located so I decided to route my errands (did you really think I'd shopped in advance for that white elephant party?) near their Atlanta storefront. I downloaded their app, customized my order and placed it—all in about six minutes. When I pulled into the reserved pick-up spot, I knew my order was ready because of the status tracker on the app. I was inside the store for literally three minutes, just long enough for a polite employee to verify my name and show me where my food was waiting, and I was back in my car before the song on the radio ended.

With four kids, I knew better than to ask them what they wanted. The upside of sweetgreen is that they can customize your order however you'd like. The downside of sweetgreen is that my kids, given the option to customize their order, would most likely pick every single item on the menu. Instead, I chose for us. I started with an order of buffalo cauliflower topped with crispy rice, then proceeded to select a warm bowl customized with quinoa, goat cheese, marinated portobellos, blackened chicken and arugula—and a side of green goddess dressing. I also picked up a seasonal bowl with chicken and brussels, which came on a bed of romaine, spring mix and had roasted sweet potato, toasted almonds, apples, roasted brussels, blackened chicken and a cranberry maple vinaigrette dressing. The servings are large, so instead of ordering something for each child, I picked three entrees to share.

Tinybeans readers can get $5 off their first sweetgreen order. Valid for new customers only. Order Now—Expires 3/31/22.*

While I know that we should eat every meal as a family (and limit screen time, eliminate plastics and make our own lip balm), I definitely had to dish dinner up on Thursday in shifts. My preschooler and 2nd grader got first dibs, because they had earlier engagements. I took the lids off of everything from sweetgreen and let them pick and choose from each dish. Since the entrees resembled rainbows, my kids picked whatever they wanted and I felt good about whatever they chose for themselves. The best part was watching them dig in for seconds—of sweet potatoes, boiled eggs and brussels. My older two, in 5th and 7th grade, tucked into dinner about an hour later, after I'd dropped the littles. My 13 year old son in particular loved the buffalo cauliflower, and my daughter may or may not have been caught licking the green goddess container.

What could have been another nutritional disaster on Thursday turned into a seriously supercharged meal that each of my kids loved. They picked and chose what they liked the most, and now I know exactly what to custom order the next time practice, parties and performances create a perfect storm. sweetgreen is a choose-your-own culinary adventure that made this momma feel like she was getting something right.

Tinybeans readers can get $5 off of their first sweetgreen order! Order Now — Expires 3/31/22.*

—Shelley Massey

*$5 credit offer is only valid for new customers placing their first order on the sweetgreen app (iPhone or Android) or order.sweetgreen.com with a qualifying minimum $7.95 order value calculated before tax, service fees, delivery fees and tips, and after discounts and reward credits have been applied. Promotional credit offer can only be used by original recipient of this sweetgreen offer. Offer only valid for purchases made using the sweetgreen app or order.sweetgreen.com until 3/31/22. The $5 credit offer will be added to your account and you can add the “$5 credit” offer to your bag to verify at checkout. $5 credit offer expires at 11:59 pm EST on 3/31/22. Offer can only be claimed once per eligible user and must be redeemed in the sweetgreen account associated with the email address at which you received this offer from sweetgreen. Offer cannot be used to purchase gift cards. Not valid for orders on GrubHub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, MealPal or other marketplace sites. This offer is non-transferable, subject to change, and has no cash value (except as required by law).

Even if you’re not a vegetarian (or vegan) that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a delicious veggie-laden meal once in awhile. For this week’s edition of Date Night, 7X7 brings us the best of the best when it comes to vegetarian and vegan dining in San Francisco. Take a look at their list below for tips on where to indulge in some leafy goodness.

Herbivores, rejoice! You can now work your way down one of our must-eat lists without running into a single piece of meat. The Big Veg is our leafy opus of the 50 best vegetarian and *vegan dishes in SF. See how many you can spot on Foodspotting. First person to spot all 50 items by snapping a photo wins a $100 gift certificate to Ike’s Place. (Rules here).

1. Vegetarian pork belly in a clamshell bun at Heaven’s Dog
2. Stuffed avocado salad at Saha*
3. Papas al horno at Gracias Madre*
4. Buddha Girl roll at Sushiritto*
5. All About Vegetables tasting menu at Atelier Crenn
6. Vegan deep-dish at Paxti’s Chicago Pizza*
7. Thrice-cooked “bacon” at Mission Chinese Food
8. Spicy cauliflower with capers at Delfina Pizzeria
9. Bud Bundy at Ike’s Place*
10. Paper masala dosa at Dosa
11. Tempura-fried eggplant with miso glaze at Minako Organic Japanese Cuisine*
12. Mushroom wrap with green harissa at Grain and Grill (from Zaré at Flytrap)
13. The Nebulous Potato Thing at St. Francis Fountain*
14. The Plant Burger at The Plant Cafe*
15. Off-the-menu vegan pork buns at Lucky Creation*
16. Eggplant caponatina with burrata at Beretta
17. House-made tofu at Eiji*
18. The PLT at Citizen’s Band
19. Tofu mole burrito at Papalote Mexican Grill*
20. Handmade couscous with vegetables at Aziza
21. Piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese at Piperade
22. Vegetarian tacos with avocado at La Taqueria
23. Mesquite-grilled brochettes at Greens Restaurant*
24. Fried plantain and black bean burrito at Little Chihuahua
25. Stuffed falafel at Old Jerusalem
26. Veggie burger at Roam*
27. Spicy tofuna roll at Tataki*
28. Samusa soup at Burma Superstar*
29. Your choice of veggie piroshki at Anda Piroshki
30. Grilled cheese sandwich at Outerlands
31. Braised tofu jook at Samovar*
32. Dolma sandwich at Truly Mediterranean*
33. Daikon rice cakes at Slanted Door
34. Crispy Brussels sprout chips at Marlowe*
35. Any veggie sandwich (particularly butternut squash with radicchio) at Il Cane Rosso
36. Cheese späetzle at Suppenküche
37. Vegetarian pot pie (such as spinach and lentil) from Mission Pie
38. Moroccan vegetable tagine at Nopa
39. Green Goddess salad at Prospect
40. Cheese and bean pupusas at El Zocalo, preferably around 3 a.m.
41. Seasonal veggie salad at Boulettes Larder
42. Vegetarian ramen at Katana-Ya*
43. Vegetable imperial rolls with vermicelli at Sunflower
44. The Fillmore pizza at Zero Zero
45. Crusted oyster mushrooms at Millennium
46. Any of the rotating veggie pastas at Flour + Water
47. Butter lettuce salad with fresh herbs at Bistro Aix*
48. Sformato at Cotogna
49. Vegan sausage at Rosamunde Sausage Grill*
50. Sloppy Lil’ P at Juhu Beach Club

*=Vegan

By Laura Beck

This is our weekly guest post from our friends at 7×7, a site that keeps you up on the best of SF. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a fantastic Date Night idea each week. Be sure to check out their blog for hourly doses of the best of SF.