Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners — May 1-5

April 28, 2017
Credit: Photo: Hector Sanchez
If you like having a healthy meal plan but want something customized to your dietary or caloric needs, check out The Cooking Light Diet. It’s a calorie-driven weekly meal plan—breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner—based on your dieting goals and food preferences. Some of these recipes are from our brand-new May issue. Others are classics. Look for one on a newsstands or in your mailbox soon to find more delicious dinner inspiration.
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Meatless Monday: Pea Pappardelle Pasta

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Pea Pappardelle Pasta

Sugar snaps, green peas, and pea shoots enrich this dish with sweet flavor and a bounty of pleasing textures. Look for pea shoots at your local farmers market or Asian market, or substitute watercress.

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Taco Tuesday: Mushroom and Charred Corn Tacos with Guacamole

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Mushroom and Charred Corn Tacos with Guacamole

This quick taco filling is perfect for weeknight dinners, Poblano chiles bring rich, earthy flavor but little to no heat. (Every once in a while you can get a hot one, though.) If you want to add a little spice, add some crushed red pepper when you sauté the mushrooms.

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One-Pot Wednesday: Shrimp Paella

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Shrimp Paella

Precooked rice and ground turmeric speed up this Spanish shrimp dish and keep cost in check. Let the rice sizzle in the pan to get the prized crispy layer.

Cost for 4: $11.14
Total Time: 20 minutes

This recipe is part of our Let's Cook! curriculum: Find more easy, healthy, affordable recipes anyone can make at CookingLight.com/LetsCook.

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Thursday: Garden Greens Pizza

Credit: Photo: Greg Dupree
View Recipe: Garden Greens Pizza

This springtime pie taps into some of the season's superior produce for a vibrant, fresh take on pizza.

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Fajita Friday: Cinco de Cheesy Chicken Fajitas

Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio
View Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Fajitas

Chicken taco meets 7-layer dip in this fiesta of a skillet supper. For extra zest, serve with cilantro and lime wedges. Shredded rotisserie chicken makes this veggie-packed meal a breeze. Red onion, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, corn, and avocado boost nutrients and add fresh flavor, while the combination of both chicken and beans packs 25g of protein and 10g fiber into this speedy supper. For additional fiber, you can swap in black beans or kidney beans for the pintos. Using reduced-fat sour cream and part-skim mozzarella still gives you plenty of creamy goodness while lowering calories and fat.

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Bonus Beverage: Classic Margarita

Credit: Photo: Hector Sanchez
View Recipe: Classic Margarita

Hint: Our nutrition guidelines don't allow for it, but this is easily doubled. Use respectable tequila ($28 or so a bottle) and fresh-squeezed lime juice—the ingredients define this cocktail as much as the technique.

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