Here's a tasty and healthy option for a quick weeknight meal.  Did I hit all the right words...tasty...healthy...quick?!  Not lying, this meal can be made in 20 minutes flat.  We all need more of those in our busy lives.

This is, hands down, one of our favourite dinners of all for adults and kids. The aromas of ginger, garlic and scallions permeate every component of the dish, resulting in something far more than the sum of its parts. It is really, really spectacular. I'm talking about CHINESE CHICKEN RICE. Made simpler and easier for a weeknight hit.

You need a good fried rice in your weeknight repertoire. You really do. I wrote up this recipe as a supplement to my previous post "Simple Beer Braised Pork" as one of a few ways to make a single braised pork shoulder and turn it into multiple delicious meals by freezing portions of it to pull out as needed on busy weeknights. (See also my post "Pappardelle with Pulled Pork & Wilted Spinach" for another scrumptious meal idea). 

I have been making this crispy chicken forever but it never occurred to me to blog it because it is just so simple.  I finally decided it is less about a 'recipe' and more about the method. One that is tried and true and results in the crispiest chicken to come out of an oven without a single drop of added oil. 

That is correct. Crispy.  No oil.  Skeptical?  Let me explain. 

Like, am I even allowed to call a double chocolate muffin 'healthy' when it is this chocolate-y good? But truly, these muffins are naturally sweetened with dates and ripe bananas (no processed sugars), are gluten-free, has fiber and heartiness from rolled oats and has only healthy oils from ground up pecans and extra-virgin olive oil. The chocolate-y goodness comes from a combo of raw cacao powder and melted dark chocolate.  Because sometimes we just need a little chocolate at 7am, don't we?   

Sweetened black sesame paste is a mega-superstar in desserts. This is well known in east asian countries like Japan and China where it is a quintessential staple in sweet treats like ice cream, pastries, cakes and glutinous rice balls. In western culture we know how well nuts like pistachios, almonds and pecans work in all sorts of sweet applications, too many to list really. Black sesame lends a similar nuttiness to desserts although for some reason has not enjoyed the same ubiquity. The color maybe? Perhaps now is the time to give yourself to the Dark Side!

In Korean, this is called Galbijjim.  Since I am not Korean, I do not have a "mom's best" recipe passed to me for these Korean-style braised shortribs.  So I did the next best thing and adapted my recipe from David Chang's mom's recipe posted on the GQ site.  After I made his version a couple of times I wanted to simplify the ingredients and cooking method for more practical home cooking, so I can make and enjoy it more often of course!  

Almond flour makes a most delicious and fragrant gluten-free tart crust. I have long been a devotee to the buttery cookie crust. Still am, really, but I heard somewhere from someone it is good to diversify and I'm pretty sure they were talking about cheesecake.  Even when gluten intolerance is not an issue, I love to make this crust because it is super yummy and also because I can rationalize that by eating 2 or 3 of these tarts I am loading up on heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants and other nutrients from the almonds. ;)

I generally abhor salad prep. I love to eat salad. But the prep, no. So much washing and spinning and trimming and seeding and cutting. But these rolls and the dipping sauce. Oh I'll do it for them. They are one of my favorite ways to eat a load of vegetables in one sitting. The filling can be quite versatile. The only 'formula' (for me) is the inclusion of buttery avocado + crunchy carrots + refreshing cucumber + something leafy. Beyond that, almost anything goes. 

When the weather is cold, I turn to hearty chilis and stews to warm up.  I'm also lazy. And stews and chilis are wonderful one-pot meals loaded with meat, beans and lots of veggies! This recipe has no actual heat (spiciness) so who knows if it should still be called a chili. Feel free to enlighten me on this in the comments. Regardless, if you are unlike me and have no young children to worry about, by all means add a tsp of chili flakes when the turmeric goes into the pot.

My family LOVES this granola recipe. It has heartiness from the old-fashioned rolled oats. It has crunchiness from the almonds. It has chewiness from the dried blueberries (or other dried fruit like currents, cranberries or raisins). And important to me, it has healthy fats (extra virgin coconut oil) and is sweetened naturally with medjool dates and maple syrup. Indeed, it has all the qualities of Granola Greatness! Do you think they care about that? Nay. They love it because it is really, really yummy.

This is an essential weeknight recipe that I default to again and again because it is so easy to prepare and because of how much my girls love them!  Think 4 ingredients, 15 prep time, 25 mins bake time. There is no reason to buy packaged nuggets ever. EVER.  I also make this recipe regularly with ground turkey with wonderful results too but of course it will be a tad less juicy. I always make a double-batch and freeze a portion of uncooked nuggets for future school lunches.

Apr 2017:  I have added gluten/grain-free AND dairy-free alternatives.  Hurray!  Nuggets for everyone!