Monday, December 14, 2009

Easy No Cook Meals

By Laura Cokherell

How many times have you wanted to make a quick meal without turning on the oven? These simple meals require no cooking and are easy to assemble in just a few minutes. Try these quick and easy recipes to make flavorful meals in minutes any time.

Use low-fat and low-sodium products whenever possible to keep these no cook meal ideas healthy. When using oil, use as little as possible to lower the fat content too.

- Combine marinated artichoke hearts (drained and chopped), capers (rinsed and drained), Swiss cheese cubes, chopped red onion, and chopped apples. Toss with some oil from the artichoke hearts and some chopped fresh dill. Mix together completely and make individual servings by stuffing mixture in hollowed out sourdough rolls and serve along with a simple salad of baby spinach leaves and sliced cucumbers dressed in olive oil and vinegar.

- Combine shelled, cooked shrimp (tail removed and cut into chunks), thinly sliced celery, jarred roasted red peppers (drained and chopped), chopped scallions, chopped yellow bell pepper, pitted and chopped black olives. Toss ingredients in an olive oil vinaigrette and fill a soft tortilla shell with mixture for a simple wrap sandwich. Serve with apples and pear slices.

- Combine store bought prepared roasted or grilled chicken (cubed), jarred roasted peppers (drained and roughly chopped), pitted black olives (quartered lengthwise), and diced seedless cucumbers. Toss this combination with sour cream mixed with some prepared mustard. Place mixture in a pita pocket and serve with a small bowl of green grapes.

- For a flavorful sandwich, spread some blue cheese dressing on one side of two slices of whole grain bread. On one slice of bread place a couple of slices of smoked salmon, a sprinkling of dried dill, thin slices of apple, some pitted and sliced green olives, and thinly sliced red onion. Top sandwich with the second piece of bread and serve along with a side of cut up tomatoes tossed with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

- Combine some cottage cheese with blueberries, avocado chunks, diced celery, and chopped pecans. This can be served on whole grain crackers or with some soft bread sticks.

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