Quick Easy Recipes - 2 Tasty And Healthy Side Dishes That Require Only Little Time And Effort

So, you got this packet of meat in your fridge but you don't know what to make with it. And you can't find a recipe that includes right this type of meat, makes your mouth water and is easy enough to make it in that half or three quarter of an hour you got. Sometimes we are not searching for the recipe of a whole meal, sometimes we also need something we can easily combine with what we have.
Side dishes allow you to be very creative and flexible with your meals. Vegetable side dishes can go with rice, potatoes or pasta, with or without meat. They are a great asset when you plan your meals according to the simple formula: veggies + starchy foods + protein rich foods. In other words: veggies, rice and meat. Or veggies, potatoes and fish. Or veggies, pasta and mince. Using this simple formula, and sticking with easy ingredients that require little preparation can make you prepare a tasty and healthy meal in about half an hour.
Here are two simple side dishes: The first one is a healthier alternative to boiling potatoes so that you can also enjoy potatoes with your quick meal. The second recipe is a vegetable side dish that won't even take you 10 minutes to make.

Quick Oven-baked Potatoes
The quickest way to cook potatoes is to boil them in lots of salt water. But unfortunately, this is not the healthiest way. In fact, many water soluble nutrients are drawn out of the potatoes and into the water, especially if you boil them too long.
A better way which can do without water and requires only a little bit of (healthy) fat is to bake them in the oven:
1. Preheat your oven on 230°C.
2. Wash your potatoes thoroughly. Don't peel them. Cut them into very thin slices. You can use a grater for this.
3. Place baking paper on a baking tray and slightly grease it with olive oil.
4. Spread the potato slices on the baking tray, sprinkle them with a bit of olive oil and your favorite spices (for example thyme, cayenne pepper, rosemary). Bake them for about 20-25 minutes until they are tender. Turn them once after 10 minutes so that they can get crispy from both sides.
5. Serve immediately.

Super Quick Chili Veggies
Like it spicy? Here's a hot side dish made of canned corn, peas and chili that you will love. It's super quick, so it's a perfect recipe for days when you only got a few moments to cook. It's also great if your meat requires a bit more preparation. At least you don't have to worry much about the veggies.

Ingredients
1 can corn
1 can peas
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. crushed chili
1 tsp. ground cumin

1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a pan.
2. Add garlic, chili and cumin and fry them for about half a minute, stirring well.
3. Then add the corn, mix well and fry it for a few minutes until it is hot.

Serves 4.

There are many other recipes that you can create with these two in mind. Instead of potatoes, you can bake sweet potatoes, carrots or butternut. Marrows and pepper would go even quicker. The nice thing about baking your veggies in the oven is that you will need less fat. As for the chili veggies, you can replace the corn and peas with any other canned veggies. Try different spices, leave the garlic and add a chopped onion instead. Be creative! Just make sure you don't use processed vegetables as they contain lots of unhealthy additives and also are not so nice for stir-frying.