For many people who have to balance work with home life, the evening meal is the only opportunity they get to sit down and eat a meal with their partner or family. However, because it’s at the end of a hard day, some people can stress about what to make, especially if you are trying to pack plenty of vegetables into your dinner.

Healthy recipes

The most important thing to remember is to plan ahead and know what you are going to be having each night of the working week. This not only reduces your costs, but also makes it more likely that you will eat something nutritious rather than grabbing the first thing you see, which is usually not the healthiest!

So how can you make sure your dinner is packed full of all the things you need? We’ve got some basic advice for eating delicious and tasty but nutritious meals.

Use your slow cooker

Stews and casseroles are a fantastic way to make sure you get the right amount of vegetables into your diet. They are also a brilliant solution for people that work full-time and find they are often struggling to find the time once they get home to make a nutritious and balanced meals.

For people that love taste and flavour, casseroles don’t need to be bland and can actually enable you to tailor your meal to suit your palate. For a Spanish twist, try seasoning some pork and then cook it up with some onions and meatballs in a pan. Once these have browned, add garlic and peppers until they soften and then add two tins of chopped tomatoes. Add some butter beans and sugar for a little bit of sweetness and you have a perfectly balanced meal. You can then add this into the slow cooker and leave it until you get home.

Simply make big batches of this, or any other stew or casserole, and put the leftovers in your freezer to give you a quick and easy meal.

Make smart substitutions

Swapping bad food in favour of more nutritious food can be an easy way to have the same meals but know they are much better for you and your body. An obvious choice is to ditch white carbs for their wholewheat alternatives. From bread to pasta and even rice, making this simple switch can significantly improve your diet.

If you want to add some more vegetables to your diet, you can even substitute your carbs for veg. For example, instead of rice you can have minced cauliflower or swap spaghetti for courgette strips. This can instantly improve the nutrition of your meals and will also stop you crashing immediately after your evening meal.

For meat-eaters, you might want to swap red meats for chicken or turkey. Perhaps even look at avoiding meat completely a couple of times a week. Quorn mince can be used to make your favourite chilli or bolognese sauce instead of your normal beef mince. This contains much less fat and will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.