When it comes to dinner, it is actually pretty easy to stick to a clean eating lifestyle. This is when people tend to cook the most; so as long as you are using whole, fresh ingredients, you should be fine. But here are a few dinner ideas to help get you started.
Chicken, Avocado, Bacon Salad
While just about any type of salad works great for a clean eating lifestyle, you do want to try to stick to salads that offer a little more protein during dinner. This should be a bigger meal than lunch, and one that is going to fill you up all night and cause you to become hungry again at midnight, or wake up completely starving. This salad is great because you can choose any greens you want, can include protein with both chicken and bacon (or you can leave the bacon out if you choose). The avocado is also filling and contributes healthy fats to the salad.
Protein, Veggies, and Rice
For a well-balanced meal while clean eating, choose a protein (about a palm-sized amount), vegetable (should be 50% of your plate – hot, cold, or both), and carbohydrate (a small amount, around 15% of the plate) or just double veggies. In this case, you may want to choose a whole grain or brown rice, or even a pseudo-grain like quinoa. You can choose any protein you like that fits the clean-eating diet, such as grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, or lean steak. Choose any types of veggies you like, whether you go with a classic steamed broccoli and cauliflower mix, sautéed carrots, or garlic green beans, or a salad.
Turkey Chili
Chili is a wonderful thing to cook at home when you are following a clean eating lifestyle. It is easy to make and has a lot of room for flexibility. If you want to reduce the overall fat, you can use ground turkey instead of ground beef or ½ ground turkey and ½ ground beef to still have some of that beef flavor (look for pasture-raised and grass-fed). You want to add your preferred beans, and of course, lots of veggies to reduce the overall amount of meat added to the chili. The seasonings are up to you and depending on how hot you like your chili. Serve it alone or with some hand-shredded organic cheese and/or organic sour cream.
Stir-Fry
This is another simple dinner that can be filling and gives you room to make it your own. While you don’t want to use a lot of processed ingredients with a clean eating diet, if you use a bag of frozen veggies that should be okay. Try to use fresh ingredients as much as possible. For stir-fry, sautee the veggies and serve it over some rice, quinoa, or couscous. If you go with rice or quinoa, make sure you get the actual bags of rice and cook it by boiling or using a rice cooker; avoid the boxes of instant rice or rice mixes, as they are processed and should be avoided. TO add more protein, cook up chicken, steak, or organic tofu with your stir-fry.
RECIPE
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1½ lbs. pasture-raised pork shoulder, thinly sliced (can substitute beef)
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 t. fresh ginger, finely minced
1/3 c. raw cashews
½ t. garlic powder
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1 bunch baby Bok choy, leaves separated
3 T. toasted sesame oil
2 T. tamari or coconut aminos
Optional: 2 T. toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Directions:
- Heat the olive oil in a wok or a large frying pan with high sides over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is nicely browned on all sides, around 3-4 minutes.
- Add bell pepper, green onion, ginger, cashews, and garlic powder. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Stir fry the veggies until they become crisp-tender, around 2-3 minutes.
- Add the bok choy, sesame oil, and tamari. Continue to stir fry until the bok choy wilts and the other ingredients are coated, approximately 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and transfer to individual serving plates. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, if desired, and serve immediately. Enjoy
