Best of: 20 Easy Weeknight Meals While Staying Safely At Home

Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Sweet Corn Salad. “My friend Erin has the most amazingly simple and healthy recipes on her site, Naturally Ella. This one’s my favorite for weeknights because it’s so easy and delicious. The zesty lime and spiced beans are a big hit! Using handmade tortillas makes a big difference. If it’s a really busy night I use canned corn and canned black beans. If I have some on hand, I add five minute pickled onions for an extra pop of color.”

Fettuccine with shredded zucchini, fresh ricotta and lemon zest. “My youngest son loves to get involved in the kitchen and can do with this recipe by helping to grate the zucchini. This is a dish that I like to sprinkle some chili flakes onto for some extra zing.”

White Bean Chicken Chili.  This chicken chili recipe is my absolute favorite and the ingredients are simple. I almost always use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store too (major time saver).

1 large onion, chopped
3 tsp cumin
3 15 oz cans white beans
1/2 tsp oregano
5 cups chicken broth
6-8 cloves of garlic
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup sour cream (not lite)
3 cups shredded monterey jack cheese (1/2 lb)

Bring onion, beans, broth to a simmer. Add chicken and simmer for 20 minutes. Add spices, garlic and simmer another 20 minutes. Add sour cream and cheese just before serving.

Tomato Pesto Ziti. This is super yummy and easy because you don’t need to remember measurements, no cups or tsp in this recipe at all. A couple handfuls but those can be as much or little as you want. You make it once and you’ll never have to look at a recipe again!

1 onion, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 container of prepared pesto (7 oz is the full container, so 3.5 oz)
Penne noodles (or other)
Handful of fresh spinach
1 block of mozzarella chopped into small pieces
Handful of shredded parm

Boil water and then cook noodles. In a separate skillet, saute an onion in olive oil until soft and a large add a can of chopped tomatoes. Add half a container of the pesto. Mix together in a casserole dish with cooked penne, a few handfuls of fresh spinach and chopped bites of mozzarella. Bake for about 30 minutes at 375 until juices are bubbly. Season with salt and pepper. Delicious! If you’re feeling super ambitious, you can add sausage at the beginning before the tomatoes.

Chicken Gyros. The easy marinate is what makes this dish so delicious. You toss the chicken in marinade and let it sit and then the rest of the dinner is less than 10 minutes of cooking and assembly away. The cold tzatziki sauce (I kind of cheat to make it super easy) and crisp veggies served with fresh fruit on the side are perfect for a hot summer day.
Toss these together and marinate for at least an hour then throw on the stove (with marinade juices) over medium-high heat right before eating:
1-2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 t of dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
1-2 t of fresh dill chopped (I used dried sometimes too)
pinch of salt and pepper

Serve the chicken on oven-warmed naan bread (we LOOVE the garlic naan from Whole Foods). Top with romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce. I love Ina’s version, but you can make an easy 2 minute version by mixing greek yogurt with a bit of lemon, olive oil, shredded cucumber (or not), dill and salt.

Crisp Black Bean Tacos. “I like this one because I almost always have everything for it on hand, except for the cabbage. I’ve substituted a lettuce for the cabbage in the slaw a few times, and while it doesn’t have the same crunch, it still tastes super delicious.”

Vegetarian Lentil Soup.“I came a across this recipe years ago when I was searching for meals that were high in iron to feed my vegetarian babies. This meal is SUPER easy to make and my kids wish they could eat it every night. I serve this soup with a side of warm pita for dipping”