Weekly Meal Ideas

Four Deliciously Budget-Friendly 30-Minute Recipes

Published
Categorized as Dinner, Featured, Lunch

Do you love great-tasting food that’s ready to serve in half an hour or less, and gives you good value for your grocery dollar?

Me, too! That’s why I think you’ll like all four of these great recipes I’ve been making from freshy.com. They’re easy to make, and don’t take a lot of time or expensive ingredients. Best of all, every one of them comes out deliciously!

Moroccan Hummus

This tastes like hummus you’d buy from a great restaurant or deli. That’s because the recipe walks you through sauteing the spices before they’re mixed in with the other ingredients.

Heating spices through before they’re added with other ingredients opens them up, releasing the best of their aromas and flavors. In cooking terms, the process is called blooming. It’s an easy trick that chefs often use, and it takes the spices in Moroccan Hummus to the next level.

Yogurt and yogurt sauces play a big part in Moroccan cooking.
The yogurt in the recipe, combined with the spices, gives Moroccan Hummus an authentic and really delicious flavor.

Garlic Quinoa

Garlic Quinoa has the perfect taste for a side or accompanying dish. The flavor is great on its own, and it enhances the food it’s served with without overpowering.

Garlic is a versatile flavor that goes well with almost anything. It’s ideal for side dishes, but the recipe needs to get the amount of garlic to use just right. Too much can be a disaster, and not enough tastes bland and boring.

For me, Garlic Quinoa has the perfect balance of garlic flavor. The recipe doesn’t go overboard on garlic, but uses enough so that lots of great garlic flavor comes through.

Quinoa usually doesn’t have much flavor on its own, but in this recipe it’s cooked in stock instead of water. The stock gives the quinoa delicious, savory flavor, without needing to add any additional seasonings.

Easy Roasted Broccoli

One of my favorite dishes to pair with Garlic Quinoa is Easy Roasted Broccoli. It makes a great side dish, but it has so much flavor that I often use it as an easy, super-healthy main dish.

I’ve tried other roasted broccoli recipes and had mixed results, but Easy Roasted Broccoli comes out great every time. The florets roast evenly, they all get a dark tinge that packs intense flavor, and they don’t have any of the bitterness many people associate with fresh broccoli.

The recipe works so well because it has plenty of oil, a generous amount of salt, and calls for the broccoli to roast at a high oven temperature. The oil helps broccoli roast evenly, and you need enough to thoroughly coat each floret’s nooks and crannies. Salt helps to take away broccoli’s natural bitterness, and using it sparingly can result in uneven flavor. The high oven temperature ensures all your roasted broccoli will get that dark tinge that tastes so good.

Curry Rice

Curry Rice is a recipe I use with frozen veggies or leftovers to make quick, healthy meals with lots of flavor. The rice carries all the flavor, and I just add a bag of microwaved frozen vegetables, or leftovers that happen to be kicking around the kitchen. Leftover roasted broccoli is delicious in Curry Rice the next day.

Like Garlic Quinoa, Curry Rice cooks right in its seasonings. You can use red or yellow curry powders or pastes, and they all give the rice amazing flavor.

I swap the chicken stock for vegetable bouillon, and the recipe still works well and has great flavor. The stock you use will only change the flavor, and shouldn’t have an effect on how the rice cooks.

Freshy.com is a great resource for delicious, do-able recipes, and there’s plenty to choose from for every taste. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do!