Light, easy dinners with few ingredients for these days

Zucchini spaghetti with prawns

This is one of my favorite light dinners and ideal for the quarantine if you are looking for recipes with few ingredients. You just have to take a zucchini and make some spaghetti with the help of a spiralizer, a mandolin, a potato peeler or a knife. Then, you sauté them with a thread of oil. They can even be eaten raw, but sautéed they are tastier. And you accompany them with some sautéed frozen peeled prawns or cooked prawns to make it a more complete dinner.

Alternatives. You can also put a sauce like the one you put on pasta, a Bolognese based on fried tomato and minced meat. Or accompany them with a vegetable burger if you want vegetarian recipes.

Vegetable puree with egg and mushrooms

Another possible light and easy dinner for these days of confinement is to make a cream or a vegetable puree like this one. So that it is not too heavy, I do it without cream or cheese (hence it is a puree and not a cream) and I use what I have on hand at home. This one, for example, has two leeks, a large sweet onion and an apple (I love the sweet touch it gives). And if you want it to have more consistency, you can add a small potato. First I fry the onion and the leek, to make it more tasty. Then I add the apple and the potato if it has one. I add water until it covers the vegetables. And I let it cook over medium-low heat until the potato is done. I crush it and accompany it with a grilled fried egg (just a drop of oil) and some sautéed mushrooms.

Alternatives. You can also make it with a zucchini base instead of leek or with pumpkin and carrots. If you want more liquid, add a little more water. And to accompany it you can put boiled egg, fresh cheese cubes, a handful of nuts … Discover here more purees and vegetable creams.

Hake with ratatouille

Both ratatouille, samfaina and ratatouille are vegetable-based preparations that give a lot of play in the kitchen as a garnish or accompaniment to meat, fish, eggs … I like it with everything, but especially with fish if it's for dinner . To do this, I dice onion, pepper, zucchini and aubergine, fry them a little, add crushed tomato and cook it until the vegetables are done. When it is almost finished, I take fish, in this case hake, I cook it on the grill and serve it on a bed of ratatouille.

Alternatives. It goes well with any fish: cod, salmon or even canned tuna, canned sardines or anchovies. It is also very good with grilled turkey or chicken. Or like my mother did, with a little white rice and a fried egg.

Egg noodle soup

You can also improvise a delicious light and easy dinner with a broth, noodles and egg. It's one of my favorite dinners when I don't know what to do and don't want to mess around in the kitchen a lot. I take vegetable broth, which I have in the pantry in cartons or frozen in portions. I bring it to a boil, add a handful of noodles per person, add whatever aromatic herbs I have on hand and, in parallel, prepare a boiled egg. In 10-15 minutes tops, I have dinner ready.

Alternatives. It is also very good with ramen-type noodles and pieces of meat, fish, seafood or, if you want a vegetarian or vegan version, tofu. More recipes with tofu, here.

Grilled turkey with vegetables

If you're more into meat, you can try these grilled turkey medallions with steamed vegetables. So as not to complicate my life, I make carrot sticks and microwave them in a steamed case on a bed of spinach or chard. As these vegetables already have a lot of water, it is not necessary to add liquid, just a thread of olive oil, salt and pepper. I put it at maximum power for about 5 minutes. I check that the carrot is ready and, if it has generated a lot of water, I remove most of it and heat it for another minute or two. While it's warming up, I make some grilled turkey medallions, and voila.

Alternatives. If you want it to be tastier, you can accompany it with a light yogurt or mustard sauce. You can make this recipe with any meat or fish and other greens and vegetables.

Discover more light microwave recipes to eat well even if you don't have time.

Chicken fajitas with sauteed vegetables

A classic of easy but delicious light dinners is also the chicken fajitas with vegetables. You can make them with the vegetables you find in the fridge; for example, onion strips and red and green peppers. And you complete it with chicken breast cut into strips, some arugula leaves and sesame seeds. You sauté everything and use it to fill some wheat or corn tortillas. Easy and delicious to pamper yourself without going overboard.

Alternatives. Instead of chicken, you can put turkey, beef (although it is better not to abuse the red meat) or, if you want a vegetarian version, cheese taquitos or a light chickpea hummus.

Spinach with raisins and pine nuts

And to complete the light and easy dinners for confinement, you can make a spinach recipe like this Spinach Raisin and Pine Nut Stir Fry. And to make it a complete dinner, you accompany them with meat, fish, egg, seitan … Or you use it as a filling for a lasagna or some cannelloni. To make them, you boil the spinach and drain it well. Sauté some garlic, add some peppers and some raisins and sauté it a little. Add the spinach and cook everything together until all the water in the spinach evaporates.