How to Eat Healthy with Little or No Cooking

The funny thing about oatmeal is that it doesn't need all the sugar it's packed with in cereal boxes, or the brown sugar those who are health-conscious add when they add their blueberries and other fruit. If you add sweet dried fruit, minutely chopped, you'll find that the result will satisfy your sweet tooth. You may even discover, as I have, that you like the taste of oatmeal on its own, without any fruit or sugar.

So oatmeal is one option. Another option I like for breakfast on some days is an apple or pear and an avocado. As I have explained in other articles, the healthy fats in avocado (omega-3 and omega-6) help absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. And apples contain fiber and phytonutrients which bring a whole host of health benefits – read about them here in my article 10 Reasons Apples Are Good for You.

Like many people, I also eat eggs. With tomatoes and cucumbers, and a bit of cheese. We have telemea cheese here in Romania, which I find -- or maybe I have been culturally conditioned to think so -- particularly well suited to this kind of breakfast. I may also have for breakfast (ever since I started looking into diversifying my options) boiled chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with a tomato. And to drink: orange and grapefruit juice.

Or I could have two slices of bread with eggplant spread (but that involves some cooking), with a tomato on the side again. (I'm rather fond of tomatoes, and it turns out they are really healthy, too.) 

I like mashed potatoes, and that's not really cooking. I mean, it's easy to peel them, cut them, and leave them to boil. I then add either milk, or only butter, or both, depending on the mood. I found mashed potatoes go great with a number of salads: cabbage / beets / lettuce / endive salad, etc.

If you're pressed for time, you can buy cabbage salad. Or at least here in Romania you can, because it's very popular. Also beets with horseradish. All very healthy options. Of course, if you like cabbage a lot and plan to eat a lot of it, or feed a large family, you can buy a cabbage, cut it in half, and chop each half on the day you plan to eat it. Endives are also very easy to prepare. I eat them with a little bit of oil and balsamic vinegar.

For lunch I may have baked fish, with Romanian garlic sauce. I absolutely love it, although I think I tend to dunk it in way too much water and lose a lot of the flavor this way. It's certainly much tastier in a salt crust.

Neither feel like cooking to me, but each involves using the oven – hence heat. But if you can stay away from the kitchen, it's worth it: you only need to step in quickly wash trout, cut head and tail, add water and oil (you can skip the lemon juice), put it in the oven, then come back after 10 minutes to turn the fish on the other side, and again after 30 minutes to remove it from the oven.

Garlic sauce is more labor intensive, but judging by my palate, store-bought beet-and-horseradish salad (if you can find it) will go well with baked trout. It needs something rather pungent in one way or another.

Or you can steam some broccoli or other frozen vegetables, and cover them with tangy cheese. My favorite option here are shavings of Parmesan or Grana Padano. But I'm getting excited and this is meant to be about eating healthy without having to cook. Still, steamed veggies with cheese are a quick and healthy fix, so that's another option of you don't want to cook the fish.

I like to cook all kinds of creamy soups, but those take time.

What else? You can make salads. I took many photos of salads and have several articles -- about their health benefits -- waiting to be published. I should probably look into that. Some of my favorite salads involve lettuce or endives, tomatoes or bell peppers, cucumbers, walnuts, tuna, and sweet corn. The lettuce + tomatoes + cucumbers (+ green onion) combination is really common over here in Romania. If you add cheese then it will be really filling.

Another salad I like is a classic Romanian recipe: apple, carrot, and celery root, grated, mixed with mayo -- I make the mayonnaise myself. Other people use oil and vinegar instead of mayo.

                                                       Or you can try mashed beans for protein. I usually eat store-bought mashed beans because the Romanian recipe involves a little more than just boiling them and seasoning them with salt, pepper, and garlic. But I have to try to make them the simple way, too. We boil them in a pressure pot with some vegetables, mash the beans while keeping some of the broth, and the chop onion and garlic, and add that too.

I eat mashed beans with the same cabbage and beet salads. On those days when I don't cook / don't buy prepared food / don't eat out, I adapt my meals to the healthy options that I can find easily in one of the largest Romanian supermarkets.

If you like meat, then you can buy grilled chicken breast (or whatever meat type and cut you prefer) and serve it with tomatoes. I do that, too, sometimes, and it's all the food I need for lunch.

Also, if you haven't head eggs for breakfast, you can have eggs with tomatoes and cheese now, for lunch, if you wish. Minimal cooking.

If you're still hungry, you can have fresh pineapple chunks.

I may have two slices of wholegrain bread with some spread and smoked salmon. Very healthy, except, perhaps, for that spread. When I don't have that in the fridge, I use butter. I really like butter myself. Of course, I only use very little. And I have these slices of bread with tomatoes again, or on their own. But I don't do the salmon very often because I also eat trout rather often when I don't have time to cook.

Another thing I try not to overlook are nuts, especially as I really like almonds and pistachios. (And make sure to have walnuts in salads, where I can enjoy them much better.) I also like pumpkin seeds. Those, however, take a lot of time to eat. If I have that time, I enjoy it. There are many other seeds I like, and I can buy them ready to eat, husk-free. Sunflower seeds are really popular over here. They are cheap and healthy. Every now and then I have some of those, too.

Or I may have apples and cheese.

If I want something sweet, I might have sesame flour with honey. Really delicious!

And all throughout the day, I drink a lot of tea. That's another topic entirely.

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If I can't have pasta, I may have two slices of bread with butter and bell peppers. Or another serving of that salad with veggies, tuna, walnuts, and sweet corn, which I really like.

Now if you do have time to cook, and I got you a little interested in Romanian cooking, I recommend Nicolae Klepper's book Taste of Romania. You'll find a whole range of recipes, from easy ones like eggplant salad (spread) to Romanian lamb haggis (which I find delicious). The great thing about this book is that he chose really nice versions of the Romanian recipes he included. Some are very common dishes, dishes you'll find in our homes at Christmas and Easter (such as cabbage rolls, or our version of the Italian pannettone), and others are fancier recipes -- like trout with almonds and sour cream -- you may find in restaurants. In fact, he did get a lot of recipes directly from various chefs he met in Romania.

I didn't have a chance to buy Irina Georgescu's Carpathia book yet, but it appears to be a great cookbook as well. (Do note, though, that Taste of Romania is more than just a cookbook. It's also a conversation piece, with lots of interesting cultural tidbits about Romania.)

What are some of your healthy ideas for quick meal fixes on hot summer days, or when you simply don't have time to cook?