Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD
Dive into a fusion of comfort and flavor with these ginger recipes that are sure to add a zesty kick to your meals. Abundant in antioxidants, ginger not only adds delicious flavor but it also helps promote clear blood vessels and improved blood flow. Plus, each of these recipes is packed with 940 milligrams of potassium and is lower in saturated fat and sodium—a perfect complement for those aiming to support lower blood pressure. Try our Ginger Roasted Salmon & Broccoli or our Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad for a tasty meal that also plays a role in maintaining balanced blood pressure.
Ginger Roasted Salmon & Broccoli
This quick Asian salmon recipe uses the sauce for both glazing the salmon and tossing with the broccoli. Serve over rice noodles or brown rice tossed with sesame oil and scallions.
Padma Lakshmi's Tandoori Chicken Salad
Padma Lakshmi's tandoori salad features chicken marinated in yogurt and plenty of spices, along with lots of crunchy vegetables including cucumber, cabbage, jicama and radishes. Her technique of cooking the chicken in its marinade and then using that cooked marinade as a salad dressing is genius—it infuses the salad with tons of flavor.
Weeknight Chicken Lettuce Wraps
These chicken lettuce wraps are perfect for busy weeknights. Water chestnuts, green onions and carrots offer crunch to the sweet and tender filling that's bulked up with shiitake mushrooms to boost the savory flavor while keeping the filling moist. For the juiciest filling, look for ground chicken that is a combination of both light and dark meat. Using ground white meat only will cut back on fat and calories, but the filling will be a bit dryer. You can add additional chopped mushrooms to help keep it moist.
Chile-Garlic Salmon Bento Box with Avocado
Keeping salmon in your freezer means you always have something on hand for dinner, and—bonus!—you can cook it from frozen as we do here.
Anti-Inflammatory Lemon-Blueberry Smoothie
The kale, hemp seeds and green tea in this bright, lemony smoothie all contain antioxidants that can help fight inflammation. If you can’t find baby kale, baby spinach will work well in its place. Banana adds natural sweetness. If you want it a little sweeter, just a touch of honey will do the trick.
Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie
This healthy smoothie is not only delicious--it also boosts your daily dose of anti-inflammatory foods. It starts with a base of creamy gut-friendly kefir and includes cherries, which can lower the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Heart-healthy fats in avocado, almond butter and chia seeds deliver additional anti-inflammatory compounds to the body, while spinach offers a mix of antioxidants that sweep up harmful free radicals. Fresh ginger adds zing, plus a compound called gingerol, which preliminary studies suggest may improve inflammatory markers of heart disease if consumed daily.
Sesame-Ginger Chicken Salad
Keeping cooked chicken and prepared sesame-ginger dressing on hand means this healthy lunch salad comes together in a snap.
Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Quinoa Pilaf
A bitter-tasting compound called saponin coats the outside of quinoa seeds, requiring a quick rinse to remove it. But check the package: some brands come pre-rinsed, saving you a step.
Grilled Flank Steak Salad with Ginger-Wasabi Dressing
This quick, healthy dinner salad recipe is ready in 40 minutes thanks to preshredded carrots and coleslaw mix. If you have leftover quinoa, skip Step 1 and use 2 cups in the salad. If you want a bigger flavor kick in the dressing, up the wasabi powder to 1 tablespoon.
Curried Parsnip & Apple Soup
This creamy parsnip and apple soup recipe has amazing flavor from the combination of curry powder, coriander, cumin and ginger. Be sure to use fresh curry powder when making this soup. Not sure if yours is fresh? Open the jar: the aroma should meet your nose immediately. Serve with flatbread or whole-wheat rolls.
Swedish Yellow Split Pea Soup with Ham
This yellow split pea soup has fresh ginger to give it a bright flavor. Use the best ham you can find to get the most flavor.
Coconut Squash Soup with Seared Scallops
This butternut squash soup is silky and rich with the addition of coconut milk. Each serving is allowed a couple of seared scallops and is topped with pumpkin seeds, cilantro and lime peel for an added wow-factor.
Sai Bhaji (Chana Dal with Spinach & Vegetables)
Sai bhaji means "green vegetable" in Sindhi, the language spoken by people who are native to the Sindh region of modern-day Pakistan or have roots in ancient settlements by the Indus River.(Many Sindhis left what became Pakistan for India after the country was partitioned, or are part of the Indian diaspora.) One of the easier Sindhi recipes, this flavorful blend of legumes and vegetables allows plenty of room to improvise with just about any vegetable you have on hand. It's traditionally served with Sindhi-style rice, cooked with caramelized onions and garam masala, or steamed white rice, and aloo tuk (spicy double-fried potato slices). Or you can simmer it longer so it's thick enough to serve with rotis.
Spicy Orange Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry
With fresh broccoli, ginger, red bell peppers and plenty of fresh citrus, this healthy beef stir-fry is sure to become a favorite. And it's ready in 30 minutes, making it the perfect healthy weeknight dinner. Serve with brown rice.
Chicken Kebabs with Warm Cabbage-Apple Slaw & Potatoes
Serve these easy grilled chicken kebabs with apple and cabbage slaw and packet-grilled potatoes for a healthy dinner that's great for summer cookouts. Leave yourself enough time to marinate the chicken for up to three hours in the simple orange-ginger marinade before threading it onto skewers and putting them on the grill.
Chicken & Cucumber Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce
We love the crunch from sliced cucumber and jicama in these savory chicken lettuce wraps. Serve with the simple peanut sauce for an easy dinner recipe that will impress kids and adults alike.
Korean Beef Stir-Fry
Inspired by the flavors found in Korean barbecue, this dish is a mouth-watering addition to any weeknight repertoire. A fruity Riesling and rice noodles are perfect accompaniments.
Seared Sesame-Tuna Bowls
This tuna bowl is quite an easy recipe you'll want to make again and again. Black sesame seeds make this dish look dramatic because they provide contrast against the fish, but if you can't find toasted black sesame seeds, you can use toasted white sesame seeds. The flavor will be the same.
Read the original article on Eating Well.
