Eating clean not only helps you shed pounds if you're overweight, but significantly lowers your risk for chronic diseases and boosts energy levels. Choosing recipe ingredients that follow clean eating guidelines, like using organic (minimally processed) fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and heart-healthy fats, is important when preparing clean eating recipes.
Spinach Egg White Omelet
Start your morning off right with this nutrient-dense, clean breakfast recipe. The recipe is clean because it's packed with lean protein, nutrient-filled spinach, and heart-healthy olive oil.
Ingredients
- One 10-ounce package of frozen spinach (chopped, thawed, and drained)
- 1 small finely chopped onion
- 4 teaspoons olive extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12 egg whites
- 2 tablespoons water
- Nonstick cooking spray
- ¼ cup feta cheese
- 3 green onions, chopped
Directions
- Heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions, spinach, salt, and pepper; cook about five minutes.
- Remove the spinach mixture from the heat but keep it warm.
- Whisk the egg whites with water and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Coat a medium non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.
- Place ¼ of the egg mixture into the skillet and cook about one to two minutes until set.
- Flip the omelet over.
- Place ¼ of the spinach mixture onto half of the omelet.
- Top with the feta cheese.
- Fold the omelet over so the spinach mixture is covered.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have four omelets.
- Top with the green onions to garnish, if desired.
Servings: 4 omelets
Grilled Chicken Kale Salad
This delicious recipe is packed with mouth-watering, nutritious (and non-processed clean) ingredients.
Ingredients
- 5 cups chopped kale, washed
- 2/3 cup cooked quinoa
- 12 ounces of grilled chicken breast
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 15-ounce can of beets, chopped
- ½ cup goat cheese
- 1/8 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1/8 cup sunflower seeds
Directions
- Cook the quinoa as directed, and grill the chicken breasts. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Combine the kale, cooked chicken, and cooked quinoa in a large bowl.
- In a smaller bowl, combine the yogurt, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well to create a salad dressing.
- Coat the chicken, kale, and quinoa mixture with the salad dressing.
- Top the salad with the chopped beets, goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.
Servings: About four 2-cup portions
Salmon Over Zucchini Noodles
Try a heart-healthy salmon dinner with zucchini noodles instead of regular pasta when you want to eat clean and burn fat. You can't get much cleaner when you're eating protein-rich salmon, veggies, and heart-healthy olive oil.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of salmon (four pieces)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 5 medium zucchini
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon red pepper chili flakes
- 8 rosemary sprigs
Directions
- Sprinkle salt and pepper (to taste) on the salmon pieces and set aside.
- Spiralize the zucchini into noodles; season the noodles with salt. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can also use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into long strips, and then use a sharp knife to cut the strips into noodles.
- Heat one tablespoon of the olive over high heat.
- Sear each piece of salmon for four minutes on each side; set aside.
- Pat the zucchini noodles dry to remove water.
- Heat the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the chili flakes, garlic, and noodles; stir for 3 to 5 minutes until the noodles are al dente.
- Serve the salmon over a bed of noodles.
- Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.
Servings: 4
Protein Avocado Shake
When you're in the mood for a between-meal snack or sweet after dinner treat, this clean avocado smoothie is sure to hit the spot. It's clean because it's packed with whole, minimally processed ingredients and is rich in lean protein and heart-healthy fat.
Ingredients
- 1 peeled and pitted ripe avocado
- 1 cup protein-fortified vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 8 ice cubes
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Servings: 1 2-cup portion
Eating Clean Tastes Delicious
Just because you're eating clean doesn't mean you have to sacrifice taste. These recipes offer a delicious start to your healthy, clean eating journey. Bon appetite.
