Healthy Spring Dinner Recipes

I cannot believe it is already the last week of April, this month has flown by! My week was jam packed with goodness for our family: We enjoyed delicious spring dinner recipes, celebrated my husband Rick’s birthday, took a family outing to see the new Jungle Book (minus baby Cash), volunteered in my daughter’s class and slept a lot, (and by a lot I mean 7-8 hours a night – yep, still reading The Sleep Revolution and loving everything I’m learning… you need more sleep! It is important, Arianna Huffington has convinced me). We saw the Jungle Book in 3D IMAX and I thought it was fabulous, especially the young actor who played Mowgli, Neel Sethli. Have you seen it yet? If you have, what did you think? I got a kick out of Christopher Walken as the voice of King Louie. I was nervous that it was going to be too scary for my kids, but they actually loved it and there were no nightmares. I think it helped that we watched the original Disney Jungle Book last weekend so they knew the storyline.

I’m excited to share this week’s meal plan that features five healthy spring dinner recipes: strawberry basil pizza with balsamic reduction, spring veggie enchiladas, lemony chicken and spring veggie soup, one-pot creamy broccoli pasta and an easy slow cooker black bean soup. Click here for the shopping list.

Strawberry Basil Pizza from Cookie and Kate

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients: {whole wheat} pizza dough, mozzarella, goat cheese, strawberries, basil, salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar, honey.

I love the combination of strawberries and basil (I even had ice cream with this combo once and it was amazing!) and the balsamic reduction really makes this pizza fab. This salad would taste amazing paired with a unique caprese salad and turns out great using a pizza stone.

Spring Veggie Enchiladas from A Cozy Kitchen

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients: olive oil asparagus, peas, green onion, garlic, baby spinach, salt, chili powder, cumin, coriander, tortillas, red enchilada sauce, shredded Mexican cheese, cilantro, white onion/green onion.

I’ve never made such fresh and unique enchiladas! I wasn’t sure how they would turn out but I really enjoyed the asparagus, pea and spinach filling and so did my family. I also made some for a friend who recently had her fourth baby and she reported back that their family enjoyed them as well. I used cubed avocado, sour cream and cilantro as garnishes and paired it with this black bean, radish, jicama and avocado salad.

Lemony Chicken Spring Veggie Soup from The Cozy Apron

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients: butter, olive oil, leek, carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, herbs de Provence, chicken stock, English peas, baby zucchini, chicken breasts, lemon zest, lemon juice, quinoa, basil leaves, lemon wedges.

Our farmer’s market has been selling the best fresh peas lately! They were perfect in this soup that is bursting with fresh spring flavors.

One-Pot Creamy Broccoli Pasta from A Beautiful Mess

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients: fettuccine, garlic, butter, olive oil, seafood {or other} stock, whole milk, Parmesan cheese, broccoli florets, salt and pepper, chopped parsley {garnish}.

This creamy broccoli dish is everything- kid-friendly, one-pot, contains greens, cream and cheese, and most importantly is delicious! I used basil-tangerine pasta that I picked up at Pike Place Market during my trip to Seattle and vegetable stock instead of seafood stock.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup from Gimme Some Oven

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 4 hours Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients: white/yellow onion, red bell peppers, carrots, garlic cloves, jalapeno peppers, vegetable stock, black beans, cumin, chili powder, salt, cayenne, cilantro, tortillas chips, sour cream, shredded cheese.

This black bean soup is similar to the recipe I shared recently except it has the added bonus of being crockpot-friendly which is always a bonus for busy weeknights.