Food tends to have a trade-off — tons of calories usually translate to absolute deliciousness, while low-calorie meals usually end up as disappointing blandness. However, it doesn’t have to be that way — in fact, you can get “delicious,” “nutritious,” and “low-calorie” all into one food description (or nine!)
#1. Arugula Salad in a Balsamic Glaze
It’s a simple, delicious and quick salad. Toss up some fresh arugula, a couple slices of cucumber, some diced watermelon, a few cherry tomatoes — and if you don’t mind the extra calories, some pine nuts and feta or parmesan cheese. Finish the whole thing off with some balsamic vinegar, and you’ve got an entire meal.
It takes less than 20 minutes, and comes complete with tons of vitamin A, C, B6, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese and more, for less than 100 calories.
#2. Roasted Asparagus Tips
A perfect snack or side dish, roasted asparagus tips require only a tin tray, asparagus, a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. For about 40 calories per serving, you get a significant portion of vitamin A, C, E, folate and manganese.
Preparation can take less than a minute, and oven-time is as quick as 5 minutes.
#3. Low-fat Cauliflower Puree
It tastes remarkably like mashed potatoes, while being much more delicate with your figure. A head of cauliflower steamed or baked with a couple cloves of garlic, then mashed with a tablespoon of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, a little nutmeg, some fresh rosemary and salt to taste puts you at around 30 calories for a 60g serving.
Steaming time hovers between 15-20 minutes, and nutritionally, you nearly get your entire fill of vitamin C, and a bunch of manganese, phosphorus and potassium.
#4. Japanese Miso Soup
Homemade miso soup takes about 10 minutes to prepare and cook, and it’s incredulously easy. Here‘s a sample recipe — all you really need is dashi stock, miso paste, tofu, seaweed and garnish, and you’re good to go!
A cup of soup is about 90 calories, but what makes miso so nutritionally amazing is the combination of fermented soy and seaweed, both in the soup and in the dashi (stock).
#5. Rice-less Sushi
While sushi itself means fermented rice, cutting the grain out of an otherwise very light dish makes it the perfect little snack to beat away your sushi cravings. Since sushi is an incredibly versatile dish, it’s up to you to discover what combo you want to play around with — here‘s a sample!
Wrapped in delicious Japanese nori, sushi can be incredibly delicious AND nutritious, depending on what you stuff it with. Cut the fish and replace it with mushrooms to lower your calorie count!
#6. Soba with Shiitake
Speaking of mushrooms, this next one is another Japanese classic. Filling, yummy, and surprisingly low in calories, buckwheat noodles (called soba) make an amazing alternative to usual wheat noodles. Paired with hearty Asian Shiitake mushrooms, you’ve got yourself a filling and savory dish missing only some color and garnish — think sesame seeds, spring onions and cabbage!
Here‘s a great recipe! Shiitake is an excellent source of vitamin B-6, and the fiber content in soba makes it really filling for its caloric content.
#7. Salted Edamame
Perfect as a little snack to replace chips and nuts, salted edamame (or young soy beans) are packed with vitamin C, potassium, folate, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron and calcium. Being soy, edamame contains complete protein as well, and being low in both fat and refined sugar, it’s the preferred snack for many.
Boil it in dashi for an even more savory delicious note. A serving of 80 grams puts you at under 100 calories.
#8. Frozen Blueberries
Blueberries have an immense number of antioxidants, beating most other sources out of the ballpark. They’re a great source of vitamin C, but are more known for their anthocyanins, the antioxidants that give them their color.
Frozen, blueberries keep for much longer and retain a nice, delicious sorbet-esque quality to them, making them the perfect summer snack. A 100 grams is less than 60 calories.
#9. Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Toasted or dried, pumpkin seeds make for an awesome source of zinc, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper and iron. Considered essential for prostate health and chockfull of a bunch of antioxidants also found in vanilla and coffee, they’ve been a favored snack in the Americas for centuries.
Toast them at about 170° for 20 minutes to preserve their healthy fats and get the most flavor out of them.