Health News Channel - Healthy Living

11 Skillet Dinners to Support Healthy Blood Pressure

Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD

Make one of these delicious dinners to help keep your blood pressure in check. These flavorful meals are low in saturated fats and sodium to meet our heart-healthy nutrition parameters. Plus, they feature potassium-rich ingredients like dark leafy greens, beans and potatoes to help your body balance its sodium uptake and support healthy blood pressure levels. Recipes like our Chicken Thighs with Couscous & Kale and Beef & Bean Sloppy Joes come together in a skillet for a simple and nutritious dinner at the end of the day.

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Chicken Thighs with Couscous & Kale

One-pot meals, like this all-in-one chicken thigh, kale and Israeli couscous recipe, are perfect for nights when you want to keep cleanup to a minimum. Look for Israeli couscous--small pearl-shaped pasta made from semolina flour--near other Middle Eastern dry goods in well-stocked supermarkets or specialty-foods stores.

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Beef & Bean Sloppy Joes

This healthy copycat recipe of the comfort food classic trades beans for some of the meat to bump up fiber by 7 grams. We also cut back on the sugar and ketchup in this Sloppy Joe recipe makeover to save you 12 grams of added sugar.

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Skillet Gnocchi with Shrimp & Asparagus

The gnocchi cooks right in the skillet, along with shrimp, shallots, asparagus and Parmesan cheese, in this gnocchi recipe. Look for shelf-stable gnocchi near other pasta. Serve with baby arugula salad with vinaigrette and a glass of pinot grigio.

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Skillet Steak with Mushroom Sauce

This healthy steak recipe with broccolini and peas is a one-skillet meal that will be on your table in just 25 minutes! The pan drippings combine with mushrooms, broth and grainy mustard to make a thick and delicious sauce.

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Spicy Chicken and Snow Pea Skillet

Chock-full of nutrients, snow peas shine in this 20-minute, harissa-sauced, one-pot meal that feeds the whole family. Harissa is a North African hot chile paste--use just a teaspoon if you prefer a mild flavor.

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Poached Cod & Green Beans with Pesto

Using just one skillet, this easy fish recipe cooks cod right on top of fresh green beans and uses the same pan to make a flavorful sauce. The result is perfectly flaky fish, tender-crisp vegetables, a savory pan sauce and very little cleanup.

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Pork & Kimchi Fried Rice

In this healthy fried rice recipe, zucchini, carrots and kimchi are tossed with Korean gochujang for a delicious one-bowl dinner. If you don’t have leftover cooked rice on hand, be sure to thoroughly cool your rice before adding it to the wok--if it’s too warm, it creates too much steam and sticks to the wok. To quickly cool warm rice, spread out on a large baking sheet and refrigerate while you prep the rest of your ingredients, about 15 minutes.

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Tofu & Snow Pea Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

A fast dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights, this easy stir-fry recipe will quickly become a favorite. To save time, use precooked rice or cook rice a day ahead.

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Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

These vegan sweet potato–black bean burgers spiced with curry powder are easy to make. Blending the mixture with your hands gives you a soft, uniform texture, and then the outside gets crispy by cooking in a cast-iron pan. To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free oats and serve the patty in a lettuce wrap, omitting the bun.

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Chicken Sausage with Potatoes & Sauerkraut

Here’s our weeknight version of choucroute garni, “dressed sauerkraut,” made with chicken sausage. The flavor of the dish will vary depending on what type of chicken sausage you choose. We like the taste of roasted garlic sausage or sweet apple sausage in this recipe. And although any type of sauerkraut can be used, we prefer the crisp texture of refrigerated kraut over canned. Serve with roasted carrots and some mustard to spread on the sausage.

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