As I’ve made space to acknowledge that anxiety and depression are something I deal with, I’ve come to terms with a few other things in my life. Firstly, my diet has a massive impact on my mental health. Secondly, when my mental health is shit, my diet suffers. Catch 22 anyone?
But as we know, I love a good problem. Any excuse to bust out my puzzle skills and I’m there. So today we’re solving the dilemma of meals to make when you’re depressed. 3 easy meals with minimal ingredients, low effort but a bit of nutritional boost. Are we ready?
Easy Air Fryer Wings
To be honest, I’m not really sure when I became a wing girl. But now that I’ve been converted it’s one of the few meals I crave. It also happens to be one of the easiest to make in the air fryer minus today’s sides. A little prep and a lot of hands-off cooking is my type of dinner.
I’m a big fan of pastured raised chicken for this but if you’re running short on time or between shops, a good grocery store set will do just fine. However, the magic of this recipe is the Green Goddess seasoning from Trader Joe’s. It’s almost a ranch-ish mix but it works on ALL the things. I’m obsessed. Sprinkle it on with a bit of olive oil and voila, dinner!
Easiest Air Fryer Wings
The crispiest and easiest air fryer wings recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasture raised chicken wings
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil/olive oil spray
- 3 tbsp Trader Joe's green goddess seasoning
Instructions
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To prep: spray your air fryer sheet with olive oil. I like to do everything over the sink for easy clean up.
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Remove your chicken wings from the package. Rinse and dry them before placing them on your air fryer sheet. If you want to cut the wings off the tips, go for it but I'm far to lazy for that.
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Make sure your wings are spaced out and not touching. Spray the tops with more olive oil or brush on.
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Top with green goddess seasoning to taste or a basic salt & pepper.
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Place in the air fryer on 400F for 20 minutes. I ALWAYS use a meat thermometer to check this. Poultry should be 165F. Every air fryer is different so be sure to check this to make sure the chicken is done to your taste.
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Remove once it reaches 165F and let your wings rest.
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Prep your sides and enjoy!
PALEO CHICKEN WALFDORF SALAD
Chicken Waldorf salad aka one of my favorites that I forget about all the time. Also, I don’t think there will ever be a time I don’t think of Blair Waldorf when I hear this name so thanks GG for that. You can do this quickly with an instacart order (my go-to) or a few pantry staples. If we’re going for the pantry version, I’d suggest swapping grapes for dried cranberries or another fruit. This is something that works for a light meal, a salad, or as a sandwich. The options are endless.
Paleo Chicken Waldorf Salad
The easiest gluten free dinner that will have you nourished in under 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 8 oz cooked chicken breast, chopped canned, rotisserie, etc
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 1-2 tbsp filtered water
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup grapes, halved
- 3 tbsp chopped pistachios
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
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In a small bowl, whisk together your mayonaise and water. If you prefer a creamier salad, swap the water for more mayo.
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In a large bowl, combine chicken breast and mayo.
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Next, add in your celery, grapes, pistachios, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
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Prep your lettuce/bread*/other serving vessel and add your waldorf salad.
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Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*my current go-to bread for this recipe is from Bread Srsly. It's gluten-free & vegan sourdough bread.
Gut Boosting Tuna Salad
If there’s one thing I’ve grown to be obsessed with over the last few years, it’s gut health. Our microbiome has such a MASSIVE impact on our life. So for this quick and easy meal, I decided to sneak in a few extra gut boost ingredients like Wildbrine Sauerkraut and microgreens (another fave way to sneak in extra nutrients). But you can always keep this pantry basic and stick with dried herbs/skip the upgrades. Whatever gets you to make the nourishing meal is what counts!
Gut Boosting Tuna Salad
The easy 6 ingredient tuna salad recipe for boosting your gut microbiome.
Ingredients
- 2 cans tuna* drained
- 3 tbsp mayo
- 2 tbsp fresh dill
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup wildbrine kraut
- 3 tbsp chopped micro greens
- fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
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In a small bowl, combine your tuna, mayo, salt and pepper.
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Add in the micro greens, kraut and dill. Stir to combine.
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Serve with cucumber slices, seaweed, on a salad or in whatever way fits your mood and enjoy! You now have a microbiome boosting meal.
Recipe Notes
*I often use tuna that's in oil as it tends to hold more moisture. If this is what you're using, opt for less mayo to start and build from there.
Alrighty friends! I hope today’s post helped motivate you/give you some new ideas on what to make next time you’re stuck for dinner. I’ll be adding more easy recipes (think air fryer/instant pot/oven meals). So be sure to subscribe to the newsletter if you want to stay up to date. Until next time! Xoxo, Savvy
