Quick and Healthy Meals: Salmon and Asparagus

If you're busy with school, it's super easy to fall into the habit of eating lots of frozen foods and takeout.  While I do like to cook, it can be tough to find the time to make things that are healthy and deal with the cleanup (I'm a messy cook) on a nightly basis.  Anything that's quick and healthy is a winner in my book.  One of my favorite go-to meals is salmon and veggies.  Fish is a tad more expensive than other things, but I can find a pretty large piece of salmon at my grocery store for under $5.

To make the salmon, I salt and pepper it lightly and squeeze half a lemon over it.  Sometimes I like to chop up a few mushrooms (I LOVE mushrooms) and throw those on the baking sheet with it (I use a small glass Pyrex brownie pan).  Then I bake it in the oven at 350 degrees.  The time varies based on how large of a piece of fish you use, so I generally just keep an eye on it, but it's usually about 20 minutes or so.  

I'm a big asparagus fan and I've been making an effort to eat more vegetables.  You start by cutting off the tough ends of asparagus.  If you put a little water (about half an inch) in a sauté pan and place the asparagus in with the lid on, they steam very quickly.  Again, I usually just eyeball how done the asparagus is.  Some people like it more crunchy, others more soft, so it's just a matter of personal preference.  

I usually make a lemon/butter/garlic/wine sauce.  I don't even follow a recipe, I just add a little white wine to a saucepan, add lemon juice and let it reduce before adding in a bit of garlic and butter.  Mine was a bit too watery here (I was ravenous and couldn't wait for my sauce to cook down), but it was still tasty.  

All this sounds like a lot more trouble than it really was.  I spent less than a half hour in the kitchen and I ended up with something that was both easy and relatively healthy.  

What are your go-to quick and healthy meals?  I'd love suggestions!

xoxoKate