It seems our days are getting busier, and it’s often hard to get a healthy and quick dinner recipe on the table at a reasonable hour. Family dinners are an important part of the day and it pays to plan ahead to ensure a healthy recipe for a quick dinner is available. Finding healthy recipes that are quick and easy can be a challenge, but with a little planning, cooking dinner can be a breeze.

Plan menus a week in advance and shop using a list. This will save you money on impulse items and have a quick menu planned for every night of the week. When planning, be sure to factor in regular weekly activities, like little league or dance lessons. Sometimes a crock pot meal or a make-ahead entrée is best for these nights.

Here’s a quick and healthy dinner recipe that’s simple to make, then cooks up quickly in just 15 minutes in the oven while you whip up a box of rice pilaf and green vegetables. This healthy quick dinner recipe will help solve tonight’s dinner crisis and give you the perfect main course for a business lunch. As a bonus, it can be halved or expanded to accommodate the number of servings needed and uses just one bowl and one baking dish, so cleanup is a breeze.

If you’re a fan of dark meat, you could also use chicken thighs and legs for this recipe, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Healthy Quick and Easy Orange Chicken Dinner 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

pinch of black pepper

1 cup orange juice

grated peel of 1 orange

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place chicken breasts in a 13x9x2″ baking dish.
3. Drizzle chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with paprika.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken.
5. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, until just tender, basting occasionally with pan juices.

Serving suggestion: Serve with a pilaf of wild rice and green beans or a salad.