I’m always trying to think of healthy dinners that can be made in less than 20 minutes so that I’m not stuck in the kitchen for hours every night when I get home from work. Here are my latest picks.

1. Homemade healthy pizza

Yes it IS possible to make a healthy, nutritious pizza. All you need is a whole wheat flour tortilla, tomato paste, a selection of healthy toppings and a handful of grated mozzarella per pizza.

Spread the tomato paste on the tortilla, cover with toppings (e.g. onion, garlic, mushroom, broccoli, tomatoes, chicken breast, pesto etc), and sprinkle a small handful of grated mozzarella on top. Put in the oven at 400 degrees (F) for about 8 minutes and voila – healthy pizza.

2. Vegetable stir fry with quinoa

This is such an easy and tasty way to up your intake of vegetables. All you will need is an onion, plenty of garlic, a selection of vegetables, soy sauce, honey, balsamic vinegar, chili flakes, and quinoa.

Chop up the vegetables. Heat your wok or large skillet with a touch of peanut or olive oil. Throw in the onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Then add the vegetables and cook for a further two to three minutes. Then add a good glug of soy sauce, honey and balsamic vinegar, some chili flakes and about 2 tbsp of water. Once you’ve mixed it all, taste it and see if you need to add more of any of the ingredients. Meanwhile cook the quinoa according to the instructions (it usually takes about 15 minutes unsupervised). Then enjoy!

3. Shrimp and broccoli

This recipe comes from the New York Times (with slight variations) and is absolutely delicious.

You will need 2 pounds of broccoli, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp whole coriander seeds, 1 tsp whole cumin seeds, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp hot chili powder, 1 pound large shrimp, shelled, 1 1/4 tsp lemon zest (from 1 large lemon) and lemon wedges, for serving. If you only have ground coriander and cumin, that works too.

Mix the broccoli with 2 tbsp oil, coriander, cumin, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and chili powder. In a separate bowl, mix the shrimp with the remaining 2 tbsp oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/4 tsp salt and remaining 1/2 tsp pepper. Spread the broccoli on a large baking sheet and cook at 425 degrees (F) for 10 minutes. Then mix the shrimp with the broccoli on the baking sheet and cook for a further 8 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges or squeeze lemon juice on it before serving.

4. Vegetable risotto

I have to confess that when I make real risotto I don’t use brown rice, I use Arborio rice. It makes for a far more authentic risotto but it isn’t as healthy. That said, if you add plenty of nutritious vegetables you’ll still be eating a healthy meal.

So what do you need? Arborio rice, chicken or vegetable broth, and vegetables (I like to use mushrooms, sugar snap peas, broccoli and red onion, but you can use any vegetables you like).

Heat a little olive oil in a big pan. Fry some onion and garlic until soft, then add the rice and cook for about 2 minutes until it is translucent. Then add enough stock to cover the rice, reduce the heat and simmer. Once all the water has been absorbed, add a little more stock, again so the rice is just covered. Keep doing that until the rice is plumped and tastes cooked (usually about 16 minutes – check the rice packaging). Meanwhile fry the vegetables in a skillet with a touch of olive oil. Once the rice and vegetables are both cooked, combine, season with salt and pepper as needed, serve and enjoy.

5. Chicken and vegetable fajitas

Although I never tell my guests, I always cheat when making fajitas and use a packet mix of fajita seasoning. Apart from that, everything else is homemade.

For 4 people you will need 12 whole wheat flour tortillas, 4 chicken breasts, red, yellow and green bell peppers (2 of each), 3 red onions, 1 packet fajita mix (ssh), 2 avocados, 2 cloves garlic, fresh cilantro, 1 lime, tomatoes, chili flakes, balsamic vinegar and low fat sour cream or yogurt.

Chop up the chicken, peppers and two onions. Stir fry the onion and chicken for a few minutes, then add the peppers and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add the fajita mix and a few tbsps water and continue cooking until the peppers are cooked al dente. Meanwhile, peel and de-stone the avocados. Mush them up with a fork, crush two cloves of garlic into them, add a handful of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime and, voila, a ghetto guacamole. Then finely chop the tomatoes and remaining onion, mix them together with a tbsp of balsamic vinegar, a handful of chopped cilantro and some chili flakes, and there you have a make-shift salsa.

Finally, heat the tortillas and place everything on the table where people can roll their own fajitas. A fun, messy, delicious dinner!