Ah, salad. The ultimate one-dish meal. But how depressing are your salads? Really, be honest. If you'd rather skip lunch altogether than eat a salad, you may need some help to create a proper salad. I'm not talking iceburg lettuce with shredded carrots, doused in ranch dressing. I'm talking deliciousness you'll look forward to eating, that also happens to be super healthy. You can always use recipes like the ones at the bottom of this post, but you don't really need one.

​Follow the 5-ingredient rule. Any salad with at least a "base", protein, vegetable, "extra", and dressing is sure to be tasty. Choose at least one from each category to make a salad you'll actually want to eat. ​Use our guide below to try it out.

And now for some examples of the tasty salads you can make with this guide:

3. Take the easy way out. Canned and frozen vegetables and beans can be your best friend if you're in a bind, and require very little cooking... perfect for one-dish meals. Exhibits A and B:

4. Leftovers ​are king. Got some extra chicken from dinner last night? How about leftover rice? Since already made ingredients like this cut out a whole step in the cooking process, they're perfect for making one-dish meals. The dishes below would work well for adding in leftover grain or meat.

5. Test new flavors. Cutting out time consuming steps, like grilling or smoking ingredients before adding them to recipes, can also cut out flavor. Use herbs and spices to kick it back up. Smoked paprika, garlic (or garlic powder), and fresh parsley are great for this.

You may have heard the terms "one pot meal" and "pantry meal" thrown around recently. One pot meals only need one pot to make. But the beauty of a recipe also being a pantry meal, is that you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand. Meaning fewer grocery trips (yay!). What should you have on hand though? If it's done right, creating a well-stocked pantry is easy. 

Below are a few items that will be your meal-making heroes on the bleakest of days. Then scroll down for some recipes that prove it and only require ONE dish to prepare... Some of them use only pantry ingredients!

1. Canned and dry beans (black beans, kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas, etc.). Dry for when you have the time. Canned for those "I just can't" kind of days.
2. Canned tomatoes. We're talking diced, crushed, sauce, and paste. 
3. Onions. Store in a cool, dark spot, and they'll keep for a couple months.
4. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes. Same storage situation as with the onions.
5. Garlic. For flavor.
6. Pasta. Stock up when whole wheat pasta goes on sale! 
7. Grains (brown rice, quinoa, barley, whatever floats your boat). 
8. Broth. Chicken and vegetable broth are the most versatile.
9. Dried fruit. You'd be surprised how much depth raisins, dates, or dried cranberries can add to a recipe. Plus they're a great snack for kiddos.
10. Salsa. It's a great go-to for added flavor. 

1. Frozen peppers/onions. A quick replacement for the fresh versions.
2. Frozen peas. Mix into soup, chili, pasta, casseroles... An easy way to add veggies.
3. Frozen spinach. Another quick and easy way to add veggies to a meal.

1. Shredded cheese and/or grated parmesan cheese. For sprinkling.
2. Eggs. Want to kick your meal up a notch? Put an egg on it.
3. Nonfat plain Greek Yogurt. A healthy go-to topping that tastes like sour cream!

What can you make with all these things? Following are some easy meal ideas:

*Frozen onion/peppers can be used in place of fresh for these recipes.