47 Recipes to Kick Off the New Year

"I'm going on a diet." or "I'm going to lose ___ pounds." or "I need to eat healthier."

It doesn't really matter how it's worded, eating better and/or losing weight tends to end up on almost every resolution list (shoo, I know it ended up on mine). And almost every single one of those resolutions will be broken by the end of the month.

Most people outside the foodie world associate healthy eating = tastes like cardboard. Those in the know, know that it absolutely doesn't have to be the case. I refuse to eat some lackluster bland-tasting meal just because it's "healthy" for me. No wonder people can't stick to healthy eating if that's the route they go.

So to help you on your way (or at least to February), I've rustled up 47 recipes that aren't only healthy but taste great, too. And not just main dishes, but snacks, drinks, soups, sides, and lo and behold, you can have you cake and eat it too. Or, in this case, cookies.

How do I know it's healthy? 40 of the 47 recipes are either under 500 or 100 calories (depending on what it is) and qualifies for 2 or more of the following: Low in Saturated Fat, Low in Cholesterol, or Low in Sodium. The remaining 7 recipes qualify for all three of those categories but are not under 500 or 100 calories and are denoted by an *. (How do I classify my recipes? Read here.)

Appetizers & Snacks
1. Apple Chips
2. Black & Blue Fruit Leather
3. Cheese Straws
4. Haitian Chicken Pâté Puffs
5. Sweet Chipotle Snack Mix*
6. Spicy Red Pepper Hummus*
7. Tzatziki

Drinks
8. Blueberry Lemonade Soda*
9. Russian Tea

Soups & Stews
10. Ancho Pork & Hominy Stew
11. Cheese Tortellini & Vegetable Soup
12. Minestrone Soup
13. Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup
14. Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup
15. Tortellini, Kielbasa, & Spinach Soup
16. While Chili

Entrees
17. Chicken Biryani
18. Chickpeas with Spinach*
19. Chipotle Bean Burritos*
20. Cranberry Chicken with Wild Rice
21. Easy Cajun Jambalaya
22. Fusilli with Pistachio Pesto
23.Gemelli Salad with Asparagus, Pistachios, and Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette
24. Ginger Hoisin Stir Fry
25. "Meaty" Meatless Pasta with Parmesan & Pine Nuts
26. Pad Thai
27. Parmesan Polenta & Spicy Sausage
28. Pasta with Chickpeas & Garlic Sauce
29. Pasta with Feta, Tomatoes, & White Beans
30. Pasta with Prosciutto & Spinach
31. Penne Alla Vodka
32. Pistachio Chicken Fingers
33. Radiatore with Caramelized Onions & White Wine
34. Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
35. Spicy Malaysian-Style Stir Fried Noodles
36. Spicy Orange Noodles
37. Spicy Peanut Chicken over Rice*
38. Udon Noodles with Asian Vegetables & Peanut Sauce
39. Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

Sides
40. Brussels Sprouts*

Desserts
41. Chewy Amaretti Cookies
42. Chocolate Crinkles
43. Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies
44. Snickerdoodles
45. Spritz Cookies
46. Sugar Cookies
47. World Peace Cookies

Looking for other combinations of these categories? Check out the newly renovated Recipe Index which now makes it easy to find recipes with certain health characteristics. Or simply choose a category from the list to the right (under Labels) if you're just interested in one.