Here’s a suggestion for a healthy and rewarding resolution this year: resolve to cook 10 new recipes a month. A recent study from GfK Roper found that Americans eat a home-cooked dinner on average 4.8 nights per week, but only 38 percent regularly use recipes. Sure, many people are comfortable cooking without recipes. But another study from UCLA found that many cooks were using already prepared store-bought products and "meal kits." Interestingly those same researchers found that using prepared products saved people negligible time (about 10 minutes) getting dinner on the table.

We’re all for getting dinner on the table fast and for using convenience products (judiciously). But we’re sure you can do that and cook from a recipe, too, with just a little advance planning and strategic shopping. Why try new recipes? They can help you learn about new foods, find out about ingredients you’ve never used and discover easy substitutions for making foods you know and love healthier. Even cooks who are whipping up dinner every day sans recipe can learn a trick or two taking a new recipe for a spin. Consider these weeknight recipes, for example: On Tuesday, learn how to cut 22 grams of fat (compared with a typical version) with our take on Chicken Piccata. Then on Wednesday, get familiar with Caldo Tlalpeño, a garlicky Mexican soup often served across the border in El Paso, Texas, but easy to replicate in just 40 minutes wherever your kitchen may be. Discover how spicy chorizo (or if you can’t find it, just kielbasa) makes mild cod sing on Friday night.

In short, trying new recipes will help you become a better and healthier cook while keeping those at your dinner table happy. Now who wouldn’t want to stick with a resolution like that?

Related Links:

  • Quick and Healthy Low Calorie Recipes
  • 10 Secrets to Cooking Healthier