Our 10 healthiest recipes of 2012

Looking to both eat for your health and expand your cooking repertoire? We took a look back through our 2012 archives and found the 10 most popular contributions from our nutritionists, food bloggers and gourmet chefs! Make your next year about diversifying your meals while eating for optimal wellness every day.

1. Oatmeal in a jar (shown) Snacks don’t get easier (or tastier!) than oatmeal in a jar. This treat of cinnamon peach oatmeal only has 137 calories and boasts 3 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein. Add some peanut butter or strawberry jam on top for an added protein boost and additional healthy fats. Great for on-the-go meals and kids' backpacks!

2. Broccoli soup This creamy soup is jam-packed with protein-rich broccoli, one of the vegetable front-runners when it comes to calcium, iron and magnesium. You’ll be also be boosting your intake of vitamins A and C as well as improving your body’s detoxification system with every spoonful of this broccoli-rich soup.

3. Superfood fruit pie This delicious dessert can be made with raspberries or blueberries. If you go with blueberries, try frozen over fresh – frozen wild blueberries can be more nutritious then their fresh friends that can sit around in the grocery store. Added bonus: Vitamin C is preserved in this recipe by not cooking the berries, but simply adding them on top of the base...hello flavonoids!

4. Bok choy stir-fry Whip up this stir-fry featuring bok choy, a cancer fighting superfood that is part of the cabbage family. The green vegetable is the star of this stir-fry and will help boost calcium, beta-carotene and potassium while reducing cholesterol all at the same time!

5. Spicy curry This coconut vegetable curry boasts a plethora of spices, including cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cloves and cumin. These spices not only add rich, worldly flavours to your cooking, but also contain healing properties.

6. Avocado and quinoa salad Avocados are full of healthy fat, providing your body with the energy needed to take on the day. Not only tasty, they're also full of vitamin E and can help lower cholesterol and improve eye health. Try these recipes that mix the super fruit with other flavours, appealing to those who don’t like to eat them plain.

7. Sunflower smoothie This fruit juice smoothie has an extra, protein-boosting ingredient: sunflower sprouts! Eating the sprouts of a sunflower is the best way to reap the benefits of their nutrition plus they’re rich in vitamin B, zinc and sweet to taste.

8. Vegan chocolate If you have a sweet tooth, tame it with these chocolate-y, vegan treats. By making your sweets at home, you can control what goes into them and boost the health factor while still giving into temptation. These chocolates taste like a Rolo, but instead of high-cal, sugary filling, feature soft, buttery medjool dates.

9. Grilled veggie salad Combine some of your favourite veggies like corn, zucchini and bell peppers with the flavour of being cooked on the grill. Add protein rich black beans and wheat-berries with a sweet and tangy dressing and you’ve got a recipe for salad success! Up the flavour profile by making the salad the day before and letting the flavours develop in the fridge overnight.

10. Strawberry lemonade This quick, sugar-free smoothie will quench your thirst in 60 seconds flat. In addition to deliciously sweet strawberries, detoxifying lemons have cancer fighting compounds and provide a healthy dose of antioxidants.

What has been your favourite recipe of this year?