As is the case with so many active people, cooking in the middle of the workweek often seems like more of a chore than a pleasure, especially as the weather gets nicer by the day. However, I don't neccessarily want to eat out every night or prepare frozen dairy-free dinners for nourishment, and I also don't want to sacrifice taste for the sake of convenience. So what does an active, working foodie do?

Well, tonight, this dairy-free foodie is making Spicy Lentil Dahl because it's both easy and inexpensive to make. While the soup is simmering, I'm going to make a small salad with seasonal greens and vegetables, along with these two easy dairy-free recipes:

Dairy-Free Cheesy Flatbread

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Sound complicated? Trust me, it's not! This entire meal will actually only take 30 minutes to prepare. Here's how: get the soup together, and while it's simmering, mix the ingredients for the no-bake oatmeal cookies and chill them in the freezer, make the cheesy flatbread on the stove, throw together a salad and eat!

Photo © 2008 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.