Not everyone can cook. Let's face it, if you're one of the millions who'd rather prefer eating than cooking, then there's a good chance that your diet is composed of microwave dinners, fast food, or canned and instant foods. If your cooking skill ranges from boiling to putting bread on the toaster, then your choice of healthy recipes are severely limited.

Meal preparation, however, isn't really that big of a deal if you're willing to learn. Besides, if you're really intent on keeping the weight off, then you have a wider range of meal choices available if you learn just the simple basics of preparing healthful meals.

For starters, there are a lot of recipes out there that require virtually no cooking skills. Salads and fruit smoothies, for example, are delicious but easy-to-prepare recipes that are nutritious and budget-friendly as well. Pastas, meanwhile, are also relatively easy to cook. And sandwiches are a no-brainer to prepare, too. To get you started, here are a few easy healthy recipes that you might want to try out:

Simple Salad Recipe

On a large salad bowl, combine one pack of mixed salad greens, 2 carrots (sliced lengthwise), 2 sliced red tomatoes, 1 sliced cucumber, 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of cheese. Toss to blend. Apply vinaigrette dressing on individual servings.

Fruit Smoothie

Blend together fruits in season in a blender until of desired consistency. Add a cup of water to bananas, apples and strawberries or any frozen fruit of your choice. You can add yogurt and/or evaporated milk for more flavor.

Deviled Eggs

Hard-boil 6 eggs. To make sure that they are cooked through, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Put in the egg and wait for 8-10 minutes before removing them from the fire. Peel and set aside. Carefully slice the eggs in half from top to bottom and scoop the yolks out. Put the yolks in a bowl and together with 1/4 cup finely chopped raisins, 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots, 1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise, teaspoon salt and a pinch of sugar, mix well. Season with a bit of pepper and scoop or pipe the mixture (using a zip top plastic with a hole at one corner) into each of the halved egg whites. Garnish with finely chopped cheese. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Easy Spaghetti Recipe

1. Cook 500 grams of spaghetti according to package directions.

2. Prepare the sauce by heating a frying pan to medium heat and pouring in about 2 tbsp of olive oil.

3. Saute 2 cloves of minced garlic and one finely chopped red onion. When the spices have softened and turned a golden brown, add in 200 grams of ground beef previously marinated for 30 minutes in soy sauce, a little vinegar (or lemon) and some rock salt. Simmer for 10 minutes or until meat turns brown.

4. Add 1-2 tbsp of tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Add about 3 cups of tomato puree and simmer until mixture gets reduced in half.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a couple of minutes.

6. Pour over cooked spaghetti. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.