Today, having essential nutrition in your diet is tricky because we live in a world where processing food is necessary in suburban areas. It is not manageable to have everything raw and organic or it just won't last. With that said making the right choices takes time to hone into a method. Personally, I'm a huge nutrition buff and it has taken me about 3 years to come down to the the right recipes, ingredients and foods that give me the essential nutrition I need. I eat 6 meals a day and rotate through my recipes on a weekly basis, but even I waiver in my method at times - so it is always a fun challenge trying to find a new, healthy option.
With that said I like to stick to the basics. Some of the essential nutrition items I look for are items that have the basics for a healthy diet - high fiber, low calorie, protein and high vitamin content. Of course this translates into lots of vegetables, grains and some meats sparingly as well as natural oils like olive oil. Basically, that food pyramid that they drilled into my head when I was little! Things like beans, rice, spaghetti, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, whole grain bread, peppers, eggs and so on are basics you can always count on to provide you with essential nutrition as well as countless recipes to mix and match.
