This week’s healthy vegetarian meal plan includes spicy vegan black bean burgers, a caprese frittata, one-pot zucchini noodle pasta, lentil kale salad, and chickpea fajitas. Get ready for a tasty week!
<<Quick announcement! For those of who you follow me on Twitter, just a heads up – I switched my twitter handle to @TheRoastedRoot. Don’t ask me why it hasn’t always been @TheRoastedRoot and why it’s been @RoastedRootFood for almost 5 years… key is, I made the change so if you want to tweet at your girl, you can now find me @TheRoastedRoot.>>
<<End announcement.>>
Well, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first? Which one? The good? The bad? The ugly? Let’s start with the good.
Good news is, this is Week 3 of our vegetarian meal plan experience, and the ladies and I have some delectable healthy eats that are all things seasonal, simple-to-prepare and healthy for your bikini bod.
The bad news is, all of the recipes require heating element. It’s true, we’re asking you to cook in spite of the suuuuuuper toasty weather. Sorry about that…I do think you’ll love this week’s menu, though! So turn on the AC, whip up a big batch of the Peach Bourbon Slush I was yapping at you about the other day, and get to food planning!
Have a great weekend!
Sunday
Easy Vegan Black Bean Burgers from She Likes Food
Prep Ahead Tip: Quinoa can be prepared in advance. You can also make these veggie burgers ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to cook.
Vegan/Gluten-free Substitutions: Recipe is already vegan. To make gluten free you can use gluten free bread crumbs and hambuger buns.
Monday
Caprese Frittata with Arugula from The Roasted Root.
Prep Ahead Tip: There’s no need to prepare any part of this recipe in advance, as it comes together quickly. You can beat the eggs and half & half and slice the tomatoes and mozarella while the garlic and arugula are sauteeing in order to decrease prep time.
Vegan/Gluten-free Substitutions: This recipe is gluten-free and can be made dairy-free by using dairy-free cheese of choice and non-dairy milk to replace the mozarella and half & half. For a vegan option you can try this Chickpea Frittata instead.
Tuesday
One Pot Zucchini Pasta from Making Thyme for Health
Prep Ahead Tip: This recipe comes together very quick so there’s not much need for prep. But you can spiralize the zucchini noodles in advance to save time.
Vegan/Gluten-free Substitutions: Omit parmesan if vegan. Serve with a side salad with nuts and seeds or whole grain bread for protein.
Wednesday
Rosemary Roasted Potato, Mushroom, and Lentil Kale Salad from Hummusapien
Prep Ahead Tip: Use pre-chopped kale and pre-cooked lentils (I like Trader Joe’s) for super easy prep!
Vegan/Gluten-free Substitutions: Recipe is vegan and gluten-free!
Thursday
Chickpea Fajitas from Eats Well With Others
Prep Ahead Tip: Toss all of the ingredients (except for the tortillas) together in a Ziploc bag the night before to let them marinate.
Vegan/Gluten-free Substitutions: This recipe is already vegan! Use corn tortillas and tamari instead of soy sauce to make it gluten free.
Click HERE to print the shopping list!
I am loving your vegetarian meal plans! Thank you so much for them (and all your recipes). I’ve just started doing meal prep extreme – portioning out food for the week (for more time and balanced meals that aren’t 80% carbs). Any tips?
Hi Amanda,
I’m so happy you’re enjoying the meal plans! I definitely hear ya when it comes to wanting well-rounded meals that are lower on the carb spectrum. For preparing in advance, I’d say if you can devote half a day per weekend to whip up at least two of the recipes in advance, that will lighten your food prep load during the week. Generally I find it unrealistic to prepare all five recipes in one day, but preparing two full recipes plus preparing the parts of the other recipes that can be done ahead of time (for instance, chopping the veggies or steaming the rice for the meals) works out pretty well! If you have a limited amount of time to prepare food in advance, you can stick to chopping the veggies for the meals and storing them in containers. That way, when you go to make the recipe, all you have to do is cook the veggies you’ve chopped and add the remaining ingredients. I hope this all helps!
As a side note, I find the best way to lower my carb intake with vegetarian meals is to be sure I’m getting complete protein from the meal itself (for instance, a combo of rice and beans), and eating a side salad or steamed or sauteed veggies to backfill with fiber. In this sense, you’d be preparing the recipes in our meal plans and consuming one portion (or a partial portion) plus a veggie-centric side dish, like steamed broccoli or a summer salad. Let me know if you have any other questions, and enjoy!! xo