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21 Simple, Quick, & Easy Meals
All tagged vegetarian
This Chopped Kale Salad with Creamy Goat Cheese, Apple, and Pumpkin Seeds is both beautiful and so quick and easy to make. If you don’t eat a lot of salad, a solution is to chop the salad greens into very small pieces- the greens become more tender and you get to savor the salad toppings (sweet apple, pear, crunchy pumpkin seeds, and creamy goat cheese) with every bite!
This recipe is heavenly. Almond meal and oats replace white flour, and sweetness comes from the grated carrots, applesauce, and agave. Tender and moist, these Flourless Carrot Cake Muffins will become your new favorite wholesome breakfast!
Serves: 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
What (your ingredients):
1 cup almond meal
½ cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup applesauce
½ cup cashew butter
2 tablespoons agave
1 cup grated carrots
1 egg
How (your directions):
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a muffin tin with 6 liners, then set aside.
In a large bowl, add all ingredients. Stir until evenly combined.
Using an ice cream scoop, evenly distribute batter among lined muffin tin.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Enjoy!
Why (the science): We often hear how great carrots are for your eyes, but the vitamin A in carrots is also an important immune booster!
Pasta Primavera is a smart dish to encourage more vegetable intake, without feeling like you’re eating a bunch of vegetables😉 It’s a scrumptious sauce with lots and lots of fresh veggies, and I encourage you to use whatever you may have on hand. Lentil pasta and cannellini beans up the protein significantly. I serve this Pasta Primavera over fresh zucchini noodles to add even more vegetables and bulk to my pasta portion.
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
What (your ingredients):
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 head broccolette, diced
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of salt
2 handfuls kale, chopped
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar marinara sauce (I used a rich tomato sauce with Barolo wine)
12 oz. lentil Sedanini pasta (or any short pasta shape)
3 zucchini, spiralized
How (your directions):
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add red onion, bell pepper, broccolette, Italian seasoning, paprika, and salt. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add chopped kale and sauté for 2 minutes.
Stir in cannellini beans and marinara sauce. Heat through while pasta cooks, about 5-6 minutes.
Drain pasta and add to primavera sauce.
In each pasta bowl, place several curls of spiralized zucchini. Ladle pasta and primavera sauce over fresh zucchini noodles.
Enjoy!
Why (the science): Lentil pasta is high in protein (13 grams protein per serving!) which makes it a nutritious way to enjoy pasta and reach satiety sooner than you would with a white pasta.
It is so fun to twirl your fork through the long ribbons of a spaghetti squash. This spaghetti squash recipe comes together quickly and requires only 5 ingredients! Easy Spaghetti Squash with Garlic-Infused Olive Oil will become your favorite recipe for Italian Night at your home 😊
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
What (your ingredients):
1 spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
Pinch red pepper flakes
Pinch dried oregano
Salt to taste
How (your directions):
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, then scoop out seeds and stringy center. Tip: Don’t toss the seeds! Watch this video to see how I easily separate the seeds from the flesh and roast them to perfection.
Place spaghetti squash cut side up on a baking sheet, then roast in oven for 40 minutes.
When squash is tender and a fork can easily pierce through the center, remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes.
During that time, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Thinly slice garlic clove and add to hot oil. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes until garlic slices are slightly softened.
After the squash has cooled, use a fork to separate strands into spaghetti-like ribbons.
Spoon over the garlic and olive oil, then top with red pepper flakes, oregano, and salt.
Enjoy!
Why (the science): Spaghetti squash, unlike pasta spaghetti, contain lutein and zeaxanthin which can help protect your eyesight as you age!
This bolognese recipe is my new favorite pasta creation, because it really has the flavor and texture of a classic Italian meat sauce. Mushrooms and eggplant are often used to replace meat, so when they are diced finely and sautéed with Italian seasoning, the result is a phenomenal sauce that you’ll love more than the meat version! Don’t leave out the tomato paste, as it creates a richness in flavor that can’t be missed!
Serving Size: 4 portions
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
What (your ingredients):
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large yellow onion, finely diced
Dash of salt
1 eggplant
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 8.oz package baby bella mushrooms
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Cracked black pepper to taste
1 jar favorite tomato sauce
4 oz. spaghetti
How (your directions):
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously (pasta water should taste like the saltiness of the ocean).
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat and sauté onions with a pinch of salt until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.
Cut eggplant into a small dice and add to onions. Push onions and eggplant to one side of the fry pan. Add the tomato paste directly to the heat and allow to cook for one minute. Then, stir all ingredients together and continue to sauté.
Add spaghetti to boiling, salted water and cook to al dente or 1 minute shorter than package instructions (about 7 minutes).
Finely dice the mushrooms and add to vegetable mixture. Add Italian seasoning, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.
When mushrooms have browned, add jar of your favorite tomato sauce and reduce heat to low.
Add 1 ladle of pasta water to sauce before draining water (the starch of pasta water thickens the sauce).
Serve the eggplant and mushroom Bolognese over spaghetti with a drizzle of olive oil and a few basil leaves.
Bon appétit!
Why (the science): Did you know that eggplant can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol!?
Sometimes, dinner simply needs to be prepped and on the table in less than 40 minutes. Start to finish, this elegant quinoa stuffed acorn squash accomplishes that goal, but it will look like you spent hours in the kitchen creating it! Children are apt to love it, since the flavor profile leans toward sweet, especially with the cinnamon and raisins. Quinoa is a complete protein, so this filling dish would make a great “Meatless Monday” option.
How hard is it to find a breakfast muffin recipe that actually has zero added sugar? Because the truth is, honey and molasses, although natural and mostly unprocessed, are still added sugars (which means added empty calories). These zucchini muffins are incredibly moist, and not dense at all thanks to the whole wheat pastry flour! Whole wheat pastry flour bakes the same way that all-purpose flour does, making it the perfect flour to have in your home to boost nutrition!
This jade colored rice may be my new favorite food! Bamboo rice has a mild jasmine green tea flavor, which pairs perfectly with sweet strawberries and fresh mint. Add the goat cheese after the rice has cooled so that it doesn’t melt and disintegrate. Perfect for a refreshing and filling lunch! Serves 4
