Welcome to this week's meal plan. I hope you found last week's plan helpful. The aim of these plans is to help you plan your weekly meals. Whether you are trying to cut down on your meat intake and looking for some vegetarian dinner inspiration, you're a new vegetarian or you're a life long veggie. I hope you find these plans helpful. You can follow them for the week or you can pick and choose one or two recipes. It's up to you. All recipes cater for 4 servings. Toward the end of this page, I have included a shopping list and a store cupboard list. If you'd like to see last week's meal plan you can find it here.
Have a great week,
Michelle x
Monday - Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches
These roasted portobello mushrooms with a hint of balsamic vinegar are the star of this mushroom sandwich. The portobello mushrooms are meaty and melt in your mouth delicious. Served on toasted ciabatta rolls with some pesto mayo, feta and cherry tomatoes these sandwiches will go down a treat with everyone. Quick and easy to make these are a great easy option to kick off your week. Great on their own or with some baked potato wedges.
Tuesday - Butter Bean Stew
Spiced butter bean stew with kale and sweet potato is a rich and warming vegan stew. Tasty, filling and nutritious, this is serious vegan comfort food. We usually have this with some nice crusty bread but it's really good with rice too. An easy to make, one-pot vegan stew that will keep you cosy and warm. It's packed with butter beans and sweet potatoes and kale making this a nutritious, tasty stew that the whole family will love. It’s mildly spiced so the kids can enjoy it too. If you do have any of this leftover it tastes even better the next day so I try and keep some for lunch the next day.
Wednesday - Goat's Cheese Tart with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
This is a fairly quick dinner that’s easy to make with minimal effort. It’s something I have been making for years and was one of the first recipes I learned to cook. This goat’s cheese tart comes with balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes, these tomatoes are roasted until they are sweet and just burst. I also use plenty of red onion, for this tart which also gives the tart some sweetness. However, if you want to cut down on time then you could skip roasting the tomatoes, you will need to chop them in half before to add them to the tart. If you have time I highly recommend roasting them though! Serve this with a simple green salad or potato wedges.
Thursday - Lemon Garlic Pasta with Kale
This Lemon Garlic Pasta is a quick and easy pasta recipe, perfect for busy weeknights. It’s garlicky, lemony and really tasty. It's a family favourite and I have refined it a little since it first appeared on the blog. Cooking the garlic in the oil then removing it gives this dish a lovely garlic taste without it being too strong, which is great for kids who aren’t too fond of that strong garlic taste. The lemon zest and juice really lifts the flavour of the kale and yes it probably makes it more palatable for kids, this is definitely my experience. Toasted pine nuts give a warm and toasty balance to all that lemon and kale and the saltiness of the vegetarian parmesan takes away any tartness from the lemon. The black peppercorns add a nice little kick of heat, but if you’re not into that then take them out the same time as the garlic.
Friday - Sesame Tofu
Ditch the take-out this weekend and make this instead! This is one of my favourites and it's vegan. It does take a little longer to make as you need to drain the tofu and let it marinate. But then it all comes together very quickly and is totally worth the time. This stir fry has sweet and sticky, crispy tofu in a lovely sticky sauce with peppers and onion. Great for a Friday night treat.
Shopping List:
- 4 x large portobello mushrooms
- 2 x white onions
- 1 x red onion
- 1 x bunch of spring onions
- 1 x stalk of celery
- 2 x large carrots
- 2 x medium sweet potatoes
- 250g kale
- 1 x large green bell pepper
- 1 x large red bell pepper
- 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- 1 x bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 x small bunch of basil
- 400g x cherry tomatoes
- 1 x thumb-size piece of fresh ginger
- 1 x bulb of garlic
- 2 x limes
- 2 x unwaxed lemons
- 25g x feta cheese
- Vegetarian parmesan
- 1 x 125g log of goats cheese
- 1 x 280g pack of extra firm tofu
- 4 x ciabatta rolls
- Mayonnaise
- 1 x jar vegetarian green pesto
- 1 x jar of vegetarian red pesto
- 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
- 2 x 400g cans of butter beans
- 1 x 320g sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 x pack of spaghetti
Store cupboard ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Toasted sesame oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Dark soy sauce
- Sweet chilli sauce
- Sea salt
- Black peppercorns
- Dried red chilli flakes
- Smoked paprika
- Ground cumin
- Ground cinnamon
- Vegetable stock cubes or bouillon
- Cornflour/ cornstarch
- Maple syrup
- Dried bay leaves
- Milk
- Pine nuts
- Sesame seeds
- Rice
Glen
We do taco Tuesday and soup & sandwich Thursday, so I'm adding two recipes in there and stretching this for the whole week. Boyfriend was not keen on the stew, so we're omitting that for now (I'll sneak it in sometime soon, dont worry - I'll just call it a "soup" and he'll be none the wiser ). So far we've tried the mushroom sandwiches and goat cheese tart. Loving it. Will be back for more recipies soon!
Michelle Alston
Hi Glen, I'm so glad you're enjoying the meal plan. Love your idea about the stew 😉
Glen
We do taco Tuesday and soup & sandwich Thursday, so I'm adding two recipes in there and stretching this for the whole week. So far we've tried the mushroom sandwiches and goat cheese tart. Loving it. Will be back for more recipies soon!