Here comes Part 2 of our Plant-Based Summer meal plan, which we created in hopes of helping some of you get more plants into your life on a day-to-day basis. We aimed for efficiency, but also tried to come up with recipes that are inspired and delicious. Part 2 focuses on dinner and dessert only. There are tacos and fajitas, as well as a juicy fruit crisp. To see the breakfast and lunch recipes, as well as the grocery shopping list for the entire meal plan, head to Part 1.
If you use this meal plan, we would appreciate your feedback a whole lot. Tell us which parts were useful and where we could improve. These meal plans are a ton of fun to come up with, but they are also a ton of work, so we want to make sure that we are putting our energy into something that’s practical to you. Providing that everything goes well, we’ll come out with the next meal plan in the fall. Until then, we are back to our regular schedule of two recipe posts a week :)
Menu
(see Part 1 for breakfast and lunch recipes)
Breakfast
Almond Pulp Lime Ginger Granola
Overnight Berry Chia Oats
Lunch
Loaded Veggie Chickpea Salad
Basil Zucchini Chowder
Dinner
Cauliflower Chickpea Fajitas
Zucchini Kimchi Tacos
Dessert
Peach and Blackberry Crisp
*all recipes are vegan and gluten-free and will make enough for a workweek (5 days), for 2-3 people
Day by Day Prep List
Monday Night:
Make the fajitas to have for dinner on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday nights. This will be fairly quick, since you already prepped the vegetables and spice blend during prep day. Bake the crumble for dessert on Monday or Tuesday night, it’s quick and you will have enough for dessert for the rest of the week.
- Make the Cauliflower Chickpea Fajitas
- Bake the Crisp (+ second batch of almond milk if you didn’t make it on prep day)
Wednesday/Thursday night:
Once you’ve finished eating the fajitas, prepare the Kimchi Zucchini Tacos for dinner starting Wednesday or Thursday night and until the end of the week. They are a very quick, weeknight-friendly dish. These tacos would also work well as a lunch, if you need a break from the soup and salad.
- Make the Zucchini Kimchi Tacos
Recipes
1.
These fajitas make for a very satisfying dinner, and they taste like the real deal, too. They utilize the chickpeas and half of the cauliflower, left over from Part 1, as well as the piquant fajita spice. When wrapped in a tortilla, the spicy onions and peppers, meaty portobello wedges, caramelized cauliflower, and chickpeas make up the perfect pocket of flavor, especially when finished off with all the fixings.
- 4 tablespoons neutral coconut oil
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (from part 1)
- fajita spice mix - (recipe in part 1)
- ½ cauliflower - cut into florets (left over from part 1)
- juice of 2-3 limes - divided
- 1 large red onion - chopped
- 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper - seeded and sliced
- 1 green bell pepper - seeded and sliced
- 1 poblano or jalapeno pepper - seeded and sliced
- 2 portobello mushrooms - sliced
- tortillas of choice (corn for gf)
- 1 avocado - sliced, for serving
- cilantro - for serving
- vegan sour cream or yogurt - for serving (optional)
- Warm 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the chickpeas, sprinkle with the fajita spice and sauté until golden. Remove the chickpeas from the pan and set aside.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, add the cauliflower florets in a single layer, sprinkle with the fajita spice and cook for about 3 minutes, until the underside is golden. Flip the florets, sprinkle with more of the fajita spice and cook for another 3 minutes or until the other side is golden. Pour the juice of ½-1 lime over florets and cook until it evaporates, stirring. Remove the cauliflower from the pan and set it aside.
- Add one more tablespoon of the oil to the pan, followed by the onion and all the peppers. Sprinkle with the fajita spice and sauté for about 8 minutes, until the onion the vegetables are soft and golden in places. Pour the juice of 1 lime over the vegetables and stir them around until it evaporates. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add another tablespoon of the oil to the emptied space.
- Add the mushrooms in a single layer, sprinkle with the fajita spice and let them cook for about 3 minutes, until the underside is golden. Flip the mushroom slices, sprinkle with more of the fajita spice and cook for another 3 minutes, or until the other side is golden as well. Pour the juice of ½-1 lime over the mushrooms and stir around until evaporates. Stir the onion-pepper mixture into the mushrooms and turn off the heat.
- Warm the tortillas, if desired, and keep them wrapped in a kitchen towel. To serve, place a few pieces of the cauliflower in the middle of the tortilla, followed by a small handful of the pepper and mushroom mixture and some chickpeas. Top with avocado slices, cilantro leaves and sour-cream, if using. Repeat with the other tortillas, as you go, and enjoy.
2.
These tacos are incredibly easy to make, but mindblowingly good despite that fact. I make them at least once a week in the summer, for a reliable, no brainer-style dinner. The kimchi basically does all the work for you here, infusing the zucchini and carrots with its powerful flavor, while the creamy avocado and cilantro bring on the perfect finishing touch.
- 1 tablespoon neutral coconut oil
- 1 small to medium carrot - shaved
- 2-3 small to medium zucchini - spiralized or julienned
- about 1 cup kimchi, or more to taste
- ½ cup cooked chickpeas (from part 1, optional)
- 1 avocado - cubed
- handful cilantro leaves - for serving
- tortillas of choice (corn for gluten-free) - for serving
- Warm the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the carrot and zucchini and sauté for a couple of minutes, until they are just beginning to soften. Remove the pan from the heat, add the kimchi and chickpeas, if using, and toss to mix.
- Warm up the tortillas, if desired, and serve the zucchini-kimchi mixture inside the tortillas, topped with the cubed avocado and cilantro.
3.
A fruit crisp is one of the easiest desserts to make, especially in the summer, when so many fruits and berries are at the peak of their flavor. This recipe utilizes the almond pulp, left over from making almond milk, for the crisp topping, leaving no part of the almond behind! Feel free to use any other fruit or berries for this recipe, just make sure to adjust the sweetener if you have a fruit that’s less sweet, like plums.
- 1 tablespoon neutral coconut oil
- 3 ripe peaches - sliced
- 1 cup blackberries
- freshly squeezed juice from ½ lemon
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or maple syrup
- splash of vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ tablespoon arrowroot powder (optional)
- 1 cup almond pulp (left over from making nut milk in part 1)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- sea salt
- ¼ cup chopped almonds, walnuts or other nuts of choice
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil - soft
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Oil a medium-sized baking dish or a 9-10-inch cast-iron pan and combine the rest of the filling ingredients in the pan. Toss to mix.
- Combine all the topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Sprinkle over the filling. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Cover with parchment paper and bake for 10 more minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden. Enjoy right away with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Store in the refrigerator.
Sandy says
This looks so amazing. Love that it is all simple to make!! Will write back to tell you how making these recipes turn out. Also like the fact that the meal plan has leftovers ;)
Thank you so much
Sandy
Anya says
Hi Sandy,
Thanks so much! Looking forward to hearing how everything worked out <3
Elizabeth says
What a joy it was for me to use your post this weekend! I typically prepare a week’s worth of meals on Sunday as well, so your plan saved me valuable hours typically spent planning. Each meal was beautiful, fresh and delicious. I also loved how budget conscious it was- my grocery bill was a mere $60.00. My only crticism is that there are not quite enough servings for my husband and I for a full week, but maybe we eat more hearty portions. Please repeat often- I loved it!
Anya says
Hi Elizabeth,
This is SUCH valuable feedback, thank you. Super happy to hear that the dishes worked out for you. The portion sizes are kind of tricky to figure out, but we’ll try to increase them next time around :)
Kelly says
I really like this meal plan type post. I’ll have to execute this before summer is over!
Anya says
Thanks so much for the feedback Kelly! Let me know how it goes :)
Ruqayah says
This meal plan was really amazing! The food and the photography really inspire me. I generally find cooking a chore and was looking for some inspration online! This work your doing means a lot to me. It can be difficult to try avoiding wheat and dairy, sometimes I am wondering what’s left to eat. You all are provinding the answer but it’s so much more. This food is nourishment and it makes me want to be in the kitchen. Thank you!
I found the recipes in The Vibrant Table a bit labor intensive for my skill level. So I was excited to try something designed for a work week. On the main prep night, I was thinking, ‘Oh THIS is why I don’t eat like this.’ Meaning it felt like a lot of work. But it was worth it. The food was POW so full of rich flavor and satisfying. I thought the portions seemed small at first, but we actually managed to streatch it. Sometimes we fed four others just three. I did end up doubling the fajitas portion sizes, and it lasted 3 days. I wish I had thought to double the basil corn chowder, that did not last, the kids just ate it up! I want you all to have every succuess. I wonder if including an approximate prep time/ cook time would be possible. I read through the meal plan a couple days before, but was really surprised on the main prep day. I didn’t end up cutting up the veggies for the fajitas. It got too late. But I have to say too, that the week night was such a breeze. I spent little time in the kitchen and spent quality time with the kids, meanwhile I played the role of hero serving up this gorgeous, nutritious and delicious food, three times a day!!!! I’m so grateful. Love this meal plan. I think I can repeat it once a month. Until we move into the fall….
Anya says
Hi Ruquayah,
Thank you so much for all your feedback! I’m SO glad that the meal plan worked out for you and your family.
Agreed, prep day can seem pretty labor intensive when setting yourself up for a whole week of meals. We haven’t really found an easier way to do it, unless you can stretch it out over a few days (Saturday and Sunday for example). Thank you so much for the all the suggestions as well. We find it a little difficult to state the prep time, since everyone cooks at a different speed, but we can start noting a general cook time. The portions were meant for 2-3 people over the course of the week, as noted, but we have had people comment that they seem a little small, so we’ve been taking that into account :)
Anya says
I also forgot to say, our new cookbook, Simply Vibrant, has much simpler, weeknight-friendly recipes than The Vibrant Table :)