Meg's Meal Planning

Vegetarian

Oven Baked Pork Schnitzel

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Super easy oven baked Pork Schnitzel is an easy week night recipe. Pair it with potatoes and a salad for an easy and satisfying dinner.  

Pork Schnitzel

Looking to get in the fun of celebrating Oktoberfest? Then try this easy oven baked Pork Schnitzel. It’s healthier than pan frying, but tastes just as delicious. It also is a great make ahead meal and stores well in the freezer.

Pork schnitzel is a popular German dish prepared by breading and frying thin pork cutlets. Although there are many varieties of schnitzel like chicken, veal, and turkey. Pork is one of my personal favorites. The key to a good schnitzel is a meat mallet. You need to pound the pork very thin.  Skip the gym and have this be your arm work out!

Baked port schnitzel

Oven Baked Pork Schnitzel
 
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Super easy oven baked Pork Schnitzel is an easy week night recipe. Pair it with potatoes and a salad for an easy and satisfying dinner.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless pork chops, pounded until ¼ inch thick
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp roasted garlic powder
  • 2 eggs whisked
  • 1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425.
  2. Combine flour and spices in shallow bowl. Eggs in another, and breadcrumbs in another
  3. Dip each piece of pork into flour, shaking off excess. Then dip into egg, then bread crumbs. Place pork on a lightly oiled wire rack over baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip and bake another 5 minutes.

 

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Healthy oven baked pork schnitzel

Lemon herb Mediterranean quinoa salad

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Lemon herb quinoa salad combines all the tastes of a fine Mediterranean dish – cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon, and avocados. Served over kale for a delicious and simple dinner. 

Herb mediterranean salad

Mediterranean flavors are my jam lately. What’s not to love!? It’s all simple ingredients that are just good for you! Although if I had my way, I would add a ton of olives! But I know everyone isn’t a fan of them (especially in my house), so I didn’t include them in this recipe. But if you’re a fellow olive lover, feel free to add kalamata or black olives!

This lemon herb quinoa salad is chock full of yummy tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. To make sure you stay satisfied and full, it also has quinoa for some protein. All on top of kale! Remember, don’t skip the step where you massage the kale leaves. It sounds strange but really makes a difference.

Lemon mediterranean salad

Lemon herb Mediterranean quinoa salad
 
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Lemon herb quinoa salad combines all the tastes of a Mediterranean dish - cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon, and avocados. Served over kale for a delicious and simple dinner.
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Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • ½ cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 cups of kale, washed and chopped
  • Extra virgin olive oil (for kale)
  • 1 mini cucumber, quartered
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
  • ¼ cup red onion, sliced
  • 1 avocado, sliced
Instructions
  1. Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
  2. Meanwhile, make the salad dressing. Whisk together in a small bowl olive oil, lemon juice, water, red wine vinegar, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
  3. Add kale leaves to a large bowl, drizzle extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste. Massage kale with hands for 1 minute.
  4. Add cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, and avocado to kale. Add in quinoa.
  5. Drizzle lemon herb dressing on top.

 

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Lemon herb mediterranean quinoa salad

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Corn Salad with a Lime Tahini Dressing

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End of summer salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, corn, black beans, avocado with a tangy lime tahini dressing. This easy salad is healthy and refreshing!

spinach salad with Tahini dressing

The end of summer is always a sad thing. Fortunately for me, I live in New England and love all four seasons, especially fall. Actually, I love the start of every new season. But knowing my beach days are ending is a little upsetting!

This summer salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, corn, black beans, and avocado makes the transition a little easier! The roasted cherry tomatoes taste so amazing you might just want to pick them out of the salad and eat them all.  Click here for the garlic roasted cherry tomatoes recipe.  I had them made in advance, so if you aren’t doing so, making the salad will take a little longer.

Roasted tomatoes and corn salad

Best part of this healthy salad recipe is the homemade, tangy lime tahini dressing. Only five simple ingredients elevate this salad to another level of salad greatness!

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Corn Salad with a Lime Tahini Dressing
 
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End of summer salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, corn, black beans, and avocado with a tangy lime tahini dressing. This easy salad is healthy and refreshing!
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 8 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 cup garlic roasted cherry tomatoes (see above for recipe)
  • 1 ear of corn, cooked and cut from the cob
  • ½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup red onion, sliced thin
  • ½ avocado, diced
  • ¼ cup Tahini
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tbsp cilantro
  • ½ tsp lime juice
  • ¼ salt
Instructions
  1. Add spinach to a large bowl.
  2. Add garlic roasted cherry tomatoes, corn, black beans, red onion, and avocado. Stir together.
  3. Add tahini, water, cilantro, lime juice, and salt to a food processor or Nutri bullet. Blend together.
  4. Pour dressing over salad.

 

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Roasted tomatoes and corn salad with lime tahini dressing

Week of August 20th

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Week of Aug 20th

Summertime and the livin’s easy! Right?! Now that summer is winding down, my diet is starting to catch up. When it’s warm outside, I don’t mind sitting on the deck with 1 or 2 glasses of wine, (Rose all day!) or taking an impromptu trip to Tree House Brewing Co. when they are pouring drafts, or getting ice cream for dessert a few nights out of the week. So this week is all about healthy eating – cauliflower rice, quinoa, chicken, shrimp.

Monday – Vegetarian Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Kale, Chickpeas and a Lemon Tahini Dressing

Quinoa for blog

Tuesday – Garlic butter chicken with parmesan cauliflower rice.

keto chicken recipe

Photo by eatwell101

Wednesday – Shrimp tacos with mango salsa

Mango shrimp tacos

Thursday – Enchilada chicken meatballs served over quinoa.

gluten free enchilada chicken meatballs

Photo by Isabel Eats

Friday – Creamy kale and turkey sausage pasta with sun dried tomatoes.

creamy kale and sun dried tomatoes

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

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Zesty marinated shrimp tacos with a mango, cherry tomato, and avocado salsa. This is an easy and quick weeknight dinner!

Mango shrimp tacos

Long, sweet summer days are what we look forward to all…year…long. Warm nights when there is still daylight at 8pm and every night seems to end with a freeze pop! When I think of those nights, I also think of citrusy, fresh shrimp tacos. I know I can technically make shrimp tacos year round, but there’s something about those summer nights that go hand in hand with shrimp tacos.

Sautéed shrimp marinated with olive oil, chili powder, ground cumin, and lime juice mixed with a citrusy mango salsa with avocado and cherry tomatoes. This quick dinner is the perfect hassle-free meal. Be prepared: it will go fast and there will be no leftovers!

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
 
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Zesty marinated shrimp tacos with a mango, cherry tomato, and avocado salsa. This is an easy and quick 30 minute weeknight dinner!
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • ½ lb shrimp (around 18-20)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • 1 mango, washed, peeled, and cubed
  • ½ avocado, cubed
  • Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 lime
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 6 (5-inch) corn tortillas
Instructions
  1. In large bowl, combine the shrimp, olive oil, chili powder, ground cumin, salt, garlic, and lime juice. Mix together. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Meanwhile in small mixing bowl combine the mango, avocado, cherry tomatoes, salt, juice from half a lime, and cilantro. Mix together.
  3. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add shrimp, and cook about 3 minutes/side or until pink.
  4. Heat tortillas according to package directions.
  5. Spread 3 shrimp per tortilla and top with mango salsa.

 

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Shrimp tacos with mango salsa

Vegetarian Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Kale, Chickpeas and a Lemon Tahini Dressing

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This power quinoa bowl is bursting with flavors that your taste buds will love! Roasted kale and chickpeas are mixed with a garlicy lemon tahini dressing and topped with avocado and green onions. 

quinoa with roasted kale

Thursdays have slowly become my favorite day of the week! Crazy right?? But I’m fortunate enough to have Thursdays off from work and they have become my recipe testing, cooking, and food photography day. For countless Thursdays I have created quinoa power bowls for lunch/dinner from whatever I have left in my fridge. This vegetarian quinoa bowl with roasted kale, chickpeas, avocado, and a lemon tahini dressing is definitely in the top five!

Roasted kale chips are probably my all time favorite thing to snack on. My sister and I will clean out my garden and sit around devouring them all day. I’m not even kidding; sometimes we don’t even make it to the couch, we just stand over the tray on top of the stove grabbing handfuls!

quinoa for blog

For this recipe I used homemade roasted kale, but store bought chickpeas. You can use store bought of both or roast both yourself! But the recipe will take longer if you roast chickpeas at home.

Vegetarian Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Kale, Chickpeas and a Lemon Tahini Dressing
 
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This power quinoa bowl is bursting with flavors that your taste buds will love! Roasted kale and chickpeas are mixed with a garlicy lemon tahini dressing and topped with avocado and green onions
Author:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ½ cup uncooked quinoa
  • 3 large kale leaves
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • ¼ cup roasted chickpeas
  • ½ avocado, cut into bite size pieces
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • Pepper
  • Pinch of roasted garlic seasoning
  • 1 green onion stalk, diced
Instructions
  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, set aside to cool.
  2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and rip kale leaves into bit size pieces.
  3. Layer on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and salt. Bake about 10 minutes or until browning, tossing halfway through.
  4. Once quinoa has cooled, transfer to a medium size mixing bowl, add in the kale, chickpeas, and avocado.
  5. In small mixing bowl stir together the tahini, water, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and roasted garlic seasoning.
  6. Pour dressing over the quinoa mixture and stir together. Top with green onion.

 

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Vegetarian quinoa bowl with roasted chickpeas

Vegetarian Quinoa Bowls with Cilantro Lime Dressing

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This cilantro lime dressing is tangy and just a little sweet. You’ll want to use it on top of everything, like this easy and healthy vegetarian quinoa bowl. 

Quinoa bowl

Finally the weather is getting nice and the only thing my son wants to do when we get home at the end of the day is “PLAY OUTSIDE” as he nicely tells me in his sweet two-year-old voice. I love it; we easily stay out until 6 or 6:30 pm, but just like a typical two year old, he has no patience to let me cook dinner. Insert easy vegetarian quinoa bowl to the rescue!

My favorite part about these quinoa bowls is many of the items can be prepped in advance or cooked a day or two before with another dinner. Having a baked sweet potato another night? Cook an extra one to use in this recipe.

cilantro lime dressing

The cook time for this recipe assumes you already have the sweet potato cooked. If you don’t, remember to allow for an extra 45 minutes for that to bake in the oven or you can cook it in the microwave.

Easy Vegetarian Quinoa Bowls with Cilantro Lime Dressing
 
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Recipe type: Quinoa Bowl
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • ½ cup red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup baked sweet potato, cubed
  • 1 cup avocado, diced
  • For the cilantro lime dressing:
  • ½ cup vanilla greek yogurt
  • 6 tbsp mayo
  • 6 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 garlic gloves, minced
  • 1 cup cilantro, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Cook the quinoa according to package directions.
  2. In a large bowl combine the red onion, red bell pepper, sweet potato, and avocado.
  3. In a small bowl combine the greek yogurt, mayo, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  4. Once the quinoa has finished cooking, add it to the large bowl. Then add the cilantro lime dressing. Toss together.

 

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Vegetarian quinoa bowl with cilantro lime dressing

Sweet Potato, Spinach Buddha Bowl

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If you are looking for a healthy, filling lunch or dinner, this buddha bowl with sweet potato, spinach, avocado, and crushed walnuts will keep you full and satisfied. 

Sweet potato, spinach buddha bowl

Buddha bowls are a healthy way to get a balanced meal and an even better way to clean out your fridge.  The last few weeks, on Thursday or Friday I’ve made a buddha bowl using whatever was left in my fridge from the week. The beauty of this meal is you can add any kind of ingredient.

How to make a buddha bowl

First, start with your grain – try brown rice, lentils, or quinoa. Next, add greens/roasted vegetables – spinach, green beans, peas, Brussel sprouts, the possibilities are endless.  Finally, finish it off with nuts or seeds and your choice of dressing.

buddha bowl

Last weeks buddha bowl with quinoa, green beans roasted potatoes, sunflower seeds, and green onions

I make a very basic red vinegar/olive oil dressing. My favorite toppings are green onions because I love the taste they give, avocado, and any kind of nut. Try it out for yourself; you will quickly fall in love with buddha bowls!

Sweet Potato, Spinach Buddha Bowl
 
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If you are looking for a healthy, filling lunch or dinner, this buddha bowl with sweet potato, spinach, avocado, and crushed walnuts will keep you full and satisfied.
Author:
Recipe type: Buddha Bowl
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • ½ cup uncooked quinoa
  • ½ roasted sweet potato, peeled and cubed
  • ½ avocado, cubed
  • ¼ cup walnuts crushed
  • ¼ cup fresh spinach, chopped
  • For the dressing:
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions
  2. Add quinoa to a bowl and add the sweet potato, avocado, walnuts, and spinach
  3. In small bowl mix together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, and mustard
  4. Pour over buddha bowl, stir and serve

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Sweet potato, spinach, avocado buddha bowl

Superfood Salad

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Happy New Year! Happy 2017! Last year when I was pregnant over the holiday season, I didn’t feel guilty eating everything and anything I wanted, including all sweets! This year is a different story! So just like many others out there after the Holidays have passed, I want to start eating healthy again.  Goodbye to anisette cookies, chocolate layer bars, and panettone bread (some of my favorite Christmas sweets!). This recipe is super packed with superfoods! For Christmas I got a new cookbook and a new spirilizer, so I decided right away to test them both out. This recipe was inspired by Inspiralized, Turn Vegetables into Healthy Creative, Satisfying Meals, by Ali Mafucci. 

Superfood Salad

Ingredients for the salad

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 medium beets, spiralized and chopped into tiny rice-size pieces
  • 2 cups fresh spinach 
  • 1/3 cups slivered almonds
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 1 cup cooked edamame 

Ingredients for the dressing

  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • Salt and pepper

Steps

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions 
  2. In a large bowl, combine the beets, spinach, almonds, avocado, and edamame
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients
  4. Add the quinoa to the beet mixture, pour the dressing on top and toss
 

Summer pasta salad with asparagus, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella

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I made this pasta salad for a work cook out, but it’d also be perfect for a Father’s Day BBQ. I was able to use some of the fresh asparagus from my CSA farm box! This recipe was inspired by apples and sparkle . 

Asparagus ends snapped off and cut into 1 inch pieces

 

 

Roasted red peppers, stemed 10 minutes in bowl

 
 

Pasta cooling

 
Ingredients

  • 2 red peppers
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 teaspon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 bundle of asparagus, tough ends snapped off, cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 lb penne pasta (I used veggie penne)
  •  8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Steps

  1. Roast the red peppers – Turn oven to broil and let it heat up for 5 minutes. Wash the peppers, cut the top and ends off, then slice open and remove the seeds and stems. Lay down flat, skin side up on a foil lined cookie sheet. Broil 7-9 minutes, turning pan halfway through cooking time.Peppers are done once they start to turn black and blister. Remove from oven and place into bowl. Cover tighly with plastic wrap and let peppers steam for around 10 minutes. Scrape away skin and cut peppers into 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside
  2. In a large bowl combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and remove 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and place into a medium sized bowl.
  3. In large dutch oven, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the asparagus. Cook until just barley tender (about 3 mintues). Use slotted spoon to remove asparagus pieces, place in colander, and rinse under cold water until cool.
  4. Add pasta to boiling water and cook until done. Drain pasta and add the hot pasta to the large bowl and toss to coat in the dressing.
  5. Add the roasted red peppers and mozzarella to the bowl with the asparagus and mix in the vinaigrette.
  6. Once the pasta has cooled, add the asparagus mix to the bowl of pasta.
  7. Enjoy!