Whether you’re a complete newbie to vegetarian cooking or are a seasoned veggie cook, it’s always nice to find new and exciting recipes to add to your repertoire. However, beyond what you cook when working towards a fitness or health goal is how you cook and maintain consistency. Consistent actions that are taken regularly make reaching your goals a realistic and manageable proposition.
Meal prep ahead of time is a great way to ensure you always have healthy food and snacks to hand when hunger strikes. There are plenty of vegetarian recipes that keep well in the fridge or freezer for days or longer, making it always easy to have healthy options on hand whenever you’re hungry. And if you’re wondering about whether you will get enough protein from vegetarian recipes to reach your goals, the answer is a resounding yes. There are many veggie-based proteins to experiment with, such as beans, lentils, chickpeas, and quinoa, that will contribute to reaching your daily nutrition requirements.
A Few Benefits of Meal Prep
If you need any more motivation to start meal prepping, there are so many benefits of being organised and cooking ahead, or at least making more than you’ll eat to ensure you have leftovers the next day. This approach will ensure that you have healthy food to hand any time hunger strikes, reducing stress, improving overall nutrition, and saving time and money to boot.
If you really don’t have time to manage this yourself or want a professional to handle the job, take a look at our meal prep service here. Our packages can be tailored to your requirements and dietary preferences.
Vegetarian Recipes
Now that you’ve stocked up let’s chat recipes! As with any meal prep, we advise balance. Ensuring you have sufficient macronutrients, including protein, carbs, fibre, and nutritionally dense foods with each meal will make all the difference.
Breakfast
Overnight Chia Pudding
Overnight anything is a winner when it comes to organising breakfast. For example, preparing Chia Pudding the night before, in a bowl if you’ll eat at home, or in a jar or something portable if you’re out to work early and need something on the go. Chia seeds contain fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, essential minerals and antioxidants. They are said to improve digestive health and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. If you’re not a fan of Chia, you can substitute this recipe with oats, another winning grain packed with health benefits.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 cup of the milk of your choice
- 2 tsp a natural sweetener such as maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract (this is optional but tasty!)
- Finish with fruit or nuts or another topping of your choice
Instructions
Combine all and leave overnight in the fridge or somewhere cool. If you want your toppings soft, add them before popping the lot in the fridge, but if you want them with a bit of crunch, add them in the morning just before eating.
Lunch
Vegetable Soup is always a winner – it’s warm and comforting whilst being healthy and nutritious. Team it with some sourdough or wholemeal bread, and you have an easy to prepare and satisfying Lunch. This recipe will serve four easily, so pop a few servings in the fridge or freezer for later if you are feeding less.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 1 medium chopped onion
- 4-5 medium peeled and chopped carrots
- 3 -4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 medium minced cloves of garlic
- 0.5 litres of vegetable broth
- 2 cans of undrained diced tomatoes
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups green beans (fresh or frozen)
- 1 1/4 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
- Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add onions, carrots, and celery. Saute for four minutes, then add garlic.
- After 1 minute, add the vegetable broth, tomato, potato, parsley, bay leaves, and thyme and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil, and add the green beans.
- Reduce heat to med-low. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. This will take around 30 minutes. Add corn and peas and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Courgette Fritters
Courgette Fritters are delicious as a main or side dish. We like them served with a large green salad or alongside roasted vegetables such as sweet potato and pumpkin and accompanied by creme fraiche or other dipping sauce. This recipe makes enough for four.
Ingredients
- 600g courgette, grated
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup flour of your choice
- 1 large egg
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 medium onion, grated
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grate courgette and onion either by hand or using a grating food processor.
- Wrap in a cheesecloth or thin dish towel and press to remove excess moisture. Discard the liquid.
- Combine the remaining ingredients with the courgette and onion in a large bowl and mix until combined.
- Form 8 equal-sized balls – about 2-3 tablespoons each.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Spread the balls with a spatula to make them about 1-1.5 cm thick. Cook until browned.
- If you want them extra crispy, add the fritters into a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve the fritters with your chosen sides and enjoy.
Contact Us For Professional Support
Whether you’re just beginning your fitness journey, or need a little extra support to maintain, our Expert and Friendly team at Recipe For Results can help. We offer meal prep for all goals including strength-building diets, weight loss, and health enhancement. We also offer in-person coaching in and around Essex and personalised exercise programs online. Your health and wellbeing are our business, and we are committed to helping you reach your goals.