Healthy Vegetarian Meals

If you're working towards losing some weight, gaining a boost in energy, and improving your overall health, the solution is pretty simple: eat more fruits and vegetables.

Although you don't have to remove meat from your diet completely, there are many benefits in making the decision to eat vegetarian meals more often. Choose a variety of fruits and veggies so that you and your family will enjoy different flavors and maximum nutrition. It also helps to balance these meals with adequate protein and healthy fats, to be sure they keep you full and energized throughout the day.

Healthy Vegetarian Meal Ideas

Breakfast

• We love hard-boiled eggs as a simple meal solution, as they're easy to keep on hand. Slice and place on a bed of fresh spinach with a dash of hot sauce or horseradish, and a sprinkle of True Lemon Pepper. They're also great with sliced red pepper, or on a thin slice of whole wheat toast with avocado. Yum!
• Make a simple egg scramble with vegetables. Have trouble keeping fresh veggies on hand? Use frozen instead! These veggies are frozen at their peak of freshness, and therefore still contain a lot of nutritional value. Keep a few bags of frozen greens on hand, such as peas, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, kale, and asparagus. 
• If you prefer a sweet, fruity way to break your nightly fast, fill a bowl with 1/2 a cup of Greek yogurt, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of low-sugar granola, and top with sliced fresh fruit. Add pepitas or sunflower seeds for an extra boost of healthy fat, and sprinkle with a packet of True Lemon. 

Lunch

Sliced deli meats are often full of sodium, and we'll show you how easy it is to make a delicious sandwich or wrap without them:

• Avocado Swiss
  Avocado slices, swiss cheese, roasted red pepper, and mayonnaise.
• Caprese
  Fresh spinach, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, and sliced tomatoes.
• Tea Sandwiches
  Sliced cucumber, cream cheese, red onion, and True Lemon.
• Healthy Elvis
  Peanut butter (no salt, no sugar added), banana, thinly sliced strawberries, and a light drizzle of honey.
• The Kitchen Sink
  Avocado, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, shredded carrots, red onion, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise.

Looking for more healthy lunch ideas? Try some of these!

Dinner

• Paella is a traditionally Spanish dish that's made with rice, saffron, and lots of vegetables. Usually its made with seafood, but its easy to substitute more fresh veggies in place of meat. Unique and oh-so delicious!
• Zoodles are the new fun way to substitute zucchini noodles for pasta, and increase your vegetable intake! There are a lot of spiralizers out there, and you certainly don't need anything fancy or expensive. You can use zoodles in place of spaghetti for any recipe, or with a simple tomato sauce.
• Mini eggplant pizzas are another delicious idea! Slice an eggplant into rounds and top with a tomato slice, onion, fresh chopped basil, and mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for about 10-20 minutes, watching carefully until cheese bubbles. Try these additional dinner recipes on for size!

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[Credit: Jacobs-Banner, Lani. Healthy Vegetarian Meals for Families. Natural Grocers.]