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You asked, so we answered! Hundreds of Start TODAY members have told us they want healthier, more balanced meal ideas to help them reach their health goals. Designed by a nutritionist, this meal plan gives you a flexible approach to healthy eating.
This week’s menu includes plant-based MVPs like snap peas, carrots, avocado, asparagus, and arugula. These ingredients are included in meals ranging from breakfast tacos to chickpea burgers to pesto tortellini pasta salad, showing you how to enjoy the foods and flavors you love while still packing in more produce.
What to eat this week: October 23, 2023
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Monday
Tuesday
- breakfast: Roasted grapefruit, yogurt, nuts and honey
- lunch: Pasta salad with pesto tortellini
- dinner: gluten free chicken piccata
- snack of choice
Wednesday
Thursday
- breakfast: Roasted grapefruit with yogurt, nuts and honey
- lunch: Pasta salad with pesto tortellini
- dinner: Rotisserie chicken, roasted asparagus and pistachio pesto
- snack of choice
Friday
- Breakfast: Breakfast tacos with avocado, spinach, and eggs.
- Lunch: Capri Caesar Wrap
- Dinner: leftovers or takeout
- snack of choice
breakfast
If you don’t eat breakfast often, try these effortless ideas to make breakfast a habit. It takes him 10 minutes to prepare scrambled eggs in advance (they last up to a day). 4 days in the refrigerator) Reheat some before assembling the tacos. Grapefruit meal is easy to assemble and allows you to roast the fruit while making coffee.
vegetarian breakfast tacos
Casey Barber
Breakfast tacos? Yes, please! The recipe calls for one egg, which won’t provide enough protein in the morning, so we recommend topping the tacos with canned, drained black beans. You can also double your eggs as long as you eat no more than 7 eggs per week.
Roasted grapefruit, yogurt, nuts and honey
Cut the grapefruit halves, sprinkle with cinnamon and sprinkle with honey. Bake until the topping is bubbly and the grapefruit begins to caramelize. Then top the grapefruit with plain or low-sugar Greek yogurt and nuts or seeds (like pumpkin or hemp seeds).
lunch
Sandwiches and salads are lunch staples, but these versions are anything but typical. With minimal advanced preparation, it’s easy to assemble these meals before heading to work or sitting down to eat.
caprese caesar wrap
joy bauer
Introducing easy lunch wraps that combine the flavors of your favorite salads. The recipe includes instructions for making a simple dressing, but you can skip this step and use bottled dressing instead. Next, add the avocado slices to the wrap. Garnish the wrap with strips of sliced red pepper and serve with a dip made from Greek yogurt and pesto. This will further increase the nutritional content of protein and vegetables.
Pasta salad with pesto tortellini
Kayla Huang
This salad contains a lot of vegetables, making it a hearty and nutritious meal. To take it to the next level of health, use whole wheat tortellini and add a handful of arugula to the bowl. To prepare this salad in advance, leave the basil and arugula until ready to serve.
dinner
This week, we’ll be introducing heart-warming dishes made with plenty of colorful ingredients. Bonus: None of these recipes require more than 20 minutes of hands-on time.
Chickpea burger with creamy sriracha sauce
Evette Rios
Chickpea burgers are easy to make using a food processor. Please make it in bulk, freeze it and enjoy. Serve the burger on whole wheat pita bread with all the toppings and garnish with roasted carrots.
balsamic honey roasted carrots
Lauren Salkeld
gluten free chicken piccata
kevin curry
This is a gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb version of chicken piccata, but don’t let that put you off. The chicken is coated with seasoned almond flour and cooked until golden brown, and the sauce is rich and creamy. It is served over zucchini noodles, but you can also mix it with whole grain or legume-based pasta if you prefer.
Steak Caesar Salad with Sugar Snap Peas
jeremy ford
Serving steak over a salad is a healthy way to enjoy red meat, and the combination is hearty yet light. Additionally, the salad combines small gem lettuces and snap peas for the perfect crunch.
Rotisserie chicken with roasted asparagus
Quick roasted asparagus with pistachio pesto
ryan scott
If you don’t have much time to cook, buy a store-bought rotisserie chicken and pair it with this easy vegetable side dish. Make a large batch of this pesto and freeze what you won’t use to flavor other meals later. If you feel like the meal isn’t complete without starch, serve it with quinoa. With the frozen version, everything will be ready for her to eat within 15 minutes.
snack
Snacks that include whole food sources of protein and fiber can help keep you full for hours. Here are some ideas:
- Baby carrots and roasted chickpeas.
- Pineapple cubes with cottage cheese.
- Clementines and nuts or seeds (such as pumpkin seeds).
- Creamy taco dip with red pepper slices. To make the dip, mix Greek yogurt with taco seasoning.
- Grape tomatoes and boiled eggs.
