What I Eat in a Week: End of Summer Veggies

Written by on in Recipes

The past couple years I’ve been part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). And I’ve shared many posts here and videos on YouTube about how I use my CSA. Each week I get so much lovely local produce, and I build my meals around whatever I get from the CSA.

Today I’m sharing meals I’ve enjoyed the past few weeks and I hope it will serve as some inspiration for your next plant-based meal! Check out the video on YouTube to see exactly what I got in my weekly CSA shares and how I used it.

I’ve written out the recipes below. Some of these are very loose recipes as that is how I usually cook. I encourage you to use what you have and substitute with your favorite veggies.

Jump directly to the recipe you want by clicking the title in the list below:

Easy Pesto

small glass dish of pesto

I never really measure, so amounts below are just suggestions. Use what you have and adjust to your taste preferences!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 to 2 cups fresh basil
  • ¼ to ½ cup walnuts (or hempseeds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • water as needed to help blend to your desired consistency
  • Optional: garlic, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, black pepper

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor.
  2. Blend until everything is well combined. You can keep a little texture, or blend it really smooth.

Tomato Pesto Pizza

pizza topped with large slices of tomatoes and sliced onions

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Prepare your pizza crust.
  3. Add pesto and tofu to a food processor and blend until combined.
  4. Spread tofu pesto mixture over your pizza crust.
  5. Add slices of tomatoes and red onion.
  6. Bake pizza for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the crust is cooked all the way through and tomatoes and onions start to brown.
  7. Top with vegan parmesan and enjoy!

Sauteed Tomato Eggplant Sauce

skillet with tomato eggplant sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 small japanese or chinese eggplant, peeled and diced
  • ¾ cup red onion, diced
  • 2 large tomatoes, diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt substitute (we used Well Your World’s Stardust)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • pinch red pepper flakes (or to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon dried dill

Directions

  1. Add eggplant and onions to a dry skillet on medium high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 to 10 minutes until the eggplant starts to brown and caramelize. Add a splash of water as needed to deglaze the pan.
  2. Remove the eggplant and onions from the pan and set aside for later.
  3. Add tomatoes to pan and cook for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down into a sauce.
  4. Add the eggplant and onions back to the skillet along with the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine and cook a minute or two more for the flavors to combine.
  5. Serve over beans, whole grains, or a potato.

Baked Summer Veggies (Ratatouille-inspired)

pie plate with sliced eggplant, yellow squash, and tomatoes arranged in a spiral pattern

Amounts depend on how much you want to make. I suggest equal amounts of eggplant, squash, and tomatoes so you can layer it. But you can make as much as you like to fit the dish you’re cooking in. And then use as much garlic as you like and enough vinegar and herbs to lightly cover the veggies.

Ingredients

  • eggplant, thinly sliced
  • yellow squash and or zucchini, thinly sliced
  • tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • fresh garlic, minced
  • balsamic vinegar (in the video I accidentally said red wine vinegar which would work too!)
  • dried basil
  • dried parsley
  • stone ground or dijon mustard
  • water

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine the garlic, vinegar, and herbs in a small jar or measuring cup.
  3. Arrange the eggplant, squash and tomatoes in layers in a pie pan or casserole dish.
  4. Pour the vinegar mixture over the veggies.
  5. Bake until the veggies are al dente.
  6. Enjoy with your favorite beans and whole grains for a complete meal.

“Refried” Lentils

plate with three tostadas topped with lentil spread, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, and vegan cheese sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning blend (more or less to taste
  • 1 teaspoon salt substitute
  • 1¾ cup water or vegetable broth

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients to your Instant Pot.
  2. Cook at high pressure for 6 to 8 minutes.
  3. Mash or blend the mixture and enjoy however you like refried beans, such as on tostadas.

Cheesy Sauce

A plate of corn chips, refried lentils, vegan cheese sauce, peppers, tomatoes, and onions. A bowl of cantaloupe cubes and grapes, and a plastic container of cabbage salad

Ingredients

  • 1 can no salt added great northern beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potato or other variety of potato (steamed or boiled)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon stone ground or dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • Optional: small handful cashews, soaked; or 1 to 2 tablespoons of PB2 cashew powder
  • 1 cup water (more or less as needed to achieve your desired thickness)
  • 1 teaspoon salt substitute (I used Stardust by Well Your World)

Directions

  1. Add everything to your blender canister or food processor. Blend until smooth. It will take about 1 minute in a high powered blender, but may take a couple minutes in a food processor.
  2. Use as pictured with a nacho bowl or as a vegan mac and cheese sauce.

Easy Stir Fry

plate of veggie and bean stir fry

Once again this doesn’t have specific measurements as this is a “use what you have” recipe. Adjust seasonings as needed.

Ingredients

  • leftover veggies (such as cabbage, carrots, peppers, eggplant, etc)
  • beans (I like to use kidney beans or chickpeas in my stir fry)
  • coconut aminos, soy sauce, or tamari
  • rice vinegar
  • Optional: garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, ginger, other spices
  • rice or other whole grains or noodles

Directions

  1. Water saute the veggies until they start to soften and brown.
  2. Add coconut aminos, soy sauce, or tamari. I simply add a little all around the pan, depending on the amount of veggies anywhere from a couple teaspoons to a couple tablespoons.
  3. Turn off the heat and add a couple teaspoons of rice vinegar.
  4. Serve over rice, other whole grains, or noodles.

Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese

plate half full of vegan mac and cheese and half full of green bean and tomato salad

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cook noodles according to package directions.
  2. Combine cooked pasta with as much cheesy sauce as you like.

Green Bean Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 or 3 cups fresh green beans, chopped
  • 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
  • ¼ cup red onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ to ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 or 3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 or 3 teaspoons tahini

Directions

  1. Add green beans to a steamer basket in a pot of boiling water. Add garlic on top. Cover and steam for about 7 minutes
  2. Add beans and garlic to a large mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
  3. Serve warm or chill in the fridge to serve cold.

Pasta with Green Beans and Tomatoes

plate of veggies and pasta topped with vegan parm next to a bowl of cabbage salad

Herb Dressing Ingredients

  • ¾ cup cashews, soaked for 30 minutes up to overnight (or substitute with cooked white beans)
  • 1 cup chopped herbs: any combination of basil, parsley, cilantro, or dill
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon date sugar or date syrup (or more to taste)
  • water as needed for blending to get whatever thickness you like

Pasta Ingredients

  • 1 serving whole wheat spaghetti
  • ⅓ cup red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup green beans, steamed
  • Optional: vegan parmesean

Directions

  1. Blend dressing ingredients and set aside.
  2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  3. After the pasta is finished cooking, reserve some of the pasta water then drain and return pasta to your pot.
  4. Add all remaining ingredients along with as much of the herb dressing as you want to the pot and stir to combine. Add a little pasta water if needed to get your desired sauce consistency.
  5. Top with vegan parm and enjoy!