Week 2.
The integration of a plant-based diet into daily life.
Make it delicious. A healthy, plant-rich diet is not about deprivation or compromise, instead it’s a celebration of nourishing food filled with abundance, flavour, and texture. It’s not all or nothing either, a flexitarian approach works brilliantly too.
How to set new habits.
By planning out your meals at the start of the week, you will find that you shop for exactly what you need, saving you money, time, and stress. It also means that you can focus on eating a nutritionally varied diet.
Make sure to stock your cupboards with the essentials (think soy sauce, mustard, olive oil, spices, chopped tomatoes, lentils, and beans) and do a weekly stock take of what you already have in the fridge, freezer or cupboards.
Follow the mantra of ‘cook once, eat twice’, where you revamp leftovers from the night before for a healthy packed lunch. Remember that your plan is flexible, sometimes life gets in the way, so meals can easily be moved around.
Set aside some time to batch cook meals, then store in the fridge or freezer for later in the week — curries, stews, chillies and soups are great options. For healthy breakfasts, prep-ahead timesavers such as overnight oats, granola, muffins or (un-blitzed) smoothie ingredients can be kept in the fridge or cupboard, ready to go.
Healthy eating shouldn’t be about rigid rules and restrictions; there’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food; it’s about adding in an abundance of foods packed with nutrients, fibre, colour and flavour. Creating a flexible healthy eating routine that takes a positive 80:20 approach (where you make healthy choices 80% of the time) is a more balanced way of thinking, rather than a diet that is unsustainable and will only make you feel guilty. Remember that making small, gradual changes is key for creating a long-term routine that sticks.
Breakfast
Almond & raspberry muffins.
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What you'll need.
Ingredients (Makes 12 muffins)
- 100g porridge oats
- 100g plain flour
- you can also use gluten free
- 100g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 200ml soya milk
- 200ml maple syrup
- 50g coconut oil
- melted
- 75g fresh raspberries
- small handful flaked almonds
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Prep and preheat.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F – and grease a 12-hole muffin tray with coconut oil, or line with muffin liners.
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Blender blitz and bowl whisk.
Place the oats into a blender and blitz until fine. The place the milled oats into a large bowl along with the flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and chia seeds. Whisk until no lumps remain.
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Get it all together.
In a large jug, stir together the soya milk, maple syrup and coconut oil. Then make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and stir through the wet ingredients. Mix gently, just until everything is incorporated — be careful not to overmix.
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Scoop and sprinkle.
Scoop equal amounts of muffin batter into your prepared tray, dot each muffin with raspberries and sprinkle over some flaked almonds.
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Bake, cool, and enjoy.
Bake for 25–30 minutes until risen and golden brown. Remove from the tray and cool before eating.
Lunch
10-minute simple high protein bowl.
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What you'll need.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
- 1 x 400g tin black beans drained & rinsed
- 200g cooked quinoa
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 red chilli finely sliced
- 1 lemon zested
- 100g frozen edamame beans defrosted
- 100g baby leaf spinach washed & shredded
- pinch salt for the dressing
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
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Tip and toss.
Tip the beans, quinoa, oil, paprika, chilli, lemon zest, edamame and spinach into a large bowl. Add a generous pinch of salt and toss together.
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Add dressing and dish.
To make the dressing, place all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined. Pour over the quinoa mix and stir until everything is coated in the dressing.
Snack
Banana, peanut butter & flax.
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What you'll need.
Ingredients (Serves 1)
- 1 ripe banana peeled
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter
- 1 tablespoon milled flaxseeds
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Slice, drizze and sprinkle.
Slice banana into rounds. Put on a plate and drizzle over the peanut butter and sprinkle over the flax seeds.
Dinner
Chickpea, tofu & harissa stew.
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What you'll need.
Ingredients
- A drizzle of toasted sesame oil or olive oil
- 2 medium white onion finely chopped
- 5 large garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of hot smoked paprika or sweet paprika
- 1½ 400g tins of chickpeas drained (using leftovers for day 1 salad)
- 180g firm tofu drained, dried and cut into pieces the same size as chickpeas
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
- 1-2 tablespoons harissa paste depending how spicy you like it
- 100g spinach
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 2 tablespoons coconut yoghurt
- pinch sea salt & black pepper to taste
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Start by softening.
Heat a light drizzle of sesame oil or olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and season with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until softened and lowering heat to low if necessary, about 10 minutes.
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Begin adding ingredients.
Add the crushed garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Stir in the cumin and paprika and cook, stirring throughout, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Add some more ingredients.
Add the chickpeas, tofu, tomatoes, tomato puree, and harissa and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have darkened and reduced, 10 – 15 minutes.
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Stir in the spinach.
Stir in the spinach and allow to cook until wilted, 1 -2 minutes. Then add the tamari, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Last detail: coconut yoghurt.
Before serving, remove from heat and stir in the coconut yoghurt.
