The benefits of meal planning are simple: It saves you time, it saves you money, and it makes it easier to eat healthier, satisfying meals that make you feel good. Sounds great, right? So, why aren’t we all meal planning? The truth is that meal planning can feel intimidating, like something that’s designed for super-organized people with super-tidy junk drawers (or no junk drawers!) and color-coded to-do lists.
The Clean Plates Meal Planner is here to prove otherwise.
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The Clean Plates Meal Planner is designed to make meal planning so effortless — and dare we say fun? — that literally anyone can do it and immediately reap the rewards. It includes 15 ready-to-go meal plans and also offers the option to create your own from hundreds of carefully-selected recipes that are easy, healthy, and delicious. Plus, it also streamlines your shopping experience through auto-generated grocery lists and one-click ordering.
Want a taste of what your weekly meal plan might look like? Here, Sheela Prakash, author of Mediterranean Every Day, shares a Mediterranean meal plan that is all about eating well and eating deliciously. These five feel-good recipes — some of her favorites from the book — come together easily on a weeknight, but still feel special. The ingredient lists are short and simple, with enough overlap to streamline your grocery shopping, and enough diversity to keep you from getting bored.
Photo Credit: Kristin Teig
Monday: Olive Oil-Braised White Beans
Mondays are hard enough, so why not start the week off with something extra-easy? This recipe leans on canned white beans, olive oil, and aromatics like garlic and fresh herbs. Let the beans braise slowly and they’ll soak up the richness of the oil and the flavor of all the good things you added.
Double the recipe so you can eat them warm, with a side of crusty bread and lightly-dressed greens, on Monday night, and have plenty of leftovers for lunch. Serve over greens, sliced tomatoes, or roasted vegetables. Or, toss them with cooked brown rice for a simple grain salad. You can even puree what’s left to use as a creamy sauce for pasta, thinning it as needed with a splash or two of pasta cooking water.
Get the recipe: Creamy Olive-Oil Braised White Beans
Photo Credit: Kristin Teig
Tuesday: Chickpea Flatbread with Whipped Feta and Marinated Tomatoes
Chickpea flour is one of my favorite pantry ingredients. It’s super high in protein, naturally gluten-free, and has endless uses. The way I use it the most is to combine it with water and a little olive oil so it becomes a batter. Then I pour the batter into a cast-iron skillet and broil it so it becomes crisp and golden-brown on the outside and tender on the inside.
Called socca in southern France and farinata on the northwestern coast of Italy, it’s a perfect snack as-is. But you can also turn it into dinner by slathering it with whipped feta and piling it with juicy, tangy marinated tomatoes.
Get the recipe: Feta “Pizza” with Marinated Tomatoes
Wednesday: Roasted Cod Saltimbocca
I love breaking up the week with a fish dinner. There’s just something about fish that feels fancy. And yet this dish is shockingly easy to prepare. Crowd-pleasing cod is readily available and has such a nice, meaty texture and mild, buttery flavor.
Wrapping it in thinly sliced prosciutto protects it from drying out, which means this is a dinner that’s truly foolproof.
Get the recipe: The Easiest, Tastiest Way to Eat More Fish
Photo Credit: Kristin Teig
Thursday: Caramelized Mushroom Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
Use whatever prosciutto you have left over after making the cod to make this hearty, flavor-packed pasta. Here, seared mushrooms are bolstered by fresh thyme and garlic, made saucy with a splash of white wine, then tossed with pasta.
It’s that leftover prosciutto that really makes this dinner special, though. It’s cooked in a dry skillet so it becomes cracker-like. When broken into pieces and sprinkled over the pasta, it lends salty crunch to every bite.
Get the recipe:
Photo Credit: Kristin Teig
Friday: Eggs in Purgatory
I am a full supporter of eggs for dinner and this is one of my favorite ways to eat them. Eggs in purgatory is the Italian version of shakshuka. That means you can expect loads of garlic to be involved. And it most definitely got a fiery kick thanks to a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes (that’s the purgatory part). The spice is tamed by the velvety soft-cooked eggs and creamy crumbles of goat cheese.
While serving this dish with bread is technically optional, I implore you to do so because it’s a wonderful way to swipe up every bit of the sauce.
Get the recipe: The Italian-ish Way to Make Breakfast for Dinner
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Hungry for More?
These are just a sampling of the 300+ recipes you’ll find on the Clean Plates Meal Planner. Pick and choose your favorites to make a meal plan that’s just right for you, place your grocery order with just one click, and get ready to start living your healthiest, happiest life.
