5 Easy Veggie-Packed Meals for Busy Weeknights

Welcome to Forkcast—a weekly meal-planning newsletter with five recipes for the week ahead, plus a handy grocery list and helpful tips. This week’s is curated by Nancy Zapata, who’s all about quick, family-friendly meals packed with hidden veg.

I buy on Saturday and prep on Sunday. My kiddos pick out their favorite veggies—and sometimes new ones—when we grocery shop. It’s a fantastic way to give my kids agency and who knows? That vegetable could be their new favorite. These secretly veggie packed dishes are great for incorporating more nutritionally dense meals into my family’s routine. They’re great for my picky eaters too. I find that if I can get two out of three items eaten off the plate (one out of three on a rough week), then dinner was a success.

These dishes are loaded with nutrients (and flavor) but still picky-eater approved.

Breakfast: Homemade Carrot Cake Granola

Lunch 1: Vegetable Stir Fry

Dinner 1: Vegetable Chow Mein

Dinner 2: Fried Rice

Dessert: Carrot Cake Granola Parfait

Produce

• 2 red bell pepper

• 1 yellow bell pepper

• 2 medium yellow onions

• 1 head of garlic

• 1 small knob fresh ginger

• 1 head of cabbage

• 1 bunch green onion

• 1 bunch of carrots

• 1 head of broccoli

• 1 zucchini

Dairy & Eggs

• 3 eggs

• 1-8oz container Plain Greek yogurt

Frozen

• ¼ cup green peas

• ¼ cup yellow corn

Pantry

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

• 1 cup pecans

• 1 cup walnuts

• 1 cup puffed millet

• ¾ cup honey

• ½ cup raisins

• 1 cup shredded coconut flakes

• 2-6oz packages of chow mein noodles

• 4 cups jasmine rice

• 5 ounces soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon Oyster sauce

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1. Extra Noodles

I like to add extra noodles to the vegetable chow mein dish to have leftovers, either fresh out of the pan or straight out of the fridge.

2. Easy Swaps

Stir-fry is great because the veggie options are versatile—if you’re looking to clean out your veggie bin, stir fry for the win.

3. Get the Best Fried Rice

When making the entrée fried rice, day-old, cooked rice works best to avoid a mushy fried rice.

4. Double up on Sauce

Most of my household favors sauce, so I like to double and triple my sauces to have extra on hand.

5. How to get crisp granola

Make sure to get the moisture out of the shredded zucchini before baking the granola. And if you want some fresh veggie crunch, add in freshly shredded carrots to your parfait.