5 Nights of Whole Food, Plant-Based Dinners

I’ve been falling off the wagon a lot lately.

First there was Halloween. It turns out that I have no shutoff switch when it comes to Butterfingers or  Reese’s peanut butter cups, which is why I don’t normally allow them in my house! Then there was a host of smaller indiscretions–cashews by the handful, nonstop nibbling of dried fruit, exhaustion-induced overeating–topped off earlier this weekend by a big ‘ol piece of carrot cake washed down with a big ‘ol glass of red wine, neither of which I’m accustomed to. (Which my body not-so-gently reminded me of the next morning.)

Needless to say, I’ve been feeling the effects of my less-than-stellar diet, and I’m ready to get back on the straight and narrow before the holidays!

The 5-Day Dinner Challenge
Here’s the deal: Every night Monday through Friday of this week, I’m going to make a whole food, plant-based dinner for hubby and myself and post the results here. (Well, he may cook too, but either way we’re going to be eating healthy.) That’s five full nights of nourishing dishes, most of them quick and easy, and a partial answer to the question of what someone on a low-fat, whole food, plant-based diet eats. (I do get that question surprisingly often.)

I probably won’t have time to tweak and post all the modified recipes (in some cases they come straight from cookbooks, so I couldn’t anyway), but hopefully you’ll get some new dinner ideas–heaven knows we could all use more of those!

In return, I’d love to have you all keep me honest (and motivated) along the way. I figure that’s my best shot at sticking to the plan, as opposed to going rogue and heading out to the nearest Chipotle.

So, are you in? Great! Here’s the plan:

Since that didn’t come through perfectly, here’s the breakdown:

• Monday: Baked sweet potatoes,  creamed spinach, lima beans, salad with tahini dressing
• Tuesday: Curried cauliflower over quinoa; arugula, pear, and walnut salad
• Wednesday: Busy Bowls: Millet, carrots, cauliflower, snap peas, beans; salad with tahini dressing
• Thursday: Cuban black bean cakes, roasted butternut squash with cumin, salad with sweet onion and avocado
• Friday: Acorn squash with lima bean and corn stuffing; swiss chard with golden raisins and toasted pine nuts

So swing back by for a full week of dinner inspiration!