You don’t need a brand-new dinner plan every time you want more vegetables on the table. Start with a meal you already like and give it one useful partner: something crisp, something built into the main dish, or something easy to dip.
1. Put something crunchy beside the cozy dinner
Warm, saucy dinners welcome a little crunch. Try Best Coleslaw beside burger tacos or chicken, or set out sliced cucumber, tomatoes, and bell peppers with a meatball dinner.
Make the side as simple as the evening needs. A cucumber-and-tomato salad with a little olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper doesn’t need a long ingredient list. Start with a small amount of dressing and add more after tossing.
Try it with: Big Mac Tacos/Burritos or Greek Beef Meatballs. Keep cold vegetables separate from hot leftovers until you’re ready to eat.
2. Choose a main dish where the vegetables already belong
In Unstuffed Peppers Casserole, the bell peppers form the bottom layer. Chicken, Butternut Squash and Rice Casserole brings squash and tomatoes into the same dish as the chicken and rice. Bolognese Stuffed Spaghetti Squash puts the meat sauce right into roasted squash.
Follow the quantities and prep directions in the recipe, especially in a casserole with rice. Extra watery vegetables can change the liquid balance. If you want more vegetables than the recipe calls for, serving them alongside is the easier place to start.
Choose by your evening: The chicken-and-rice casserole needs time in the oven and a covered rest; it is not a last-minute skillet dinner. Read the timing before deciding which recipe fits.
3. Give vegetables a dip they can get along with
Set out carrot sticks, cucumber, or pepper strips with Easy Delicious Hummus. Or make the lemon garlic sauce from the Greek meatball recipe and use a little as a vegetable dip.
Keep the vegetables bite-size and easy to pick up. A small plate alongside dinner works just as well as a large platter. If you’ve washed and cut more than you need, refrigerate the extra in a covered container for another meal.
A small plan for tonight
Choose one familiar main dish. Pick one vegetable you already have. Decide whether it belongs on the side, in an existing recipe, or beside a dip. You’ve made one dinner decision and used what was in the refrigerator. That counts.
One less dinner decision
Join Dinner Club for a Friday note with one dinner, one side, and one useful prep tip. You’ll also get the free Two Weeks of Easier Dinners guide after confirming your email. Free to join; unsubscribe anytime.
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