A Two-Week Summer Meal Plan

By Emily McClements, Contributing Writer

It’s the time of year where the local Farmer’s Markets and our gardens have begun to overflow with the season’s harvest which make it the perfect opportunity to incorporate a wide variety of produce into our meal plans!

I want my family to enjoy as many of the different fruits and vegetables that are in season right now as possible. My kids will easily devour an entire carton of raspberries or blueberries almost as soon as I wash them and set them out. But, they haven’t developed an appreciation for some of the other summer produce, like zucchini, tomatoes, and beets yet. I’m hoping that serving them lots of delicious produce in different ways this time of year will continue to expand their palates.

I’ve put together enough recipes for a two-week Summer Meal Plan to include as many of the flavors of the season as I could. Use these meals as a jumping off point to create your own Summer Meal Plan!

Summer Meal Plan

Breakfast

Start off your day right with all the fresh veggies and sweet and juicy fruits of the season!

Make double batches of the pancakes and muffins to use for quick and easy breakfasts next week. And feel free to repeat any of the quick and easy breakfasts if you need to.

Quick & Easy

• Yogurt and granola with sliced peaches*
• Smoothies with fresh fruit and veggies and scrambled eggs
• Oatmeal with fresh blueberries and peaches

More Time, Worth the Effort!

For mornings when you have a little bit of time:

• Blueberry Pancakes with maple syrup
• Veggie Omelet or Scramble
• Cherry Berry Whole Wheat Muffins*
• Zucchini Muffins with apples and carrots*

Lunch

My favorite lunches involve either eating dinner leftovers just as they are, or remaking leftovers into another delicious meal.

• Dinner Leftovers with carrots, melon, or other fruits or veggies
• Salad with leftover grilled chicken and homemade dressing
• Veggie and Black Bean Quesadillas using leftover cooked veggies
• Burritos with leftover Chili Cheese Lentils, sour cream, lettuce and tomato
• Zesty Italian Cucumber Salad
• Chicken Salad with cherries

Dinner

Quick & Easy

• Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwiches with sweet corn
• Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet with boiled, buttery red potatoes
• Tuna Salad with tomatoes – cut a tomato into a flower shape and serve with tuna salad in the middle
• Chili Cheese Lentils add diced colored peppers and serve with brown rice
• Southwestern Frittata
• Slow Cooker Chicken Verde with peppers and lettuce wraps

More time, worth the effort!

These dinners take a little more time, but are definitely worth the effort!

• Baked Chicken Pesto with Roasted Green Beans
• Grilled chicken with grilled zucchini and yellow squash
• Turkey Burgers with zucchini and carrots with mashed potatoes
• Grilled Salmon with Peach Mango Salsa
• Harvest Pasta Skillet
• Skillet Lasagna with Zucchini Ribbon Noodles
• Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

Desserts

• Blueberry Cobbler
• Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Strawberry Watermelon Slushies
• Frozen Fruit “Ice Cream”
• Vanilla Ice Cream with peach slices (mmmmm, one of my absolute favorites!)
• Rich Berry Sherbet
• Cherry Hand Pies

Snacks

Recipes above marked with * would be great for snacks too!

• Bell pepper slices with Avocado Dip
• Carrots and other veggies with Homemade Ranch Dressing
• Cut up veggies with Black Bean Hummus
• Apples and peanut butter
• Fresh peaches or plumbs
• Slices of watermelon or cantaloupe
• Berries by the handful!

What’s your favorite recipe to use in a summer meal plan? Share it with us in the comments so we can all try it too!