Healthy Meal Inspiration

As a busy entrepreneur and mom of four, I'm all about what I call "real" fast food. That's food that's fast to make and super tasty but filled with real ingredients, many of them from the garden.

My goal is to eat from my garden every single day, but I'm not exactly what you'd call a cook. I also don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen prepping meals.

So here are some of my favorite fast, easy, and healthy meals you can make with garden-fresh ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Garden Omelet

Breakfast is, hands down, my favorite meal of the day. My go-to breakfast is a three-egg green omelet with ingredients from my garden.

I usually start my day by working out at the gym or taking my dogs for a walk. On my way back to the house, I head out to the garden to grab whatever is seasonal. In the winter, I might harvest some broccoli greens if most everything else in my garden is dead. In the summer, I'll take some tomatoes and peppers. In the spring and fall, I gather tons of leafy greens.

Even if there were nothing to harvest in my garden, I could still cut some garlic greens or green onions growing in my kitchen windowsill, plus microgreens grown in my basement.

I bring everything into my kitchen and give it a quick rinse and then chop it up.

Garden Omelet Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• seasonal greens from the outdoor or indoor garden, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• salt
• pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• Williams Sonoma chili crisp (optional but highly recommended)

Find the step-by-step to make this garden omelet.

I like to top my omelet with even more things I've grown myself. I've been piling on fresh alfalfa sprouts (grown in my Gardenary Sprout Kit). I also add some red beet and red cabbage kraut because it's so good for your gut to add fermented foods to your diet.

And voila! A super nutritious breakfast whipped up in about 10 minutes! I love how all the flavors come together—the savoriness of the eggs, the earthiness of the greens, the spice of the chili crisp, and the tang of the kraut. And then there's something about tossing on the sprouts that makes this meal feel extra gourmet.

Other Breakfast Ideas

KALE SMOOTHIE

Blend 1 to 2 cups of fresh or frozen kale leaves with 1 cup water, 1 avocado (seeded and scooped out of skin), 1 banana, 1 cup frozen mango, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds. Find the simple steps to make this kale smoothie.

Kale Frittata

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan with butter. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat in a pan. Cook 1 cup kale and 1 garlic clove, minced, for 2-3 minutes. In a bowl, add 1 tablespoon milk to 6 beaten eggs. Then add chopped kale, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into baking pan. Place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned. Serve warm.

Sprout Toast

As I'm making breakfast in the morning, I pop some sourdough into the oven. I cut two slices for my lunch and save the rest for dinner.

Sourdough toast is super filling and delicious—something I look forward to enjoying as lunch time draws near.

Sprout Toast Ingredients

• sourdough bread, toasted
• cream cheese
• alfalfa sprouts
• pickled red onions
• salt and pepper to taste

To make sourdough toast, all you have to do is spread some cream cheese on top of your bread, cover it with alfalfa sprouts (be generous), top it off with some pickled onions, and your lunch is ready to serve!

Garden Side Salad

I like to add a little side salad to go with my toast. I dash out to the garden and harvest some leafy greens like purple cabbage, collard greens, and kale. (I harvest just a couple of those older, outer leaves from each plant, by the way, so that I have more to take the next day.)

I slice all the greens into ribbons to make them easier to chew, coat them in olive oil and salt, and then give them a little massage so they start to soften up. While the greens are resting, I chop up some smaller greens like strawberry leaves, fennel, arugula, and parsley to add some fresh flavor to the salad. I top off the salad with some broccoli sprouts that have been growing on my kitchen counter for the last week.

Just before I'm ready to enjoy my lunch, I cover the greens with a dijon vinaigrette.

Dijon Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Oh my goodness, this will be the freshest, most delicious salad you've ever tasted. And when all the greens come from your backyard, it costs pennies on the dollar to make. They say you should aim to eat about 30 different vegetables a week. Well, there are at least a dozen that can be in your salad bowl, ready to enjoy in just one bite!

More Lunch Ideas

KALE CRUNCH SALAD

To make this delicious Chick-fil-A copycat, chop up some kale and cabbage leaves from the garden, then toss with Dijon vinaigrette. Sprinkle almond slivers on top.

TURKEY SPROUT WRAP

Place some sliced turkey breast, alfalfa sprouts, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato slices, and mustard or mayo inside a whole wheat tortilla.

AVOCADO SANDWICH

Toast some wholegrain bread. Add avocado slices to one side of the bread, then cucumber slices, then tomato slices, and then top with a generous heap of alfalfa sprouts. To the other side of the sandwich, spread some cream cheese or hummus. Season with salt and pepper.

Carrot Juice

The rush to finish answering emails and then pick my kids up and cart them to their many after-school activities is the hardest part of the day for me. I need something I can enjoy in a hurry to keep my blood sugar up so I can make it through the rest of the afternoon.

One of my favorite afternoon pick-me-ups is carrot juice. It's ridiculously easy to make.

All you have to do is toss some carrots into a high-speed blender with some water and whatever ingredients you like. I typically just do an apple, but you can also add ginger, lemon juice, turmeric, and pepper. (Check out my carrot juice with ginger recipe.)

Once your juice is mixed, pour it over a strainer to remove the pulp.

Now, you've got yourself a super healthy energy drink that's not filled with stuff you can't pronounce like the drinks at the gas station.

More Snack Ideas

Kale Chips

Roast some kale with olive oil and flaky sea salt for a tasty snack even your kids will love. Jazz up your kale chips with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, chili powder, or lime zest.

Veggie Tray with Tzatziki Sauce

Grate a cucumber to get 1/2 cup. Squeeze excess water out with some paper towels. Mix the grated cucumber with 1 cup plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 grated garlic clove, and some chopped herbs. I like to play around with fresh dill, mint, and chives. Season with sea salt. Serve with fresh veggies like radishes, celery, and carrots.

Kale and White Bean Soup

In the morning, I start a little bit of vegetable broth on the stove while I'm making my kids breakfast. For the broth, I just grab veggie scraps from the fridge, things like celery heart, the end of a cabbage, a couple of carrots, and some Brussels sprouts that got lost at the back of my refrigerator. I throw these in a pot with some water, salt, and pepper and let it boil.

Now I have the perfect base for my hearty winter soup.

Kale and White Bean Soup Ingredients

• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 3 to 4 carrots, sliced
• 3 cups white beans
• about 5 cups curly kale or dinosaur kale, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped

When it's time to make dinner, sauté the shallots and garlic in butter in a large pot. Pour sherry vinegar and stir to get all those juicy brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Add carrots, veggie broth, and kale. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce heat. Add rosemary. Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Herb Dip

While the soup is simmering, I make an herb dip I know my kids will love to go with the sourdough bread.

I harvest some fresh sage, thyme, oregano, and rosemary from my garden. Chop up the herbs and sprinkle with some sea salt. Cover the herbs in olive oil. I like to prepare this dip in individual bowls so my kids can dip to their heart's content.

Serve with slices of homemade sourdough.

The soup with the herb dip is the most hearty, delicious dinner.

More Dinner Ideas

Chimichurri with Roasted Veggies

Pour 3/4 cup olive oil into blender or food processor. Chop up 1/2 cup of carrot greens, 1/2 cup of parsley, and 1/2 cup of cilantro. Add to blender with 2 to 3 garlic cloves, 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Process thoroughly. Pour over garden vegetables roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Find the full recipe here.

Swiss Chard Lasagna

This recipe is super easy to make with some onions, Swiss chard, garlic, no-boil lasagna noodles, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Find the steps to make this dinner classic here.

Butter Board

Throw together this butter board with garden harvests. Serve with a baguette or sourdough bread. Perfect for a girl's night in!

Summer Garden Ratatouille

Make modified ratatouille to use up large summer harvests. Cut squash, eggplant, and tomatoes into thin slices. Fill up a sheet pan with alternating slices. Traditional ratatouille has a tomato-based sauce, but I like to make a simple garlic herb sauce with olive oil, salt, and a little balsamic vinegar, mixed with minced garlic, green onions, and some chopped herbs. Pour the sauce over the veggies. Bake covered at 375°F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, or until veggies are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Grate parmesan cheese on top. Serve over rice or pasta.

Herb Flatbread

If your kids are begging for pizza but you want them to eat more green things, make some herb flatbread. Buy some pre-made pizza dough from the store and then harvest fresh herbs from your garden. I love to mix rosemary, oregano, chives, and thyme, but you can add basil, sage, or whatever else you have. Use herb scissors or a knife to chop your herbs finely. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup grape seed oil, coarse sea salt, a couple cloves' worth of minced garlic, and your chopped herbs.

Cover a baking pan with corn meal and then roll out your dough. Coat the top of the dough with your herb mixture. Bake at 425°F for approximately 10 minutes.

Sage Tea

My favorite nighttime ritual is to drink a cup of sage tea from the garden. It helps me feel sleepy and ready for bed after a long day.

All I need is about 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves and 1 cup boiled water. Pour the boiled water over the dried sage leaves and let it steep for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain and serve with lemon, simple syrup, or honey if you want it a bit sweeter.

I drink this tea in bed while I'm enjoying a good book.

Other Nightcap Ideas

Calendula Tea

To make soothing calendula tea, pour 1 cup simmering hot water over 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried or fresh calendula flowers. Cover and steep for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain the tea to remove the petals.

Chamomile Tea

One cup of chamomile tea will make you feel sleepy in no time. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 tablespoon dried chamomile blooms. Steep for 5 to 10 minutes, then strain.

How Will You Bring the Garden into Your Next Meal?

If you're not ready to commit to garden-to-table meals around the clock, start with one meal. Even choosing a more plant-based meal once a week can make a difference in your diet, your health, even your entire lifestyle.

Having a garden is the easiest, most reliable way to ensure you always have fresh, nutrient-rich ingredients on hand. And you don't have to spend hours tending your garden. I spend about 5 minutes a day caring for my 200-square-foot garden. (I teach you how to grow a productive garden by tackling one small but important task a day in my new book, The 5-Minute Gardener.)

I hope you're inspired to look for more ways to make the garden part of your everyday life.

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