The Weekday Vegetarian Challenge

Happy Near Year, Readers and Eaters!

Just wanted to let you know that I’m heading up a 2025 Weekday Vegetarian challenge over on Substack this month. The first week’s meal plan went out just after the new year, but you can start any time you want all year long. Every Friday in January, subscribers will receive a meal plan with five hand-picked-by-me nourishing vegetarian dinners that you can cook the following week (like that Smoky Black Bean Bowl with Tomato Rice shown above). Plus shopping list! Maybe you’ll only make four of them each week…or maybe you’ll only make one. Either way, congratulations! You’ve won the first battle: Deciding to start. This is all I ever hoped to accomplish with my Weekday Vegetarians book series: Meeting people where they are and dispensing zero judgment.

Here’s What to Expect

You’ll find a range of recipes in each week’s dispatch — I’ll never give you three straight nights of pastas or beans. There will be a healthy mix of everything: egg-based and tofu-based dishes, sandwiches, tacos, robust dinner salads and soups, and “large format” recipes like casseroles, enchiladas, and lasagnas. There will also be recipe cameos from my favorite food people, like Meera Sodha, Ali Stafford, and Yasmin Fahr.

I wish I could say that every single one of these recipes will be an under-30-minute, no-fuss, one-pot, crowd-pleasing undertaking. Many will be like that — so easy you’ll wonder why you even need an official recipe for it — but the truth is, some will require a little advance planning and maybe even breaking out a blender on a weeknight. I’ll always be upfront about this, just check the “degree of annoyance” rating on each recipe as you plan.

Shopping List FYI

Like all of my previous Substack meal plans, I’ve included your shopping list, but unlike previous meal plans, I’ve organized the shopping list by recipe (instead of by aisle, produce, pantry, etc) so if you decide to make, say, three of the five, it will be easy to figure out which ingredients you need and which ones you don’t.

Some of the recipes will call for a salad on the side or a hunk of crusty bread. You’ll find suggestions for those side dishes in a separate attached PDF called Simple Sides. Your weekly shopping list will not include ingredients for those side dishes. You’ll have to decide what you want and add to your shopping list accordingly.

Lastly

Don’t get too hung-up on the Monday-to-Friday “weekday” thing — just aim for more vegetarian dinners than not over the course of seven days, whether they happen on Tuesday or Sunday or whenever. And if you want a little crash course on vegetarian family dinners, here are a few tips.

Sample Recipe

Smoky Black Beans with Tomato Rice and Limey Avocado Chunks
Degree of Annoyance: Medium-Low (easy to make, but involves a bunch of pots)
Suggested Sides: None

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
3 tablespoons tomato paste, divided
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 cup white or jasmine rice, rinsed under cold water
3 tablespoons neutral oil (or olive oil in a pinch)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne
3 cups cooked black beans (1/2 cup cooking liquid reserved) or 2 (15-ounce) cans, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded red cabbage (about 5 ounces)
2 avocados, chunked
juice from one fresh lime

Suggested Toppings: Sour cream, shredded cheddar, cilantro

Make Rice: Whisk together broth (or water), 2 tablespoons tomato paste, and oregano. In a medium saucepan combine tomato-broth and rice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, then cover and cook 15-20 minutes (or according to package directions).

Meanwhile, make beans: In a medium pot, combine the oil, onion, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, remaining 1 tablespoon tomato paste, smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne, stirring everything together and allowing the tomato paste to sizzle and toast for about a minute. Toss in the beans and reserved bean cooking liquid (or 1/4 cup water if using canned beans) and heat until everything has warmed through and the beans have soaked in the spices, about 5 to 10 minutes. (The beans should be slightly stewy; if they aren’t add a little more water to loosen them up.)

Make vegetables: In a medium serving bowl, combine avocado and cabbage and gently toss with lime juice and salt. (You can also toss in separate bowls if you think your diners will want one and not the other. Just divide the lime juice between the two bowls if so.)

Divide the rice and beans among four bowls and top with avocado-cabbage and any desired toppings.

See how easy? Ready to start the challenge?

Head over to Substack to subscribe and get the Meal Plan for Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.

See you there!

Jenny

For more simple vegetarian recipes, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians or the follow-up: The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple.

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