A nutritionally balanced, varied, calorie-controlled diet plan can help vegetarians and semi-vegetarians lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Our plan includes eggs and dairy, but it is easy enough for vegans or those who avoid dairy or eggs to make substitutions.

Mix-and-Match Plan

Each full meal in this plan provides approximately 400 calories; each snack, 300 calories. That means you can sub in any meal or snack you feel like eating on any day you feel like eating it, without worrying about calorie counts. You can also repeat meals on another day to use up leftover food or just because you like to eat the same breakfast most days.

In many cases, alternative substitutions are listed for ingredients and mixed dishes to give you an idea how to create substitutions more to your own taste. For instance, Sunday’s lunch features a sweet potato, apple and pecan salad dressed with orange vinaigrette, but you may prefer an equal amount of white potatoes with sweet green or red pepper and pine nuts, dressed with lemon vinaigrette in place of orange. (Colorful vegetables can always be substituted for fruit in any recipe or meal, and one nut substituted for another.)

Guidelines

While no full recipes are included in this plan, most of the dishes are self-explanatory or can be found in all-purpose cookbooks or guidance can easily be found online. General instructions and tips are included for many others. In addition, follow these basic guidelines:

  • Portion sizes and ingredient amounts are for single servings. It is the type and amount of food that matters in this meal plan—feel free to substitute one food for another in the same group. (For instance, substitute an orange for an aple , or a slice of whole-grain bread for a small cornbread square.) As long as you substitute similar amounts of similar types of foods, the calories won’t vary enough to make a different in your diet.

  • If there is no quantity listed with an ingredient, there is no limit to how much you can eat because the food (usually a vegetable) does not contribute significant calories and can be freely eaten.

  • If you’re not a snacker, add the snack foods to meals. (For instance, instead of snacking on hummus and chips, include these foods with lunch.) You may want to use some snacks wine, baked apple, dark chocolate and yogurt-fruit combos with meals for dessert. If you like to snack more than once a day, split up the snack. (For instance, Saturday’s snack can be served as a baked apple with maple syrup topped with chopped walnuts, or as two separate snacks: a baked apple with maple syrup for one snack and the walnuts for another snack.)

  • Seasoning may not be included with meal suggestions; boost the flavor of vegetarian dishes with herbs and spices, salt and pepper, soy sauce, liquid aminos, kimchi, hot sauce or harissa or other ethnic seasoning pastes. Use fatty condiments, such as mayonnaise and sour cream, sparingly.

  • Drink water with most meals. You can add flavor to plain water without adding calories by floating a slice of lemon, lime, orange or cucumber, or a sprig of mint, in the glass. Tea, coffee and other calorie-free beverages can also be included.

SUNDAY - Pure Vegan

Whether you always avoid all meat and dairy products, or just want to try a completely animal-free day once in a while, this basic menu can serve as a guide to combining a wide variety of foods to create nutritionally balanced calorie-controlled vegan meals.

Breakfast

  • 1 cup mixed fruit, with:
    • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (or 4 halves)
  • 1 cup cooked oats or dry cereal, with:
    • 1/2 cup almond, soy or rice beverage, or other dairy milk alternative

Lunch

  • 1/2 cup diced sweet potato* and 1/2 cup diced apple,
    • Served on mixed greens
    • With 1 tablespoon chopped pecans (or 2 halves)
    • Dressed with 1/4 tablespoon olive oil mixed with 1 tablespoon orange juice
    • *Sauté diced sweet potato in vegetable oil until tender, or toss potatoes in oil and roast at 400°F for 20 minutes or until tender.
  • 1 small (2-inch) square cornbread

Dinner

  • 1 cup edamame salad
    • 1/2 cup cooked and cooled edamame
    • 1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
    • Seasoned with miso paste or kimchi
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa, topped with:
    • 1 cup sautéed broccoli with garlic, mushrooms, and onions
    • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Snack

  • 6-8 crackers, such as melba toast
  • 1/3 cup hummus

MONDAY - No Time to Cook!

You’re overwhelmed with obligations, but you still have to eat. Today’s the day to take advantage of frozen and canned convenience foods, fresh prepared foods from your supermarket or deli, and fast foods like pizza from a restaurant or your own microwave oven.

Breakfast

  • 2 multigrain frozen toaster waffles, topped with:
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 1 small sliced banana
    • 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts (or 2 halves)

Lunch

  • 1 slice cheese pizza (optional veggie topping)
  • 1 tossed green salad with 1 tablespoon dressing

Dinner

Mediterranean Platter:

  • 4 stuffed grape leaves*
  • 1/3 cup cherry tomato halves
  • 3 olives*
  • 1/4 cup baba ganoush* (smokey eggplant dip)
  • 1/2 cup sliced cucumber
  • 1/3 cup marinated artichoke hearts*
  • 1 ounce crumbled feta cheese* (or tofu marinated in vinegar and oil)
  • 2 flatbread crackers
  • *From your supermarket’s refrigerated prepared foods section or specialty/imported foods section

Snack

  • 1 container (6 ounces) lemon low-fat yogurt mixed with
    • 1/4 cup raspberries
    • 4 graham crackers (2 full rectangles)

TUESDAY - Comfort Foods

Even on a calorie-controlled, vegetarian diet, you can still enjoy old-fashioned, feel-better comfort foods from your childhood, like warm biscuits, burgers, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate pudding.

Breakfast

  • 1 large flaky whole-grain biscuit, warmed, split, and topped with:
    • 1 cup sliced strawberries
    • 1 cup lowfat vanilla or lemon flavored yogurt

Lunch

  • Veggie burger with lettuce and tomato on a whole-grain roll
  • 1/3 cup coleslaw
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Dinner

  • 3/4 cup macaroni and cheese
  • Sautéed broccoli with garlic
  • Tomato and artichoke salad
  • Combine sliced tomato with 1/3 cup sliced, drained artichoke hearts

Snack

  • 6-8 ounces chocolate pudding or chocolate milk
  • 2 tablespoons walnuts

WEDNESDAY - Mid-Week Mini Fiesta

There are limitless possibilities for Mexican-style vegetarian meals featuring tropical fruits, avocados, beans, and tortillas.

Breakfast

  • 1 cup sliced mango
  • 1 cup diced potatoes and sweet green or red peppers sautéed in 2 teaspoons vegetable oil with:
    • 1 cup tofu cubes
  • 1 cup milk or non-dairy milk alternative

Lunch

  • 1 cup black bean or lentil soup, topped with:
    • 1/4 avocado, diced
  • Spinach, orange and tofu salad:
    • Spinach leaves
    • 1 orange, sectioned
    • 1 cup diced tofu
    • 1 tablespoon dressing
  • 1 small whole-grain roll

Dinner

  • Mushroom Quesadillas
    • 1 8-inch tortilla
    • 1/4 cup mushrooms sautéed in 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
    • 2 ounces grated cheese
  • Sautéed butternut squash cubes and kale with cilantro:
    • 1/2 cup squash cubes
    • Kale and cilantro (unlimited)
    • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for sauté

Snack

  • 1/2 cup dulce de leche or chocolate ice cream, topped with:
    • 1 small sliced banana
    • 1/2 cup pineapple cubes

THURSDAY - Easy on the Budget

When you’re not feeling flush, design meals such as this one, with a focus on low-cost foods and ingredients like eggs, bananas, beans, rice, potatoes, and carrots.

Breakfast

  • 2 scrambled eggs
  • 1 slice whole-grain toast, topped with:
    • 2 teaspoons peanut or other nut butter
  • 1 small banana

Lunch

  • Open-face grilled Swiss cheese and apple sandwich:
    • 2 ounces Swiss cheese
    • 1 teaspoon mustard
    • 1/2 small apple, sliced
    • 1 slice rye or whole-grain bread
  • Assemble toppings on bread and grill under broiler, at least 4 inches from heat source, until cheese melts
  • Mixed baby greens with halved cherry tomatoes tossed with 1 tablespoon dressing

Dinner

  • 1 cup roast curried potatoes and carrots:
  • Toss quartered potatoes and mini (baby) carrots, invegetable oil, sprinkle with curry powder, salt, andpepper, and arranged in a single layer in a rimmed baking pan; roasted in 400°F oven for approximately 45 minutes., sprinkled with 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup cooked basmati rice

Snack

  • 1 multigrain rice cake, topped with:
    • 1 tablespoon almond or peanut butter
  • 1/2 sliced small banana
  • 1 cup lowfat (1 percent) milk or non-dairy milk alternative

FRIDAY - Wine with Dinner

Use your snack calories to enjoy a glass of wine from time to time.

Breakfast

  • 1 cup mixed fruit salad with 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup hot oat bran cereal
  • 1 cup milk or non-dairy milk alternative

Lunch

  • 1 1/2 cups split pea soup, topped with:
    • 1/3 cup finely chopped tomato or cherry tomato halves
  • 1 thin slice crusty bread
  • 1 cup pineapple chunks with 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Dinner

  • Pasta Primavera with Pesto Sauce:
    • 1.5 ounces dried pasta per serving
    • Mixed vegetables, such as mushrooms, zucchini and cherry tomatoes (unlimited)
    • Tossed with 2 tablespoons homemade or packaged basil pesto (from the sauce or condiment section of your supermarket)
  • 1 slice (1/2-inch) Italian bread (optionally toasted and rubbed with garlic)
  • 1 glass (6 ounces) red or white wine
  • Drink your wine “snack” during dinner

Snack

  • 3 tablespoons walnuts (or 6 halves) (or a second 6-ounce glass of wine)

SATURDAY - Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Even sandwiches and stir-fries can be sweetened by adding fresh and dried fruit.

Breakfast

  • 1 slice French Toast, topped with:
    • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
    • 1 ripe pear, diced
  • 1 cup milk or non-dairy milk alternative

Lunch

  • Grilled Pita with Chick-Peas, Tomatoes and Raisins
  • Combine 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach, escarole or other green, 1/3 cup chopped tomato, 1/3 cup chick-peas (garbanzo beans), 1 tablespoon raisins, 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon olive oil; stuff mixture into large (6 or 7 inch) pita round. Broil 6 inches from heat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Dinner

  • Veggie Stir–Fry with Tofu and Pineapple
  • Stir-fry 2 cups vegetables such as chopped bok choy,onion, garlic, sweet pepper, and snow peas, with 1 cup tofu cubes and 1/2 cup pineapple cubes.
    1/2 cup rice

Snack

  • 1 small baked apple with 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (or 6 halves)