Making sure I get vegetables into my diet takes daily effort. But one thing I know for sure is that if I have them prepped, I am 1000x more likely to eat them. So this week I made these Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep boxes to hopefully remove one more barrier between me and my […]
The post Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Making sure I get vegetables into my diet takes daily effort. But one thing I know for sure is that if I have them prepped, I am 1000x more likely to eat them. So this week I made these Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep boxes to hopefully remove one more barrier between me and my vegetables.?
How to Eat Your Roasted Vegetable Salads
This salad is meant to be eaten cold, but you could certainly warm it if you prefer. Warming the salad will cause the spinach to wilt, so it will be more like a sautéed spinach in the dish, which would still be quite delish! You’ll still want to add the dressing after reheating.
Dressing Options
I used my Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing for this salad because I’m still obsessed with it, but I think there are some other suitable options if this one is not your favorite. A green goddess dressing would be amazing, as would a yogurt based Greek salad dressing.
Vegetable Options
What I love about this meal prep is that you can always change up the vegetables to give it a new flavor. It’s still the tail end of summer, so I am using mostly summer vegetables here. Other great summer vegetable options are eggplant, asparagus, and bell peppers.
When we head into fall and winter I’ll probably start using harder winter vegetables, like sweet potato, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. Just keep in mind that the hard winter vegetables may take slightly longer to roast.
Other Topping Ideas
I’m all about keeping things simple, but if you have some of these items laying around waiting to be used up, here are some other ingredients that would make great toppings for this roasted vegetable salad: pita bread (cut into wedges), kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, or fresh parsley.
Where can I get those containers??
The glass containers are the 3-cup rectangular Pyrex containers and the dressing cups are 2.5 oz. metal dipping cups. Both were purchased from Amazon, and can be found in the “meal prep” category of my Amazon Shop.
Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep
These Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep boxes are an easy, no-reheat, plan-ahead lunch option that will help you get your daily vegetables!
Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp dried dill ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 cup tahini ($0.75)
- 1/4 cup warm water ($0.00)
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.09)
Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa ($1.20)
- 1.75 cups water ($0.00)
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.99)
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.69)
- 1 zucchini ($0.95)
- 1 yellow squash ($0.56)
- 1 red onion ($0.44)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
Other
- 4 cups fresh spinach ($2.15)
- 1/2 cup hummus ($1.15)
-
Make the dressing first. In a small bowl combine the garlic powder, onion powder, dill, parsley, salt, pepper, tahini, water, and lemon juice. Stir or whisk until smooth. Refrigerate the dressing as you prepare the rest of the salad.
-
Begin cooking the quinoa. Rinse the quinoa well in a fine wire mesh sieve. Place the rinsed quinoa in a small sauce pot and add 1.75 cups water. Place a lid on top, turn the heat on to high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
-
After letting the quinoa simmer for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest with the lid in place for five minutes. Empty the cooked quinoa out into a casserole dish, spreading it out to increase the surface area. Refrigerate the dish with the quinoa until you're ready to assemble the meal preps.
-
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the grape tomatoes onto a large baking sheet. Slice the onion into 1/4-inch strips. Cut the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4-inch wide half-rounds. Cut the mushrooms in half. Mix the vegetables together on the baking sheet. If there are too many to fit in a single layer on the baking sheet, divide them between two baking sheets.
-
Add the olive oil, oregano, garlic powder, and salt to the vegetables. Use your hands to mix the vegetables and seasoning, until the vegetables are well coated in oil.
-
Roast the vegetables in the preheated 400ºF oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until the vegetables are browned on the edges. Allow the vegetables to cool for about 10 minutes at room temperature.
-
To build the meal prep bowls, place one heaping cup of spinach in each dish. Add 1/2 cup of the cooked and cooled quinoa on top of the spinach. Divide the roasted vegetables between the four containers, then add 2 Tbsp hummus to each dish.
-
Divide the dressing between four small dressing containers. Refrigerate the salads and dressing for up to 4 days.
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Step by Step Photos
Make the Lemon Dill Tahini Dressing first. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp salt, some freshly cracked pepper, 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup warm water, and 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Stir or whisk until smooth. Refrigerate the dressing until you’re ready to make your salads.
Next, begin the quinoa. Rinse 1 cup quinoa well in a fine wire mesh sieve. Place the rinsed quinoa in a small sauce pot, add 1.75 cups water, and place a lid on top. Place the pot over high heat and allow it to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the quinoa rest, with the lid in place, for 5 minutes. Then empty out the quinoa into a shallow dish and spread it out to increase the surface area, so it will cool faster. Refrigerate the quinoa until you’re ready to build your salads.
Begin preheating the oven to 400ºF. You can use any mix of vegetables for this meal prep (see notes above the recipe for more ideas). I used 8 oz. mushrooms, 1 pint grape tomatoes, 1 red onion, 1 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash.
Slice the onion into 1/4-inch strips, slice the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4-inch half-rounds, and cut the mushrooms in half. Leave the tomatoes whole. Combine the vegetables and spread them out onto a large baking sheet so they are in a single layer. Use two sheets if needed to make sure they’re not piled on top of one another. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss until the vegetables are well coated in oil and spices.
Roast the vegetables, stirring every 15 minutes, until they are browned on the edges (about 40 minutes). Let the vegetables cool on the sheet pan for about 10 minutes.
To build the meal prep salads, add a heaping cup of spinach to each container. Then add 1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa to each container.
Once the vegetables are cool enough that they won’t wilt the spinach, divide the roasted vegetables between the four containers. Add 2 Tbsp hummus to each container.
Lastly, divide your dressing into four small containers. Refrigerate your roasted vegetable salad up to four days.
The post Roasted Vegetable Salad Meal Prep appeared first on Budget Bytes.
