Meal Plans ThePrep Veggie-Packed Gut-Healthy Dinners Ready in 30 Minutes or Less (Weekly Plan & Shopping List!) Summer days are dwindling, but don’t stop cooking with all that beautiful summer produce yet! And feed your gut microbiome in the process. By Megan Ginsberg Megan Ginsberg Megan Ginsberg is the Senior Editor for EatingWell. She has a keen eye for grammar, is always looking for new recipes to try and loves the satisfaction that comes from meal planning. Most of her 20-plus-year editing career has been focused on food-related content. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Published on August 30, 2024 Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD Jessica Ball, M.S., RD, is nutrition editor for EatingWell. She is a registered dietitian with a master's in food, nutrition and sustainability. In addition to EatingWell, her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Real Simple, Parents, Better Homes and Gardens and MyRecipes. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Close Our column, ThePrep, has everything you'll need to make dinner planning and grocery shopping as easy as can be. Nutritional needs differ from one individual to another, and we invite you to use these dinner plans as inspiration and adjust them as you see fit. Sign up to get a dinner plan delivered to your inbox every Saturday! I have a love-hate relationship with Labor Day weekend—the unofficial end of summer. I am truly a fall girl, so I look forward to the cool, crisp days and all things apples, pumpkins and falling leaves, but I still don’t like to see summer coming to an end. So before we all embrace fall, let’s give summer a final hurrah with a collection of quick gut-healthy dinners that are packed with all the vegetables that make us think “summer,” like corn, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, tomatoes and bell peppers, and fresh herbs like basil and cilantro. To help improve your gut health—which supports your immune health, can reduce your risk for chronic disease and more—these dinners are all high in fiber and contain probiotic- or prebiotic-rich foods, per our nutrition parameters. Your Weekly Plan Sunday: Lemon Zucchini PastaMonday: No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese SaladTuesday: Sauteed Corn with Basil & ShallotsWednesday: Grilled Vegetable & Black Bean Farro BowlsThursday: Lentil Salad with Feta, Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Olives Friday: Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto Get the Shopping List 01 of 06 Sunday: Lemon Zucchini Pasta Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Lindsey Lower This bright, lemony pasta is perfect for a late-summer evening. The combination of whole-wheat spaghetti and lots of zucchini ensures that the dish is full of gut-healthy fiber. Some heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, plus a bit of the pasta cooking water, combine to create a luscious sauce. Because it’s also packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, this dish will give extra support to your immune system. Get the Recipe 02 of 06 Monday: No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese Salad Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Addelyn Evans This no-cook salad features gut-healthy, fiber-rich white beans and baby spinach and the always-welcome trio of tomato, basil and mozzarella. The beans are a source of prebiotics, which help support gut health by feeding the microbes in your gastrointestinal tract. The salad takes just 10 minutes to throw together, which means you have time to throw a few steaks on the grill to go with it and make the most of being outside. Grilling season is not quite over yet, after all. Get the Recipe 03 of 06 Tuesday: Sautéed Corn with Basil & Shallots Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless Now’s the time to scour the farm stands for those last ears of sweet corn. And when you find them, you can make this easy dish by cutting the kernels off the cobs and heating them in a pan with melted butter until softened. Stir in some shallots and basil, and you’re done. It might be simple but it’s also satisfying since corn is high in fiber and gut-healthy resistant starch. Garlic-Butter Salmon Bites are just the right sidekick for the sweet corn. Get the Recipe 04 of 06 Wednesday: Grilled Vegetable & Black Bean Farro Bowls Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster Zucchini, squash, eggplant, bell peppers … these bowls are heaped with vegetables. Plus they have black beans and farro, so they’re packed with fiber, which is so important for gut health. And just like the white beans in Monday’s salad, black beans are a great source of prebiotics. It’s all topped with a cilantro-lime dressing, which adds brightness. Get the Recipe 05 of 06 Thursday: Lentil Salad with Feta, Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Olives Jennifer Causey For this quick salad, you’ll combine traditional Greek salad ingredients—cucumbers, tomatoes, feta and red onions—with high-fiber, prebiotic-rich lentils. The lentils give the salad a heartiness, while the vegetables keep the summer vibes going. Serve it with some rotisserie chicken on the side, or shred the chicken and stir it right in if you like. Get the Recipe 06 of 06 Friday: Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RD Why not make Friday night a stay-at-home date night, with this cauliflower gnocchi for two? It takes just 10 minutes to make, since it calls for frozen cauliflower gnocchi and store-bought pesto. If you’re like me and have homemade pesto stashed in your freezer, you can use that instead. The asparagus adds nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C and folate. Serve it with some crusty whole-grain bread. Get the Recipe I wish you all a great week, and I hope you enjoy this dinner plan. If you try a recipe, remember to add a review. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit