My calendar is always the most full from October-December but it’s also the time of year I want to make delicious, elaborate meals. Despite my best intentions, Pinterest boards and magazine tear outs the soccer practices and endless events can sometimes mean we have leftovers for dinner one too many times (anyone else?) I’m so glad to have built up a little bit of a repertoire of easy meals to make in advance so that a jam-packed day doesn’t mean jam and almond butter sandwiches for dinner. 
1. Blissful Basil Cauliflower soup.  If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see me raving about this soup at least once a week. I’m taking a break from eating rice so I’ll be omitting that from the recipe, but never have I ever experienced a cauliflower soup recipe that didn’t end up just tasting like steamed cauliflower. I’ve recommended this to many people and every single one has given a rave review!

2. Minimalist Baker Vegan Minnestrone Soup. Once again, this is a recipe I’ve shouted from the rooftops for months now but Fall finally feels like an acceptable time to make it as often as I shamelessly did all summer long. I use lentil noodles and always find it to be just filling enough. It helps that it takes no time at all to put together. I can chop the vegetables and snap the green beans in advance and throw it all together at dinnertime to make the evening easy.

3. Cauliflower Chickpea Curry. This is never the most visually appealing dish in the world, but it never disappoints either. This recipe is one I’ve made since O first went vegan 3 years ago and it’s remained a staple ever since. Coconut milk, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, chickpeas and curry. They just belong together! I’m not a huge curry fan and I enjoy this so much. While Keogena is allergic to sweet potato and can’t eat this with us, Oshiolema has been licking the bowl clean after this meal since he was one! If I don’t get things started in the crock-pot early enough, I can make it on the stove top in about 30 minutes and it’s perfect every time. Also, spinach doesn’t agree with me so I always skip that part and don’t miss it one bit.

4. Grain-Free Pumpkin Pancakes. The original recipe uses bacon but we would, of course, skip that! The other day I was in a pinch and decided on breakfast for dinner. Oshiolema reacted as if I told him we were going to Disneyworld and now that I think about it, so did O! Breakfast for dinner always felt so special growing up so I’m not sure why I haven’t done it in years but I’m looking forward to having this in my back pocket for this season. I have yet to try this exact recipe since my tried and true recipe doesn’t exist online (and has come from lots of tweaking and testing!) But this one looks fantastic. Also, I made the kids Trader Joes Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancake mix last week and while I can’t indulge, everyone said the mix is fantastic. Run!

5. Roasted Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas. Friends, this recipe will never get old. It’s evergreen. I make them with Siete cassava tortillas since I don’t eat corn and Parmela Creamery’s Aged Nut Cheese is my favorite for this. I love serving these absolutely delicious quesadillas with Tofutti Vegan Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo and Siete grain-free chips on the side.

A bonus favorite meal I put together every single Wednesday is Beyond Meat Sausage (my favorite grain-free vegan meat EVER) with sautéed onions, a giant tray or two of roasted vegetables and a sweet potato. It’s easy, predictable and super delicious!

If you’re also grain-free and plant based, please leave a favorite weeknight meal in the comments! I’m so excited to add to our go-to list!

All photography in this post belongs to the link following the photo except for the first photo. If you can eat Naan, add Naan, tomato and mozzarella to the grocery list for this week and eat Naan pizza on my behalf! )