You’ve heard the advice to eat 30 different plant foods a week — but how do you actually do that? These five colourful, flavour-packed ideas make it fun, not a chore.
If you’ve ever been told to “eat more variety,” you may have nodded along and then immediately drawn a blank when it came to your next meal. The good news? You don’t need to prep like a chef or track every bite to make it happen.
The 30-a-week guideline — originally popularised by gut health researchers — simply encourages you to eat a broad range of plant-based foods over the course of the week. That includes not just fruits and veg, but also herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains. Why? Because variety feeds a more diverse gut microbiome, and that’s linked to better digestion, better mood and better overall wellbeing.
This isn’t about pressure — it’s about play. Here are five flavour-packed ways to rack up those numbers with everyday meals.
There’s always time for breakfast. In fact, when it looks and tastes this good, you may want to get up early to enjoy it. Start as you mean to go on: a good balance of protein, fats and carbs, plus something raw and refreshing.
Frozen spinach, strawberries and banana give you a cool start, but you can blend everything the night before if you prefer a slightly warmer bowl in the morning.
Smoothie Granola = 7 new foods
Blend Protein powder, Avocado, fresh Strawberries and Lucuma with Coconut milk. Pour over Granola. Top with Chia seeds.
Seaweed salads are one of my forever loves — and the DIY version is much more budget-friendly. I buy a bag of dried mixed Japanese sea vegetables and rehydrate them as needed. Dressed with soy and ponzu (or my own citrusy mix), they go perfectly with noodles, avocado and tofu.
Sea vegetables are an underrated source of iodine — a trace mineral essential for thyroid health, metabolism, detoxification and energy. They also support healthy skin and hair. And while iodine deficiency is more common than many realise, these salty greens make it easier to close the gap.
Seaweed Noodle Salad = 7 new foods
Hydrate your Seaweed and serve with Rice noodles, Tofu, Carrot and a Ponzu, Soy and Sesame oil dressing.
3. Eat A Jar of Salad
A salad-in-a-jar is not only photogenic — it’s plastic-free, portable and endlessly customisable. Start with your grains, pulses and dressing at the bottom, then layer in vegetables, and finish with leafy greens to keep them crisp.
Here’s the secret sauce: grains and pulses combine to form a complete protein, meaning you get all nine essential amino acids in one go. That’s ideal for vegetarians and anyone looking to eat more plant-based meals without missing out on protein quality.
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Salad = 11 new foods
Fill your jar with Chickpeas, Buckwheat and Roast sweet potato, Roast carrot, Roast onion and Red pepper. Top with Chicory leaves, Salad leaves and Feta cheese. Add Balsamic vinegar and Olive oil dressing when you’re ready to eat.
4. Slurp a Simple Bowl of Soup
Pumpkin soup is the ultimate comfort food — sweet, earthy and lifted with a touch of chilli. Add some salad leaves, crusty bread, olives or cheese on the side and you’ve got a satisfying evening meal.
Pumpkin is rich in beta-carotene (for healthy eyes and skin), potassium (even more than a banana), and fibre — which most of us don’t get enough of. Just one bowl can bring you closer to your daily fibre and vitamin A targets.
Roast Pumpkin Soup = 7 new foods
Roast Pumpkin and Onion together. Sage and Paprika work well here to spice. When cooked, blend with Vegetable stock. Serve topped with a sprinkle of Pumpkin seeds.
5. Spice Up Roasted Veg
Cauliflower isn’t everyone’s favourite — I’ve had my own struggles with it — but roasting transforms it. Crisp edges, deep flavour and no soggy flashbacks.
This is also a great chance to bring herbs and spices into the mix. They often get overlooked in food variety counts, but they’re plants too — and they count! Think: parsley, cumin, mint, coriander, rosemary, turmeric and more.
Spiced Cauliflower = 7 new foods
Roast Cauliflower with crushed Garlic and Cumin Seed. Mix with Quinoa, fresh Parsley, chopped Walnut and Pomegranate seeds and eat.
We did it! 5 meals and more than 30 different foods (37 in fact). Counting your foods isn’t about being perfect — it’s about expanding your plate, playing with flavour and feeding your body what it needs.
Start by trying one of these meals and when you’re ready add the second. Soup, spiced veg and even the salad can be made in advance and in bigger portions, so there’s less fuss when you want to eat.
Try this and see how quickly your weekly total adds up.
Image credit: Mae Mu, Michielie Henderson, Nathan Dumlao Nikolay Smeh – Unsplash
There is always time for breakfast. In fact, when it looks and tastes this good, getting out of bed early so there’s time to enjoy it, is even more appealing. Start as you mean to go on. To me that means: not too much sugar, a sensible mix of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and something raw. Colours should pop, taste buds should tingle. Use frozen spinach leaves, strawberries and banana if you prefer a chillier start to your day. If not, blend in the evening and keep in the fridge overnight – it will be a few degrees warmer.
ADD IT UP:
Avocado + Spinach + Spirulina + Pumpkin seed protein + Lucuma + Strawberries + Coconut milk (blended together), and topped with Bee pollen + Chia seeds + Goji berries + Granola = 11 NEW FOODS!
I LOVE Japanese food. It’s a love that will never die! Seaweed salads are top of my list, and I’d happily eat them every day. Buy them from a Japanese restaurant or local store and they’re really expensive. Instead I buy a mixed Japanese Sea Vegetable Salad that needs rehydrating. There are roughly 8 servings in a single bag – absolute bargain if you ask me. Best dressed with a soy sauce and ponzu dressing (aka Moni’s Saucy Citrus Splash), I’ll eat this with black rice noodles, avocado and tofu.
Sea vegetables are particularly rich in the trace mineral, iodine. Considering its importance in the body – iodine is the backbone of the thyroid hormones, and contributes to metabolic function, energy levels, immunity, detoxification processes – it’s no wonder iodine-rich foods are essential to health. On the beauty-front, iodine helps skin and hair to remain smooth and shiny. According to the WHO, 72% of the world’s population have an iron deficiency.
ADD IT UP:
Seaweed + Rice Noodles + Tofu + Carrot+ Ponzu + Soy + Sesame oil = 7 NEW FOODS!
I’m much happier if I can avoid using plastic around my food. That’s why a lunchtime salad-in-a-jar is the bees knees. And it looks really pretty too. Put grains, pulses and dressing in first, then work your way up with the chopped ingredients. I think it’s best to put the leaves in last, so they don’t swim in the dressing and go limp.
A common concern when eating a vegetarian diet is whether there is sufficient protein. The real question is whether the diet delivers enough complete protein; whether you’re getting sufficient amounts of the 9 essential amino acids (the type we have to get from our food) for the body to be able to dip into its amino acid pool and assemble the right types of usable proteins, exactly when they’re needed. This amino acid limitation is very common with grains and pulses if you eat them separately. But what happens when you combine them? AMINO ACID ALCHEMY! Eat them together and you make a complete protein, which gives you exactly what you need. So make sure to add grains AND pulses to your salad-in-a-jar.
ADD IT UP:
Chick peas + Buckwheat + Roast sweet potato + Roast carrot + Roast onion + Red pepper + Chicory + Salad leaves + Feta cheese + Balsamic/Oil dressing = 10 NEW FOODS!
Nothing beats a bowl of pumpkin soup – it’s sweet, earthy flavours perked up with a hint of chili. It’s a perfectly simple end to a long, late day. If I’m particularly hungry I’d grab some leaves, crusty bread, cheese and olives, and have a feast.
I think pumpkin and squashes (and beans and lentils) are really underrated. Too rooty, or sloppy, or bland and boring. But pumpkins are rich in beta-carotene (hence their orange colour) and have more potassium than a banana – great to recover after a workout. One serving provides 200% of your RDA of vitamin A which contributes to sharp vision. And then there are the seeds – you’ll find heart-friendly phytosterols, mood-supporting tryptophan, and plenty of plant protein here. And don’t forget the fibre. Although men and women are recommended to eat 38g and 25g of fibre each day, most of us struggle to meet this. Unfortunately, low fibre diets are associated with an inreased risk of bowel cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Eating more vegetables will help fill the gap. There’s 2g of fibre in a serving of pumpkin. Dig in.
ADD IT UP:
Roast pumpkin + Roast onion + Sage + Pumpkin seeds + Vegetable Stock + Chili + Paprika = 7 NEW FOODS!
After a traumatic run-in with cauliflower cheese at an early age, I very rarely eat this veg. But I was served some recently that was surprisingly nice. Firm but charred from a hearty roasting. I did say I wanted to eat some different things. I guess now’s the time to give it a try.
