Plant Protein Packed Meals as Seen on CHCH Morning Live

Want to add more plant-based protein to your family’s meals in 2026? The following recipes are simple to prepare, economical, delicious & doable and use mostly pantry staple items.

I hope you and your family love these plant protein-packed recipes as much as my gang does.

If you’re hungry for 70 + MORE delicious & doable recipes – you can grab a copy of my cookbook ‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real & Everyday Life’ here.

Tuscan Chickpea Casserole

A Mediterranean, plant-protein-packed twist on a classic weeknight favourite: Tuna Casserole.

~ Click here for recipe.

If your family is not a fan of chickpeas, substitute: 2 cups (500 mL) chopped cooked chicken OR 2 (170 g) cans of drained tuna.

Get Up & Go Morning Muesli

Fuel up with a simple, delicious and nutritious ‘no-cooking’ required breakfast. Simply stir together all the ingredients and voila! Bonus: only one bowl and a spoon to clean-up. This muesli was a go-to recipe in our home while Tyler & Colgan (now 22 & 24) were growing up (and they still make and eat this muesli!). It makes a great breakfast, lunch box treat and/or afterschool snack!

For an added boost of plant protein, add: 1/2 cup (125 mL) roughly chopped walnuts, almonds or cashews to muesli.

Food Styling & Photography by: Meagan Broughton @foodphotosbymeg

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) large flake oats
• ½ cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) each of green pumpkin seeds and shelled sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) each of ground flaxseed, chia seeds and hemp seeds
• 1 cup (250 mL) plain Greek-style yogurt *I like full fat yogurt*
• finely grated zest of one orange
• ¾ cup (175 mL) orange juice
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup (or brown sugar)
• 2 tsp (10 mL) pure vanilla extract
• ½ tsp (2 mL) ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) each of ground ginger and salt
• 2 small Ontario apples; well washed, cored and finely diced *leave skin on for added fibre

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
3. Makes 4 cups (1 L).

Delicious & Doable Tips:

~ Use raisins, sliced dried apricots, or dried cherries instead of dried cranberries.
~ use a coconut based yogurt for a vegan variation of this recipe.

Muesli Variations:

~ Chocolate Cherry & Orange Muesli (click here)
~ Coconut Pumpkin Muesli (click here)

Spicy Black Bean Brownies with Caramel Mascarpone Frosting

I’m not one to hide ‘healthy’ foods in dishes to make them more ‘healthy’, but OMG – these brownies are A-MAZ-ING! Who knew a can of black beans could taste so darn good?! And I totally made up for the healthiness with a worth-every-calorie-frosting. Balance folks.

Note: the ‘spice’ is optional. If you’re not a fan of spice, simply omit the ¼ tsp (1 mL) of cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 (540 mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup (60 mL) softened butter
• 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
• ½ cup (125 mL) cocoa powder
• ½ cup (125 mL) dark chocolate chips (3 oz/90 g)
• ½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
• ½ tsp (2 mL) baking powder
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
2. Place beans in a bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until roughly chopped.
3. Add eggs, butter and vanilla and pulse until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed.
4. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until batter is very well combined and fairly smooth.
5. Spread batter into an 8 X 8 inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper (check out my parchment paper trick at bottom of this post).
6. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until edges are set and center is slightly jiggly.
7. Remove from the oven and cool completely while making frosting.

Caramel Mascarpone Frosting

No judgment if this frosting doesn’t even make it on the brownies. Yup, it’s that good. I’ve been known to have a few spoon to mouth encounters with this frosting over the kitchen sink.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) butter
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) 35% heavy cream
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) vanilla
• pinch salt
• 4 oz (120 g) mascarpone cheese, room temperature (or brick-style cream cheese)
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) icing sugar

Directions

1. Place brown sugar, butter and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Sir occasionally until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for about 1 minute, stirring once or twice until sugar has dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.
4. Cool completely at room temperature.
5. Beat mascarpone cheese with icing sugar.
6. Beat in cooled caramel until evenly combined (if frosting seems too soft to spread, chill for about 20 minutes).
7. Spread frosting evenly on brownies. Store in the refrigerator for up to five days – but they won’t last that long!
8. Makes 16 brownies.

Delicious & Doable Tips:

~ substitute ⅓ cup (75 mL) store bought caramel instead of making your own.
~ for an extra chocolatey touch, drizzle melted dark chocolate over frosted brownies.

Where to Find ‘Delicious & Doable’ Across Ontario

‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real and Everyday Life’ can be purchased here or at one of the below retailers across Ontario:

Type Books ~ 883 Queen Street West, Toronto
Lemonberry ~ 2 Orchard Heights Blvd #10, Aurora
Fanfare Books ~ 92 Ontario St, Stratford
Casual Gourmet ~ 1027 King Street West, Hamilton
The Post Office – 18 Front St. N, Thorold
Chef’s Paradise ~ 1314 Bank Street, Ottawa
Gift It Grey ~ 19492 Opeongo Line, Barry’s Bay
Creative Cook ~ 35 Manitoba St, Bracebridge
Muskoka Brewery ~ 1964 Muskoka Beach Rd, Bracebridge
Stephen’s Butcher Shop ~ 8 Harris St, Port Carling
Hilltop Interiors ~ 1150 ON-141, Rosseau
Cedar Canoe Books ~ 72 Main St E, Huntsville
Clark’s On Main ~ 1090 Main Street, Dorset
Bigley’s Cottage Kitchen ~ 39 Bolton St, Bobcaygeon
Farmer’s Daughter – 72 Main St E, Huntsville
Kitchen Bits ~ 1390 Kingsway, Greater Sudbury