This vegetable bean skillet is packed with all the delicious end of summer garden vegetables and given a hearty, protein boost from two kinds of beans for an easy meatless meal.

*This recipe for Summer Vegetable Bean Skillet is sponsored by USA Pulses & Pulse Canada, a partner of Running to the Kitchen.

I feel like I’m being pulled apart in two very opposite directions lately, culinarily speaking.

A cloudy cool day comes along and I’m craving hearty fall recipes like this chicken apple cheddar chili or this pumpkin tortilla casserole but then a cool morning gives way to clear sunny skies and a warm breeze and I’m like hold up, there’s still so much good end of summer produce to enjoy!

I’m trying not to give into the fleeting feelings of the former because come January when we’re in the middle of a barren, brown, freezing winter and the taste of ripe summer tomatoes feels like it was a million years ago, I know I’ll regret not having eaten as many of them as possible right now.

Which is how this end of summer vegetable bean skillet came to be.

I’m gonna be honest with you, this whole “meatless Monday” trend is never something I really ever got on board with.

I like meat.

99% of the time, I miss it in vegetarian dishes.

This is not to say I don’t love vegetables or all the pulses (aka: beans, chickpeas, lentils, split peas) and grains that are its usual stand-in, I just like meat WITH these things.

Is that so wrong?

This vegetable bean skillet though (and maybe this ciambotta recipe) is that 1% of the time I don’t mind the absence of animal protein.

It celebrates everything delicious about the end of summer and it does so in a hearty, filling way you crave from meals right at the precipice of the fall season.

Much like the lentil bolognese recipe from last month, I used pulses in this dish in the form of cooked canned beans to create that filling feeling in each portion.

With two different kinds of beans (cannellini <– my favorite bean of them all and light red kidney beans) each serving in this end of summer vegetable bean skillet is packed with 1/2 cup of beans.

It’s a great recipe to help you get in some healthy pulses and a really easy way to add nutrients, fiber and protein to your meal.

In fact, I think it’s the respectable protein and fiber from the beans paired with the volume of filling summer squash, eggplant and artichokes in this recipe that does wonders to keep you feeling satisfied without the need for meat.

Gotta love the power of plants.

That’s not to say it wasn’t delicious the next day for lunch with some leftover chicken in it too (because of course I did that) but I’m telling you carnivores out there like me, this is definitely that 1% of meals where you’ll be like “meat? what meat? I don’t need meat.”

Love this vegetable bean skillet recipe?

Try these other skillet recipes:
Buffalo Turkey Cauliflower Skillet
Creamy Skillet Turmeric Chicken with Chickpeas
Chicken Artichoke Olive Skillet