Sometimes an easy meatless meal is right under your nose—you just have to think creatively. Here are five ways to address those last minute dinner decisions.

Let the grocery store be your sous chef

Your local store's salad bar is a great place to do your kitchen prep—the veggies are already cleaned and sliced and you can buy just the amount you need. An ever-increasing number of fruits and veggies are available ready-to-use in the produce aisle as well.

Create strategic leftovers

Leverage today's cooking for tomorrow's meals. Brown and wild rice take longer to cook than white, but the extra can be used in soup or a casserole. Grilled kabobs make a great base for pasta—just warm them up in the sauce and serve. The caramelized edges from the grill will add a great depth of flavor.

Double up

If you are making something more time-intensive, double the recipe and freeze half for a future meal. Soups and stews can be frozen in individual servings for easy reheating. You can also use small loaf pans to make smaller servings of lasagna. Cook one tonight and freeze the other.

Cut down on prep time

Cleaning and prepping all your produce when you buy it is a great way to streamline your kitchen routine. But even if you can't do it all at once, do one ingredient at a time. For instance, dice a whole onion instead the half you need tonight and freeze the rest. It takes a little longer to chop, but you only have to clean up once. You can do the same with lots of veggies.

Make mise en place disposable

That's the culinary term for assembling your ingredients before you start cooking. While it sounds like an extra step, it actually saves time because you don't end up digging through the vegetable crisper or spice rack multiple times. And you don't have to worry about forgetting an ingredient. The downside can be multiple small bowls to clean. Use flat-bottomed coffee filters and paper cupcake cups instead of prep bowls, though, and cleanup is a snap.