Looking for recommendations (recipes, blogs, cookbooks, etc) on how to shop for and prepare healthy-ish food that makes us feel good.

I eat mostly like this and it honestly just sounds like you enjoyed eating more veggies! If you wanted to continue with the Mediterranean theme look for things like zhoug, tahini, harissa, hummus, pomegranate molasses, za'atar, sumac, bulgur, etc to experiment with. Ingredients like that can take a basic bowl of lentils, cauliflower, and quinoa and make it into something delicious. Websites like Bon Appetit, Serious Eats, and Epicurious also have recipes for more unique ways to cook vegetables. Try to find stuff you've never cooked with before too-- beets, Belgian endive, rainbow chard, spaghetti squash--variety keeps things interesting.

Most of these trendy hippie food places make sure to season their veggies and pile a lot of different ones on the plate. It might take awhile to build out your pantry and spice drawer, but once you do it's a lot easier to cook this way. I can whip up miso glazed radishes, ginger green beans, chili and honey roasted squash, and build a meal from there. Having some type of fresh herb on hand it also really helpful, either to garnish, blend into a sauce, or use in the base of a salad like tabbouleh. I copy restaurant ideas all the time, but go to your library and check out some cookbooks too! I've had great meals from Power Plates by Gena Hamshaw, which is the type of food I think you're asking about (she uses a lot of tofu and tempeh, but it's easy to swap proteins if you wanted and I really like her sauces and dressings).

https://cookieandkate.com/

https://minimalistbaker.com/18-nourishing-bowl-meals/

https://www.bonappetit.com/search/?special-consideration=vegetarian&content=recipe

https://www.epicurious.com/search/?ingredient=vegetable

Last bit of advice is maybe think about upgrading your blender. You don't need to run out and get a Vitamix (although I adore mine) but having something more powerful for green smoothies, acai and pitaya bowls, blending sauces, and soups really comes in handy for this type of cooking.

/r/EatCheapAndHealthy Thread