Weeks 33 and 34 – Late-August
Hello there, what’s for dinner?
Just kidding: the answer is attached for your next two weeks!
This is my summer vacation meal plan. Full of simple yet wholesome meals featuring late-summer produce. I am sure you’ll love those grilled nectarines! And the mango-avocado-lime topping on the curry is a-maze-ing.
NOTES FOR BOTH PLANS:
- Need to hop back onto the healthy-lunch train? Cook some extra curried chickpeas and yam, they will make great additions to Mason-jar style salads, as will the vegan feta. Another great lunch option is the fried rice, which can be pleasantly eaten at room temperature. If that’s in your plan, consider cooking extra rice (in the first week’s prep session) and doubling the ingredients.There will likely be plenty of minestrone soup and chili for lunches, too.
NOTES FOR FAMILY PLAN:
- Red lentil crepes: I am always a little bit nervous about putting in crepes, galettes or anything with dough or batter on the meal plans. I try to keep the recipes as easy as I can, but there is a lot of variation induced by different cooktops, cookware, and even basic instruments like spatulas. So I tested this recipe again – for the tenth time maybe?! – and I guarantee you that these taste good… even if you can’t manage them to look good the first or second time you make them. The tricks are to:
- pre-heat your skillet so it is evenly warm (but not burning hot!),
- be patient (undercooked crepes stick to the skillet; when they are ready to flip the edges are noticeably dry and start to lift a little),
- and use the thinnest metal spatula you can find.
- Relax. As long as they are cooked, regardless of how they look, they’ll taste amazing with lots of hummus. Call them “red lentil nuggets” and move on.
- Steamed corn on the cob: I spend my life boiling ears of corn, which takes forever, wasting energy, time, and nutrients in the process. No more! If you have an Instant Pot, it’s the BEST way to cook corn on the cob. If not, you can do it with a steaming basket, too. I describe both methods in the instructions for week 33’s Wednesday. (If it’s not clear, hit me up on WhatsApp or Facebook.) If you have neither, perhaps you could shuck the ears and put them vertically, stem end dow n, in a big pot with about two inches of water. Keep a close eye on the process to make sure you don’t scorch your pot.
- No time or love for corn on the cob? You still need a bit of corn in the chili. Scoop 1 cup out of a bag of frozen kernels. We’ll still be friends.
NOTES FOR MINI PLAN:
- I have combined do-ahead meals with last-minute prep ones. I hope you’ll enjoy this combo! Let me know how it goes.
Questions? Worries? Get help.