Week 1 Menu Plan and Recipes

(The Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit)

Hi friends and Happy September! Are you new around here? Welcome! I’m so glad you are here. We have an exciting month ahead of us.

Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit

The goal over the next four weeks is to get back into the routine of making dinner. Over the summer, we’ve all gotten busy, distracted, or unmotivated to cook. So by the time five o’clock rolls around, we are at a loss.

But, with a menu plan in place, shopping already done, ingredients on hand, and recipes at your fingertips, dinner suddenly becomes an easy plug-and-play.

How does the 4-Week Cooking Habit work?

• Every Friday in September, starting today, you receive a menu plan with recipes for the following week. This gives you the weekend (or Monday morning) to shop for the ingredients.

• Recipes include a variety of protein options including plant proteins, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, and seafood.

• No one wants to be overwhelmed, so we are planning for three dinners per week leaving the rest of the days free and flexible for leftovers and dinners out.

• You decide which three days you want to cook. I typically make dinner on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but choose whatever days work for you.

My hope is that we will make cooking dinner a habit again and along the way discover untapped cooking skills or rediscover ones that have been neglected.

The Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit is free for everyone.

• Free subscribers receive one weekly recipe plus the menu plan.

• Paid subscribers receive all the recipes plus the menu plan and a printable shopping list.

Week 1 Menu Plan

It’s September but it is nowhere near sweater weather for us in Southern California. While the hottest month of the year is behind us (goodbye August!), we still have plenty of hot weather ahead and maybe in your part of the world you do, too.

Sunset golf with my husband and youngest son (yes, he’s barefoot).

We’ve had triple digit temps all week including yesterday’s 115 F/46 C scorcher, meaning there are no cozy stews or roasts in the menu lineup today.

The recipes this week are quick and easy. Nothing complicated, nothing scary. They range in time commitment from 20 to 45-ish minutes. The proteins include a plant protein, salmon, and chicken. Veggies include in-season cucumber, tomatoes, and jalapenos.

Please think of these recipes as guidelines and not rigid rules. If you don’t like salmon and want to use halibut instead, do it. Want to swap out other veggies? Go for it. You’re an adult, so do what you want.

Week 1 Menu Plan

• Plant Protein Greek-style Gyros. It’s savory, crunchy, creamy, and cool all wrapped in a warm pita.

• Salmon with Brown Butter Sauce. Quick and easy pan-seared salmon with a luxurious sauce.

• Banh Mi French Bread Pizza. A cross between a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich and Stouffer’s French bread pizza. Ridiculously easy and so so delicious.

Also, please don’t stress if your dishes don’t look exactly like mine. The pictures I include here represent what the meals looked like on the day I made them. No one’s dish is ever going to look just like the photo. It’s okay, mine won’t look like this either next time I make the dish.

Wine Pairing

Looking for a wine suggestion? I got you. A crisp dry white wine is what I’m leaning toward considering the heat index is still high and the dishes this week are relatively light.

I’m going to be very American, suburban, middle-class right now and suggest a wine that I purchased at my local Costco:

• Kirkland Signature Ti Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. From New Zealand, it is clean, crisp, and herbaceous. Plus, it is just under $8 per bottle.

Recipes

Plant Protein Greek-style Gyros

Serves 4

Time: 45-ish minutes

Savory, fresh, and wrapped in a pita. What’s not to love? These Greek-style gyros include flavorful plant-based protein, crunchy veggies, creamy hummus, and cool tzatziki. To make this vegan, sub in a non-dairy tzatziki.

The secret to making tofu something your peeps will eat? Tearing, seasoning, and roasting. You might remember this technique from the Vegan Curry we made a few months back. Once done, the pieces look remarkably like chicken.

Roasted Tofu Ingredients:

• 16 oz. extra firm tofu

• 1/2 Tbsp Maggi liquid seasoning or tamari

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic (not salt)

• 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

Gyro Ingredients:

• 1 cup romaine or iceberg lettuce

• 1 cup tomato, diced

• 1 cup cucumber, sliced

• 1/2 cup red onion, sliced

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

• lemon wedges

• pita bread

• store-bought hummus

• store-bought tzatziki

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C. Move the oven rack to the center position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Drain the tofu and pat dry. Tear the tofu block with your hands into bite-sized pieces. Tearing gives them the craggy texture you want. Add them to a mixing bowl and sprinkle with all the seasonings and the cornstarch. Stir gently to coat the pieces.

3. Place the pieces on the prepared baking sheet so that none of them are touching each other. Like teens, they need their space. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. While the tofu bakes, chop the veggies and arrange on a plate or cutting board so that everyone can assemble their own gyro. Warm the pitas in the microwave or toaster oven while waiting.

5. Once the tofu is done, it’s time to make the gyros! To assemble, spread a schmear of hummus on a pita. Top with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, and parsley. Add some tofu, a squeeze of lemon, and drizzle with tzatziki. Fold and eat!

Salmon with Brown Butter Sauce

Serves 4

Time: 20-ish minutes

Looks and tastes fancy but this salmon dish is simple enough to pull together in less than 30 minutes. If you aren’t crazy about salmon, sub in any firm flesh fish such as cod, halibut, or even tilapia.