Week 3 Menu Plan and Recipes
(Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit continues!)
Hi everyone and Happy Friday! I am thrilled that you’ve found your way here and am thankful for each one of you.
We are in the middle of September and the Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit. I don’t know about you, but with trips to the beach, late sunsets, and chill schedules, I got pretty lax in summertime when it came to dinners. But come September, reality hits and I have to get my butt back on track.
Enter the saving grace of weekday dinners: menu plans!
And we’ve got a month of them. Interested? Read on.
Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit
How does it work?
Every Friday in September, there is a free 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.
We’ll make cooking dinner a habit once again and along the way discover untapped cooking skills or rediscover ones that have been neglected.
Be sure to check out Week 1 and Week 2!
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 3 Menu Plan and Recipes
This week includes protein sources from lamb, chicken, and plant proteins. Veggies include the last vestiges of summer produce like cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini.
Every dish is fresh, simple, and not hard to make!
Week 3 Menu Plan and Recipes
Lamb Kofta with Cucumber Salad and Lemony Tahini. Tender, meaty kofta (can easily sub other ground meat for the lamb) is paired with bright and crunchy veg.
Maple-Glazed Bundt Pan Chicken. It’s all over social media and a little gimmicky, I’ll admit. But it’s fun to make and who can pass up a roast chicken with delicious glaze?
Penne with Roasted Veg and Romesco. Yummy roasted summer veggies combined with pasta and protein-rich Romesco pasta sauce. This might be the most comforting dish this week.
A gentle reminder: please don’t stress if your dishes don’t look exactly like mine. The pictures 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, not even mine the next time I make the recipes.
Wine Pairing
Lamb, chicken, and pasta? This week’s menu practically begs to be served with a dry red wine. I chose an Argentinian Malbec, which is more fruity and velvety than it’s French counterpart. We actually served this at my daughter’s wedding a few months ago and folks loved it.
Kirkland Signature Malbec. From Argentina, a medium-bodied dry red that has plummy notes and a smooth, silky finish. Yep, you can get this one at Costco and for less than $7.
Recipes
Lamb Kofta with Cucumber Salad and Lemony Tahini
Serves 2 to 3
Time: 45-ish minutes
Tender spiced kofta with crunchy fresh salad and drizzled with creamy tahini is the perfect fall meal. This is an Ottolenghi recipe with which I have taken some liberties. Sometimes shaped ground meat can get hard once cooked, so the cracker-milk combo is used here to ensure they are tender and delish.
Don’t be afraid of lamb. Most of the lamb sold in the U.S. comes from New Zealand, is antibiotic-free, grass-fed, and reasonably priced. My local grocery store stocks it in the frozen food section in one pound packages for $7.99. It is a clean and delicious alternative to ground beef. But use whatever ground meat you prefer.
Kofta Ingredients:
Approx. 1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers (about half a sleeve or 22 crackers)
1/2 cup milk, any kind
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder (not salt)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 lb ground lamb or other ground meat
Salad Ingredients:
1 cup sliced cucumber
1 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
Tahini Sauce Ingredients:
2/3 cup tahini
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water
Garnish:
Fresh chopped parsley and mint
Extra smoked paprika for sprinkling
Directions:
Heat the oven to 400 F/200 C. Move the oven rack to the middle slot. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment or foil, if needed.
Tip the crushed crackers into a medium bowl and add the milk. Let them absorb the liquid for a few minutes. Stir to break up and loosen the hydrated crumbs. Add the remaining kofta ingredients and gently stir together to completely combine.
Here is where you decide how big you want your kofta. To keep them uniformly bite-sized, I used a 1 1/2 Tbsp cookie scoop which yielded exactly 21 kofta. If you use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, you will get around 10 kofta. Either keep them round or gently roll into a torpedo shape and place on the prepared baking sheet a few inches apart.
Bake for 10 minutes for the smaller kofta, 18 to 20 minutes for the larger ones. They will be ugly and non-descript looking on top but the bottoms will have a nice browned edge to them.
While the kofta cook, combine the salad ingredients in a small bowl and toss together.
Combine the tahini, lemon, and garlic in a medium bowl. It will be thick and paste-like. Add some of the water and stir to loosen the paste, then slowly add the remaining water and stir until smooth.
To serve, you can arrange everything on a platter like in the photo, or keep things separate in individual bowls. Garnish with chopped parsley and mint. Sprinkle with smoked paprika. Serve as is, or add pita or couscous.
Maple-Glazed Bundt Pan Chicken
Serves 4
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Perfectly tender, juicy, and yummy thanks to the unconventional pan and the maple-y glaze. Fennel and apples bring more fall vibes to this dish.
No Bundt pan? No problemo. You can sub in an angel food cake pan or prop up your chicken with a half-filled beer can (drink the other half or save for another use). Thanks to Allrecipes for the recipe inspiration!