Meal Plan for October 23-30
Lots of fall goodness!
Hello!
I’m so excited to be bringing you the first meal plan. Something to keep you warm, using fall produce but not the kind of heavy, hunker-down meals that winter requires. I hope you enjoy them!
Quick Links
Sweet potato tacos // tomato sauce and meatballs // pot roast, rolls // pumpkin muffins
Weeknight meals
Crispy chipotle sweet potato and black bean tacos with lime crema
these are quite spicy! I even cut back on the chili flakes and didn’t include the raw jalapeño. So be aware of how spicy your chili powder is (we might just have an especially spicy one here…) and scale back on the seasoning if you are serving spice sensitive people.
these tacos are very easy but the roasting time is a little long. You could prep the filling ahead of time and reheat before assembling the tacos.
I ended up with extra filling and could have made 10-12 tacos. Extra filling could be used in a burrito or bowl, or in an omelette.
Pasta with tomato butter sauce, baked chicken meatballs and vegetable side of choice
We had green beans with this but steamed/roasted broccoli or a salad would be delicious
This sauce is amazing, a complete favorite. I like to blend up the onion after it’s cooked and add it back to the sauce as well as a bit of honey or sugar to combat the acidity. Making your own sauce on a weeknight is extra credit though, our favorite store bought tomato sauce is Rao’s.
The meatballs could be prepared ahead of time and reheated with the sauce.
Here is a good vegetarian meatball recipe if that’s your thing!
Couscous bowls with halloumi and roasted veggies
This is less of a recipe and more of a framework for a meal that works really well for us: a grain or in this case couscous (which is a kind of pasta!), whatever vegetables are in season and then a protein. We will often have this with a good sauce like a chimichurri, tzatziki or roasted red pepper sauce. This time it was flavorful enough and fast without one.
We used Near East parmesan couscous (childhood comfort food staple) but quinoa, farro or rice would all be delicious.
We roasted some veggies that looked great: bell peppers, zucchini red onion, and cauliflower. We simply seasoned them with salt and tossed them with a good amount of olive oil and roasted at 400 until they were nicely browned. I roasted the peppers, onion and zucchini together, all cut in similar sizes, and the cauliflower on its own since it has a somewhat longer roasting time. It would also be delicious with roasted carrots, potatoes, eggplant or cherry tomatoes.
You could also add crispy chickpeas to make it extra delicious.
If Halloumi is new to you, find some! It is perfect and delicious when you pan fry 1/4 inch slices for a minute or two on each side. You could also use feta (uncooked) instead.
Project meal
Double-the-vegetables pot roast in the instant pot with buttermilk rolls
If you don’t have an instant pot, (first of all, you could probably get a barely used one for super cheap since the hype is dying down. We love ours and use it often.) this recipe for beef stew would fit the bill as she has oven and slow cooker instructions below.
I don’t have an idea for a good vegetarian pot roast, but I think veggie chili would be similarly cozy and great with the rolls.
Making rolls absolutely qualifies you for extra credit, so if that’s too much effort, skip them.
Treat
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
I made these for a book club this week and they were delicious! I wish I had more right now.
add a pinch of cinnamon sugar on top for extra yummy muffins.
I want to share something to listen to while you cook in each newsletter to keep things fun. This week it’s a playlist I made called good mood music.
Happy cooking! Have a great week!
Emily