How I actually meal plan

No, I don’t recommend plotting a full week in advance.

Some kitchens are impervious to the weather; kept steady by central AC and good insulation. Mine is not one of those. So I start to look forward to this precise moment, when the market crates are full of plums and eggplants and summer squash—but I can also comfortably spend a Sunday slowly roasting tomatoes.

The recipes I have to offer you this week lean into the shift. But first, a way to use them.

Mechanics of a dinner plan

Maybe we can harness a bit of that back-to-school energy, but I want to emphasize: getting into a rhythm of some sort of meal planning does not require you to become a totally different kind of person overnight.

Instead of panic-staring at a wide, blank calendar, I try to back up and fill the well.

If there were no pressure to plan, no one else’s taste to take into consideration, what would I love to cook and eat? Can I picture myself slicing crunchy cucumbers or building a braise? When I click through any of the recipes I’ve saved—you can see some of them right now if you scroll down—are there any that get my heart beating faster?

I try to take note of those, picking just two ideas. Starting there is enough.

(Note: Selecting a recipe may mean that you surrender yourself to the directions and get in the flow, or it may be just a starting point. Maybe you follow along for just the dressing, just the crunchy sprinkle, just the idea of the thing. The point is, it brought you to the kitchen.)

Cannot resist a teeny squash.

Okay, so you have two ideas earmarked. Then fill out another day of your plan with one of your personal go-to greatest hits, the meals that you know your household will always enjoy. (I made my own summer list of these; stay tuned for a fall version.)

And that’s where I stop. Gathering the ingredients for a mini-plan of three dinners helps the week feel sorted, but still leaves me free to pivot on Thursday.

After those three dinners, I leave space. Building in a catch-your-breath meal or two keeps things from running too far off the rails. So Wednesday night or Thursday morning, I take an honest look at the leftovers and leftover ingredients in the fridge (and pantry and freezer).

What can they be? A catch-your-breath meal lets you shop your kitchen rather than buying more; it moves you through your pantry stash and prevents waste by putting the puzzle pieces together in a new way. To start, consider a taco, a salad with bits and bobs, fried rice, a bowl with beans and leftover anything, a simple pasta, a skillet of defrosted sausages or other protein and the rest of the greens. Or maybe you just didn’t get to one of the recipes you’d hoped to make, but could make an adjusted version now.

Cook. Take a breath. Then go back to the well.

This is just how I tend to do it; everyone’s best way through is personal. That’s part of why I’m so excited to talk to so many great cooks on The Dinner Plan podcast. They’ll share their go-to dinners—those greatest hits—and talk about the little things they do to make cooking easier for themselves down the line a day or two.

I’ll have the first weekly episode for you before the end of this month; free newsletter subscribers will get recommended recipe and cookbook links in one handy place, plus exclusive recipe previews from brand-new cookbooks written by our guests.

I’d be so grateful if you’d help to spread the word.

And now, on to the recipes that I’m dreaming about this week…

Sarah Leung’s Zucchini With Glass Noodles (Woks of Life)
Luisa Weiss’s Riso al Forno alla Siciliana (The Wednesday Chef)
Samantha Seneviratne’s Chicken Thighs With Fresh Plum Agrodolce (New York Times)
Asha Loupy and Dan Pashman’s Raw Heirloom Puttanesca With Fish Sauce and Calabrian Chili (Excerpted from Anything’s Pastable on

The Department of Salad: Official Bulletin

)
Aaron Hutcherson’s Skillet Orzo With Corn, Tomatoes, and Feta (Washington Post)
Carolina Gelen’s Honey Lemon Meatballs (SCRAPS)
Maggie Zhu’s Mapo Eggplant (Omnivore’s Cookbook)
Ali Slagle’s Gnocchi With Hot and Sweet Peppers (New York Times)
Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet Corn Polenta with Eggplant Sauce (Food 52)
Andy Baraghani’s Clams With Tomato Broth and Garlic Mayo (Bon Appétit)
Pati Jinich’s Zucchini Torte
Benjamin Kemper’s Smoky Spanish Green Beans with Garlic and Jamón (Saveur)
Sami Tamimi’s Scrambled Red Shakshuka (Excerpted from Falastin on Food52)
Greg Vernick’s Roasted Broccoli Steaks with Tomato Butter and Tapenade (Food & Wine)
Reilly Meehan’s Spicy Tomato Caesar Salad Dressing
Rachel Roddy’s Braised Courgettes With Garlic Toast (The Guardian)
Grace Elkus’s Sheet Pan Cottage Cheese Eggplant Parmesan (there’s a zucchini version too!)
Christina Chaey’s Cold Sesame Yuba Noodles With Crunchy Vegetables (Gentle Foods)
Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Yeasted Bavarian Plum Cake (King Arthur Flour)

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Volunteers needed

Each episode of The Dinner Plan podcast will offer a catch-your-breath meal idea for a listener. So I am looking for a few volunteers this week to share a quick voice memo and photo of what’s in their fridge right now.

This is a judgement-free, collaborative zone. Absolutely do not clean your fridge.

Just open it up, snap and photo, and record a quick voice memo (or video if you prefer).

Tell us your first name, where you are, and a few items you have in your fridge (at least five or up to 15)—plus a few things you have in the pantry or freezer.

Send the voice memo along with a photo or the video of your fridge to thedinnerplanpod@gmail.com. We’ll whip up a custom idea just for you.