A few weeks ago, my colleague Rhoda told us how she likes to meal plan byprepping just one element for the next night's dinnerwhile getting the current night's meal on the table. The idea is that you're never starting from scratch, so making dinner after a long day of work doesn't seem like such a Herculean task.
We're taking that approach with this weekly meal plan, by either making extras to transform a few days later or prepping a few elements for tomorrow while tonight's meal is cooking away. Let's get started:
Monday: Sheet-pan chicken
Toss wedges of acorn squash and fennel with half of a sweet and smoky cumin–brown sugar spice mix, then toss chicken thighs with the other half. Pile all of the veggies and chicken on a sheet pan, along with a handful of red seedless grapes, and throw it in the oven for 45 minutes. As it cooks, the juices from the chicken will flavor the vegetables with unbelievable savory flavor. Go ahead and toss a few more chicken thighs on that sheet pan for Thursday's dinner—just try not to eat them before then.
Tuesday: Cheater's Gnocchi
No dragging out any special equipment here, just toss ricotta, Parmesan, flour, eggs, and chopped wilted spinach into a bowl and mix it all together. Roll the resulting dough into logs and cut into bite-sized pieces. Want to make Tuesday night's dinner even faster? Go ahead and do this step on Monday while the chicken bakes, then freeze uncooked gnocchi in a single layer on a sheet tray. Once the gnocchi is totally frozen, about 1 hour, pile them into a resealable bag. When you're ready to cook, toss the dumplings into the boiling water straight from frozen—they'll take about 1 extra minute to cook. To finish, toss with a simple lemon oil, and if you'd like, some of the leftover roasted veggies from Monday night.
Wednesday: Poke With Pears
You're going to have some time on your hands on Tuesday while you're waiting for that pasta water to come up to a boil. Use it to make the shoyu sauce for Wednesday's dinner. (And hey, you're a superstar, so go ahead and whip together Thursday's nut salsa too.) When you get home Wednesday, soak some rice noodles and seaweed, toss that shoyu with pears, mint, super fresh yellowtail (or whatever the fish monger says is sushi grade that day), and get dinner on the table in all of 15 minutes.
Thursday: A Cider-Dressed Salad
The simple dressing for this autumnal salad calls for apple juice—but instead opt for fresh cider, which is easy to find at markets right now and is basically the same thing, but unfiltered (i.e. more flavorful). Pull out that nut salsa you made last night and, if you'd like the salad to have a little more heft, shred those leftover chicken thighs from Monday night and toss them in too. Before you close up the kitchen for the night, season the pork chops for tomorrow and put them in the fridge to rest overnight.
Friday: Pork Chops for the Dinner King and/or Queen
Before you start cooking tonight's meal, pull those seasoned pork chops out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. Then go ahead and prep your lettuces and celery root—justmake sure to dry them, please—and whisk together your salad dressing. Once the pork is cooked and resting, go ahead and slice up the apple, then toss everything together. After that, you might as well makethis surprisingly easy—and surprisingly stunning—apple dessert; the leftovers will be even better for breakfast tomorrow morning.
