a really simple meal plan v.14
for a low-effort and delicious week of meals!!
Welcome to #14 of our *really simple meal plan* series, in which we take a week of meal planning off your plate! Here you’ll find a five-day lineup of WTC dinner recipes chosen to provide a variety of proteins, veggies, and grains throughout your week, PLUS ideas for how to turn your leftovers into lunches that rock.
These dinners serve between four and six people (check the recipes for their exact yield) and we’re going to double two of them to have plenty of leftovers for lunches. If you’re cooking for one or two people, you can skip the doubling and/or halve recipes as needed. Conversely, if you have a large family, you may need to double more. The lunches can be prepped ahead of time and easily reheated in a microwave, so if you work in an office, they should all still be doable for you.
The theme for September is ease!!! We’re all transitioning back to a tighter schedule at the moment, so let’s spend as little time in the kitchen as we can, K?!
xx
Caro and Molly
PS: Click the PDF or link below for a grocery list organized by section in the grocery store. If you need to edit yours for any reason (to sub an ingredient or cut some meals from the lineup), copy and paste it into a new Google doc or phone note and edit as needed!
link to grocery list
DINNER DAY #1: one-pan roasted chicken, cauliflower, and potatoes with a ridiculously tasty green sauce
Let’s start with a fan-favorite recipe from wayyy back in the archives. This meal makes a delicious dinner AND gives you the chance to prep two fabulous lunches — and even a breakfast! To have enough leftovers to make basil chicken salad, roasted cauliflower soup, and bacon & potato hash, double the recipe.
A few notes, if doubling:
You don’t want to overcrowd your sheet pans, so use as many as you need to keep the veggies in a single layer. I’d use two for the veggies and one for the chicken breasts.
We’re going to make an easy cauliflower soup with the leftover roasted cauliflower so reserve half of it for that before you stir in the spinach (and only use the amount of spinach the original recipe calls for — no need to double it. If you forget this and the spinach is stirred in there, no worries, blend it in with the cauliflower, it’ll just be an ugly soup!).
As for how much chicken to buy (the recipe calls for 2 to 4 chicken breasts) — it depends on your family! Would 2 breasts be enough to fill your family at dinner? If so, buy 4 chicken breasts. If your family would eat all 4 for dinner, buy 6 to 8 breasts (6 if you’re prepping lunch for 2 people; 8 if you’re prepping lunch for 4 or more).
Be sure to double the green sauce too! We’re going to save and use it for our herby shrimp bowls later this week.
Go ahead and shred the leftover chicken you’ll use for lunches while it’s still warm. Trust me: it’s so much easier to do this now rather than trying to shred it once it has cooled.
Store your leftovers in separate airtight containers in the fridge. Alternatively, you can go ahead and prep the lunch recipes today, if you have time! Keep reading for those instructions.
OK! That was the heaviest lift of the week. It gets easier from here.
LUNCH DAY #2: basil chicken salad
To your leftover shredded chicken, add a couple tablespoons of green sauce at a time and a little scoop of mayo until it’s perfectly coated in sauce. It’s delicious just like that, or you can add a cup of chopped grapes and/or a cup of chopped celery. Serve on toasted multigrain bread, alongside crackers, or over mixed greens!
DINNER DAY #2: crispy bean burritos
This is a sneaky delicious and very affordable meal. Double the rice and bean mixture to make burrito bowls for lunch later this week.
LUNCH DAY #3: roasted cauliflower soup
Blend your leftover roasted cauliflower with 1/2 cup chicken or veggie stock then season to taste with kosher salt, black pepper, and a little garlic powder for the tastiest, simplest creamy soup. Yes, that’s all it takes to make a really delicious soup!! Add more chicken broth if needed to get it to your favorite consistency. Garnish with a fancy swirl of green sauce!
DINNER DAY #3: cheesy polenta bowls with peppers and kielbasa
I wrote this recipe this very same time last year! It’s the perfect summer-to-fall-transition meal. One of the easiest WTC recipes out there.
LUNCH DAY #4: burrito bowls (or chicken salad?)
Do you have leftover chicken salad in the fridge? If so, eat it today while it’s still good.
If not, make burrito bowls. Microwave leftover burrito filling until warm then top it with whatever you’ve got in the fridge! Salsa, shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce, chopped spinach, sour cream, shredded Cheddar, avocado, hot sauce. You can sprinkle crushed tortilla chips in there for some crunch, if you have some. The sky’s the limit!
DINNER DAY #4: herby shrimp couscous bowls
OK, now we’re going to use the leftover green sauce you made on night 1! Skip making the herby sauce entirely and just marinate your shrimp in the green sauce, then drizzle it on top of your bowls. The sauce will have thickened up in the fridge — make it drizzle-able by stirring in a splash of water, more olive oil, or lemon juice if you like things tangy.
NOTE: No need to buy arugula just for this recipe since you’re only using 1 cup of greens now. Add spinach or any leafy green herb you have in the fridge to the couscous instead.
LUNCH DAY #5: burrito bowls (or quesadillas!)
Time to finish up the rest of that bean and rice mixture. Are you over burrito bowls? Turn it into quesadillas!
DINNER DAY #5: tiny tomato pasta
A final salute to summer!!! Want to cook from the book instead? Make the Baked Tomato Basil Butter Pasta on page 233.
A BONUS BREAKFAST: Bacon & potato hash
One day this week, I highly recommend using your leftover crispy potatoes to make this hash for breakfast: Chop up several slices of bacon and cook them over medium heat until almost crispy. Add the leftover potatoes (and half a shallot, diced, if you have one leftover from the shrimp bowls!), smashing them to create uneven surfaces that can crisp up, and cook until potatoes are warmed through and bacon is crispy. Stir in some basil and garnish with Parmesan.
PS you could also use your leftover potatoes in place of tater tots to make the Tater Tot Egg Bake from the book (page 176).