Whoa: A meal-prep plan
1 base recipe, 1 skillet, 3 dinners
“Your recipes are so fresh & innovative & still basic enough to make in a pinch.” — Chloe, paid supporter
Hello! Here with a big long post that will either be TMI or so great depending on the kind of cook you are.
We have a building-block recipe that improves as it sits in the fridge, plus three meals that are easily assembled because half the work is that building-block recipe you already made days prior.
Is this what meal-prepping is? Some of us aren’t into the idea, others depend on it, and some of us (me) don’t really knows what it means. Regardless, making a base component to get ahead on future dinners seems smart — at least it doesn’t seem dumb? Especially when the component can bend to something as fickle as what the heck you feel like eating.
This plan’s base recipe is a marinated white bean that’s sultry with softened shallots, bright and pleasantly bitter with chopped lemon peel, and savory with rosemary.
As the beans sit in their oily bath, they soften and soak up all their seasonings, which are carefully calibrated to be bold right out of the fridge and actually contribute flavor to the next meals. But, importantly, they’re neutral enough to meld with other ingredients to create varied meals each night. (Don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat buffalo chicken dip three days in a row.)
If you’re pro meal prep, let me know by hitting the ❤️ button at the top left or bottom left of this newsletter.
The beans can be eaten all on their own or carry any number of other meals in warm, room temperature, salady, and mashy forms, such as…
Meal #1: Bean & broccoli spoon salad
Crunchy-snappy raw broccoli, chewy sticky dates, a mustardy dressing, and those beans. Really surprised myself with how good this one is.
Meal #2: Spicy lamb & white bean dip
Mash up the beans and there’s the dip. Then, much like hummus bowls topped with ground meat, top the dip with a spiced, sizzled lamb so their rich juices can swirl with the beans.
Meal #3: Crispy-skinned fish with smashed white beans
Fish and broccoli get much more plush when resting on a bed of the white beans, which are creamy and cozy from simmering with water.
By the way, each of these meals:
Use one skillet.
If you use broccoli florets, the only additional chopping you’ll need to do is slice a lemon.
Use overlapping ingredients so you’re getting three meals with 15 ingredients.
Behind the paywall, there is a grocery list and the four recipes, plus swaps and riffs for each of the recipes. Whoa!