This Week's Meal List — Oct 19–25

Happy Sunday, friends! Fall in California means warm afternoons and cool evenings, and that's exactly when I want rosemary, roasted carrots and a big pan of something cozy on the stove. This week is all about one grocery trip, one focused hour of Sunday prep, and dinners that come together fast even on the busiest school nights.

This Week's Menu

What We're Cooking

Cider-Feta Crunch Chicken Salad

This is the lunch that finally retired my sad desk salad. The feta gets blended right into a creamy cider dressing, and cabbage, carrot, celery and radicchio hold their crunch for four full days where lettuce would be gone by Tuesday. About 30 minutes of active time gets you four lunches.

Pear Ginger Green Velvet Smoothie

A quarter of an avocado is the secret here – it turns an ordinary green smoothie into something that sips like a milkshake. A ripe pear does all the sweetening, fresh ginger keeps it lively, and a squeeze of lime keeps it from tasting like a health drink. Five minutes, start to finish.

Maple-Dijon Rosemary Chicken & Roasted Carrots

Maple and mustard can go too sweet and too thin, but this sauce gets reduced properly before the yogurt goes in, so it actually clings to the chicken. Juicy seared thighs, roasted green beans and carrots, and lemony wild rice make it a complete plate. About 30 minutes active – and if you cook the rice Sunday (or grab a pre-cooked pouch), it's a true weeknight dinner.

Crispy Parm Chicken & Butternut Pasta

A cutlet with a real crust and no breadcrumbs anywhere near it – Parmesan and almond flour brown harder and stay crisp longer. Underneath: gluten-free pasta, spinach and deeply roasted butternut in a creamy sauce of blended cottage cheese and roasted red peppers. About 40 minutes active, and the squash roasts while you bread the cutlets.

Warm-Spiced Tahini Chicken & Dates

One pan, bone-in thighs, and a tahini and warm-spice rub that melts down into the cauliflower as it roasts, while the dates go in late and turn jammy. Pat the chickpeas bone dry and give them their own pan so they blister and crackle, then pile everything over a whipped tahini-yogurt base. 20 minutes active, 40 in the oven.

Lemon-Sage Shrimp over Whipped Ricotta

Crispy sweet potato rounds, a swoosh of whipped lemon ricotta, garlicky kale with crisp celery, and shrimp with every drop of lemon-sage pan oil poured over the top. The shrimp cook in about four minutes, so have everything else ready first – and pull them the second they curl into a loose C. Only 20 minutes active.

Red Pepper Miso Turkey & Butternut Bowls

One sheet pan of caramelized butternut, carrots, broccoli and red onion, crispy herbed turkey and toasted quinoa, all pulled together by a blended red pepper miso vinaigrette. The miso adds a deep, savory note that makes the roasted vegetables taste even sweeter. About 25 minutes active plus 25–30 in the oven – and if you blend the vinaigrette on Sunday, Friday night is mostly hands-off.

Rosemary Bison Rice-Paper Pizza

Doubled-up rice paper bakes into a blistered, shatteringly crisp cracker crust that carries a whipped goat cheese base, rosemary bison, shaved Brussels sprouts and radicchio. Keep the toppings light and thin, slice it the second it comes out, and eat it standing at the counter – it's at its best for about five minutes. About 40 minutes active and a fun family build-your-own night.

How to Provision for the Week

Shop once. My rule is one grocery trip per week, so everything on the list below goes in the cart on Sunday. Monday's chicken thighs, Tuesday's chicken breasts and the rotisserie chicken for lunches stay in the fridge. Everything cooking Wednesday or later goes straight into the freezer when you get home: Wednesday's bone-in thighs, Friday's ground turkey and the ground bison for next Sunday. I buy shrimp frozen, raw, peeled and deveined.

Sunday prep (about an hour, alongside the lunch batch):

• Cook the grains. Simmer Monday's wild rice (1 cup rice in 3 cups broth, 45–50 minutes) and Friday's quinoa (1 cup in 2 cups broth). Cool, refrigerate, and add the lemon zest, herbs and olive oil to the rice the night you serve it. Both keep 4–5 days.
• Prep the squash. Peel and cube both butternut squashes – the medium one for Tuesday's pasta and the small one for Friday's bowls. Cubed squash keeps 4–5 days in a container lined with a paper towel.
• Prep the carrots. Peel and cut Monday's carrots into sticks, grate the carrots for the lunch salad, and slice Friday's carrots on the bias at the same time.
• Trim the green beans for Monday, cut the cauliflower (Wednesday) and broccoli (Friday) into florets, and strip and tear all the kale for Wednesday and Thursday. Store each in its own lined container.
• Blend Friday's red pepper miso vinaigrette. It keeps a week in a jar in the fridge.
• Toast the pepitas and pecans for the lunch salad, and chop the rosemary for Monday and Sunday. Wrap the sage, thyme, oregano and parsley in a damp paper towel in a zip bag.

What keeps until when: The delicate things – baby spinach, fresh herbs and radicchio – go first, which is why the spinach lands in Tuesday's pasta. Sturdy produce waits patiently: sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, red onion and cabbage all keep happily until Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Blend the whipped ricotta, tahini-yogurt and pizza base on the day – each takes a minute.

Thaw schedule:

• Tuesday night: move Wednesday's bone-in chicken thighs to the fridge.
• Wednesday night: move the frozen raw shrimp to the fridge to thaw overnight for Thursday. Pat them very dry before they hit the pan.
• Thursday night: move the ground turkey to the fridge for Friday.
• Saturday morning: move the ground bison to the fridge for Sunday's pizza night.

Smart ordering: Monday rides on your Sunday-cooked rice and prepped vegetables, so the week starts nearly effortless. Tuesday uses the spinach while it's still at its best, Thursday's shrimp comes from the freezer so it never depends on how fresh things are, and Friday leans on the pre-cubed squash, pre-cooked quinoa and the vinaigrette you already made.

Sunday Batch: Set Your Week Up for Success

Don't skip this part! One batch of the Cider-Feta Crunch Chicken Salad makes 4 weekday lunches, and prepping a few Pear Ginger Green Velvet Smoothies makes breakfast grab-and-go.

• Pack the dressing separately. Divide the blended cider-feta dressing into four small containers and toss just before eating so the cabbage stays crisp. The salad keeps up to 4 days refrigerated.
• Tuck the apple against the chicken, not the cabbage – that's the difference between a crunchy salad on day four and a soggy one. Slice the apple last, right before you pack.
• Give the beet its own corner. Four days pressed against everything else and it will dye the whole salad magenta – harmless, but alarming to open.
• Prep the smoothie fruit ahead. Core and chop the pears and peel and grate the ginger on Sunday so each morning is just a 45–60 second blend. Keep the avocado to a quarter per glass – that's what gives it the velvet texture.
• Add the ice last. If you blend the night before, leave out the ice, store it in a sealed jar in the fridge, and give it a quick shake or re-blend with the ice in the morning to chill and thicken.

Grocery List

For all six dinners as written, one batch of the lunch salad (4 lunches), and the smoothie scaled to 5 servings (one per weekday).

Produce

• Carrots, whole – about 10 medium, or a 2-lb bag (lunch salad, Maple-Dijon Chicken, Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Butternut squash – 2: 1 medium for about 4 cups cubed (Crispy Parm Pasta) and 1 small, about 1½ lb (Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Green beans – 12 oz (Maple-Dijon Chicken)
• Baby spinach – about 9 oz: one 10-oz container (smoothies, Crispy Parm Pasta)
• Lacinato kale – 2 large bunches (Tahini Chicken, Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Cauliflower – 1 small head (Tahini Chicken)
• Broccoli – 1 head, about 12 oz (Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Sweet potatoes – 1 lb, about 2 medium (Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Green cabbage – 1 small head (lunch salad)
• Radicchio – 2 small heads (lunch salad, Bison Pizza)
• Celery – 1 bunch, for 6 stalks (lunch salad, Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Beet – 1 medium (lunch salad)
• Brussels sprouts – 10 oz, about 20 loose (Bison Pizza)
• Red onion – 1 medium (Miso Turkey Bowls, Bison Pizza)
• Yellow onion – 1 (Tahini Chicken; omit for low-FODMAP)
• Garlic – 2 heads, about 15 cloves (Maple-Dijon Chicken, Crispy Parm Pasta, Tahini Chicken, Lemon-Sage Shrimp, Miso Turkey Bowls, Bison Pizza)
• Pears – 5 ripe, or a mix of ripe and almost-ripe (smoothies)
• Avocados – 2 (smoothies; ¼ per glass)
• Apples – 2 small (lunch salad)
• Lemons – 6 (Maple-Dijon Chicken, Crispy Parm Pasta, Tahini Chicken, Lemon-Sage Shrimp 2, Bison Pizza)
• Limes – 3 (smoothies)
• Fresh ginger – one 3-inch piece (smoothies)
• Fresh rosemary – 1 package (Maple-Dijon Chicken, Bison Pizza)
• Fresh sage – 1 package (Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Fresh thyme – 1 small package (Lemon-Sage Shrimp, Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Fresh oregano – 1 small package (Crispy Parm Pasta)
• Flat-leaf parsley – 1 bunch (Maple-Dijon Chicken)

Protein

• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs – 1½ lb (Maple-Dijon Chicken)
• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – 1½ lb (Crispy Parm Pasta)
• Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – 6, about 2 lb (Tahini Chicken)
• Rotisserie chicken – 1 whole, for 3 cups shredded (lunch salad)
• Large shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined – 1½ lb, frozen is ideal (Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Ground turkey – 1½ lb (Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Ground bison – 1¼ lb (Bison Pizza)

Dairy & Refrigerated

• Cottage cheese – about 2¾ cups: one 24-oz tub (Crispy Parm Pasta 1 cup, Pizza ¾ cup, Tahini Chicken ½ cup, Lemon-Sage Shrimp ½ cup)
• Plain 2% Greek yogurt – about 4 cups: one 32-oz tub (smoothies 2½ cups, Tahini Chicken 1 cup, lunch dressing ⅓ cup, Maple-Dijon Chicken ¼ cup)
• Unsweetened almond milk – 5 cups: one half-gallon carton (smoothies)
• Part-skim ricotta – 1 cup: one 15-oz tub (Lemon-Sage Shrimp)
• Parmesan – about 1⅛ cups finely grated: one 5–6-oz wedge (Crispy Parm Pasta, Bison Pizza)
• Crumbled feta – ¼ cup: one 4-oz container (lunch dressing)
• Goat cheese – ¼ cup: one 4-oz log (Bison Pizza)
• Large egg – 1 (Crispy Parm Pasta)

Grains, Pasta & Cans

• Wild rice – 1 cup dry (Maple-Dijon Chicken), or a pre-cooked pouch for about 3 cups cooked
• Quinoa – 1 cup (Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Gluten-free pasta – 6 oz dry; elbows work well (Crispy Parm Pasta)
• Low-sodium chicken broth – about 6 cups: two 32-oz cartons (Maple-Dijon Chicken 3½ cups, Miso Turkey Bowls 2 cups, Crispy Parm Pasta ¼ cup)
• Jarred roasted red peppers – 1 cup drained: one 12-oz jar (Crispy Parm Pasta, Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Chickpeas – one 15-oz can (Tahini Chicken)
• Rice paper wrappers, spring-roll size – 8: one package (Bison Pizza)
• Medjool dates – 4 (Tahini Chicken)

Pantry (check before you go)

• Almond flour – ⅔ cup (Crispy Parm Pasta)
• Tahini – ¼ cup, well stirred (Tahini Chicken)
• White (shiro) miso, labeled gluten-free – 1 tbsp (Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Pepitas – ¼ cup; pecans – ¼ cup chopped (lunch salad)
• Dijon mustard – 3 tbsp + 1 tsp (Maple-Dijon Chicken, lunch dressing)
• Pure maple syrup – 2 tbsp + 2 tsp (Maple-Dijon Chicken, lunch dressing, Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Apple cider vinegar – ¼ cup (lunch dressing, Miso Turkey Bowls)
• Optional: unflavored or vanilla protein powder – 5 scoops (smoothies)
• Oils: extra-virgin olive oil and avocado oil; optional garlic-infused olive oil for low-FODMAP swaps
• Spices & salt: sea salt, kosher salt, black pepper, ground cumin, smoked paprika, cinnamon, ground coriander, fennel seed, dried oregano, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes
• Ice (smoothies)

Looking Ahead: Future Weekly Menus

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming up, so you can plan ahead and stock the freezer. Full recipes, prep plans and shopping lists post each Sunday.

Week of Oct 26–Nov 1

Members, the full step-by-step recipes for every dish this week are waiting for you in the Recipe Club – happy cooking!