winter eating: a week of dinners
focused on winter vegetables, pantry meals and cozy flavors
I ask for a lot from a weekly meal plan. Ingredients should be pantry friendly and heavy on seasonal vegetables. You will never convince me to buy 5 different herbs that will all turn to soup in my vegetable drawer. I seek out meals that are vegetarian and hearty, with a few vegan options mixed in. And while I LOVE an elaborate cooking or baking project when I have time, in a week long plan there have to be some quick meals. Without further ado:
Week of Winter Meals
Day 1: Chickpea Noodle Soup
Day 2: Bam Bam Street Tacos (squash and cauliflower tacos with raita) from Huckle & Goose
Day 3: French Onion Baked Lentils and Farro
Day 4: Gochujang Buttered Noodles (gift link)
Day 5: Indian Tomato Coconut Soup
All recipes as well as the linked cookbook are my tried and true favorites. These are tasty, stick-to-your-bones meals to get you through the winter months. Every meal is vegetarian and the Chickpea Noodle Soup and Indian Tomato Coconut Soup are both vegan. The other 3 recipes could be adapted easily to a vegan diet as well. Along with plain old delicious-ness, this menu is also put together to be highly doable using a couple of strategies you can take beyond this week’s meal plan.
Using perishable ingredients in multiple recipes
I detest purchasing a big bundle of herbs for a single recipe. Many call for a few tablespoons or sprigs, which feels like encouraging food waste. The menu I am sharing here is built around two fresh herbs for the week. Both the Chickpea Noodle Soup and French Onion Baked Lentils and Farro rely on fresh thyme and white wine to develop flavor. You’ll only need to buy one pack of thyme and a small box/bottle of white wine (or a full bottle if you’ll finish it!) and you’ll be all set for both meals. The second herb you’ll need is fresh cilantro to top your squash and cauliflower tacos. Any leftover cilantro can be used to garnish both the Gochujang Butter Noodles and the Indian Tomato Coconut Soup.
Note: You’ll see the Chickpea Noodle Soup includes a sub-recipe for a parsley garnish. I prefer to skip it entirely! The broth has an amazing flavor already from the mix of miso, white wine and thyme. If you happen to have parsley on hand, go for it but it is not necessary for a delicious bowl of soup!
Apart from the fresh herbs and wine, all the other ingredients are pantry items or vegetables that can easily be purchased in the amount called for. I especially love how all of these recipes utilize some of the same ingredients, while creating really different flavors over the course of the week. Basing your week’s meals around using up the same fresh herbs can help reduce food waste and be a source of inspiration.
Relying on pantry items
Meals that come from the pantry are easier to get on the table, period. Over the week, noodles, chickpeas, lentils, farro, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes and coconut milk make up the bulk of the meals here. I tend to frontload produce-heavy meals earlier in the week. I can then do most of the peeling and chopping when I have more free time - perfect for a Sunday. I can also do a big shop early in the week, use the fresh produce right away, and have all the remaining pantry items on hand for cooking through the end of the week. (As a secondary bonus, if the week doesn’t go the way I originally planned I can simply keep those pantry meal ingredients to make at a later date.)
A note on new-to-you ingredients
This menu does include two fridge items that may not be in your current rotation - gochujang and miso. As mentioned, I do my best to avoid food waste. Just like clutter I have found the best way to avoid food waste is not to bring home food that I won’t eat. If you wouldn’t use up the gochujang or miso in the next few months, skip them. You could swap out the Gochujang Buttered Noodles for another recipe (say noodles with peanut sauce) and Abra Berens includes suggestions on how to replace miso in the Chickpea Noodle Soup broth right in the recipe.
BUT if you’re interested in adding gochujang or miso to your pantry, please do! Given that they both have quite a long shelf life in the fridge, I never run into issues using them up. There are tons of delicious recipes you could make to use up the ingredients, a few top of mind:
Spicy, Tangy Green Beans and Tofu from That Sounds So Good by Carla Lalli Music
Gochujang Caramel Cookies by Eric Kim (I haven’t tried making these yet but they look amazing!
Miso-Glazed Fish and Broccoli from Huckle & Goose
You can also use miso in anything that needs an extra salty/umami flavor - like a vegan caesar dressing!
The biggest thing is simply to be mindful of what ingredients you have around and making specific plans to use them. Nothing sadder than composting expired or moldy food!
Meal planning flexibly
Time this meal plan however it works best for you. You’ll see I listed out the meals as Day 1, Day 2, etc. not by day of the week. Adapt this to cook on a schedule that works for you. I am not big on meal prep (gratefully I’m in a season of life where I don’t need to be) but I do often have some time on Sunday that I can devote to cooking. For me, this series of five nights would be perfect to start on Sunday, with the most laborious recipe, Chickpea Noodle Soup**. Overall, this recipe is written to be super flexible with the vegetables that you use. Feel free to riff with what is on sale/your favorite vegetables/something already in your fridge. If you want, you could also peel and prep the squash and cauliflower for tacos later in the week. Starting on a Sunday, I may end up keeping a buffer night in the week where I eat leftovers or dinner not at home or simply wrap up the meal plan on Thursday, leaving Friday free to eat out, order in or fill up on leftovers. You may also be feeling inspired right now and decide to make this random Thursday your Day 1 of the meal plan. That’s great, go for it!
**Quick tip: the noodles do soak up all the incredible broth if kept as leftovers, so you may prefer to boil a smaller portion of noodles and only add them to the bowl(s) you are eating.
Most importantly, meal planning is only helpful if it’s doable for you. If purchasing ingredients for and planning to cook for five straight days isn’t a good fit, chop this weekly meal plan in half. Based on what you have and what your favorite foods are, I’d recommend:
Mini-Menu 1 - Uses up fresh thyme and white wine
Mini-Menu 2 - Uses up cilantro
Squash and cauliflower tacos from Huckle & Goose
Gochujang Buttered Noodles (gift link)
Note: My cooking and meal planning approach is heavily influenced by Huckle & Goose - get yourself a copy! Loads of kitchen wisdom and truly delicious seasonal meals.
A few bonus recipes
Realistically if you are already making five nights of recipes, that may be plenty of cooking plans for you! Still I can’t help but to share a few more winter-y recipes that compliment this meal plan. Like the five days I have listed above, take what works for you.
Bonus: Simple flour tortillas
I had never made tortillas until very recently. They always seemed way too intimidating so I didn’t even consider trying. Tortillas can be incredibly fast to whip up and are super fresh and tasty! If it sounds fun at all, I really encourage you to go for it. These are perfect for the cauliflower and squash tacos, not to mention quesadillas… a dipper for the tomato soup… to scoop up hummus… I could go on.
Bonus: The Last Granola
I go through lots of different breakfast phases and lately I have been on a granola kick. It’s easy to eat even if you’re not super hungry first thing in the morning, and this salty homemade granola that has cardamom in it (my favorite spice! so wintery!) is absolutely perfect. You’ll see it is a base recipe without any dried fruit in it so you can add whatever dried or fresh fruit you are in the mood for (or simply whatever is in season!)
Bonus: Blood orange shrub
I shared this recipe a few weeks ago! If you have yet to try a drinking shrub, now is your moment. Super seasonal!
Bonus: Nutella star from Baking for the Holidays
Yes, this is from a book called Baking for the Holidays, but we can all appreciate some fluffy pastry with layers of Nutella in it. So cozy, so decadent! Just what you need to celebrate winter rather than slogging through it.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of the books linked in this post.