Easy Weeknight Meals

December 15, 2020 Alison Salcedo

A lot of lists and [online] shopping are happening this time of year, and dinner often sneaks up on me and before I know it, the sun is down. With the chaos and energy that this season can bring, dinner is one thing I try to simplify with a little bit of pre-planning. And in the season of comfort dishes that are easily doubled and delicious as left-overs, I’ve shifted to cooking less days a week, which feels so good, and I’m reminded that this is actually my favorite season in which to cook.

I’ve landed on a handful of easy, weeknight meals from really good cooks that are regulars in our home, easily adapting to variations to riff a bit and always double. Below are my recommendations and resource links (alert: a few excellent cookbooks that would be great gifts this season!), plus a couple of our favorite frozen meals, straight from the market.

SOUPS

All-time favorite: Italian Wedding Soup / The Barefoot Contessa from Back to Basics

I often sub out the ground chicken/chicken sausage with all ground turkey.
Make it easier: buy Trader Joe’s mirepoix, a prepared mix of chopped carrots, onion and celery for the soup base.
Variation: I use this meatball recipe as my base every time I make meatballs (always with turkey), which we enjoy in a couple of ways; with a red sauce and pasta or as a stand-alone meal with tzatziki dip and salad.

Creamy Tomato Soup / Williams-Sonoma

We add fideo or broken up spaghetti noodles to the soup and pair with chicken quesadillas on the side.
Make it easier: skip the tomato roasting, and instead use good-quality canned diced tomatoes.

Pasta + Grains

Spaghetti Carbonara with Garlicky Greens / The Yellow Table by Anna Watson Carl (page 216) of Yellow Table Weekly

Variation: I subscribe to Anna’s #yellowtableweekly*, and she adjusted this recipe to sub chopped brussel sprouts for the greens, and we love it. And, instead of bacon, I brown pancetta bits.

Fried Rice / The Minimalist Kitchen by Melissa Coleman (page 101) of The Faux Martha

Make it easier: when leftover rice is not in our frig, I use one pack of Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice (or two, if I’m doubling).
For protein, I add stir-fried chicken pieces or tofu. My favorite tofu cooking method is from Love & Lemons.

Zucchini Farro Cakes / Whole Grain Mornings by Megan Gordon of A Sweet Spoonful

If you like Trader Joe’s farro, cook the whole bag and use about 1/2 for these cakes and reserve the other 1/2 for Megan’s equally delicious Smoked Salmon Rye Berry Bowl with Creamy Caper Sauce, which is really more of a spring/summer dish, but we love it year-round.

FROZEN MEALS

We are Trader Joe’s fans, and our two favorite frozen meal kits are; (1) Chilaquiles, which we top with my husband’s yummy fried eggs; and (2) Gnocchi, combining Sorentina Gnocchi and the Gorgonzola Gnocchi for a delicious pink sauce. To the pasta, I add sautéed ground turkey for extra protein.

If you have some go-to weeknight meals - fresh, semi-fresh or frozen, please share them here, and if you try any of the above recipes, let me know what you think!

QUICK TIP

The Yellow Table’s Anna Watson Carl is on Instagram with a weekly meal plan + recipe subscription (free until the end of 2020!). I am a huge, huge fan of everything she serves up, online and in her book. Find her here and here.