Happy Monday, everyone!

This is going to be a very busy week for me–a pileup of work deadlines and an Advanced Nutrition exam on Thursday–so a lot of my food preparation and cooking for the next few days has been taken care of already. It’s always an uphill battle to spend a considerable part of a Saturday or Sunday batch cooking–there are some weeks when I enjoy it, and others when I dread it–but by the time Monday rolls around and I have a fully stocked fridge, I’m so incredibly grateful to have done the work.

I usually try to stick to tried-and-true recipes during busy weeks, and this week’s menu plan features a few favorites. One is a big batch of my slow cooker cuban black beans, a staple recipe that I’ll be sharing with you all tomorrow. Another is my golden butternut squash and chickpea curry, which has become a regular addition to my dinner plans since I made it earlier this fall.

For quick and easy lunch options, I’m going to throw together a batch of my wild rice and chickpea salad. This one is always easy to make at a moment’s notice, because the ingredients are simple and I’m likely to have them no matter what the season (I leave out the pomegranate seeds a lot of the time, though they’re a nice addition when I do happen to get my hands on them!).

And finally, because spring is in the air (yesterday evening’s snow flurries aside), I’m reviving a favorite quinoa dish: my lemon herb quinoa with hemp seeds, spring peas, and basil. It’s one of the first recipes I made for my Food52 column, and I make it almost every year to help welcome warmer weather.

Here’s what’s on the menu:

Basics

●Chickpeas
●Slow cooker cuban black beans
●Basmati rice
●Tahini lime drizzle

Recipes

●Wild rice and chickpea salad
●Cuban black bean and rice bowls with roasted plantains
●Lemon herb quinoa with hemp seeds, spring peas, and basil
●Golden butternut squash and chickpea curry

Dinner Plan

Sunday: Leftover creamy mushroom and wild rice soup (recipe testing for my Food52 column) | Toast | Roasted asparagus

Monday/Tuesday: Cuban black bean and rice bowls with roasted plantains (recipe will be up later this week!) | Green salad

Wednesday/Thursday: Golden butternut squash and chickpea curry and basmati rice | Steamed broccoli with tahini lime drizzle

Friday: Lemon herb quinoa with hemp seeds, spring peas, and basil | Lentil vegetable soup leftovers (from the freezer)

Saturday: Dinner salad, packed with all of the week’s leftover odds and ends!

It looks to be a very easy, very tasty week–good fuel for some long hours of studying.

I wish you a great start to your own week, and I’ll be back tomorrow to share those delicious, hassle-free black beans.

xo