The Official Meal Plan of COOK90 2020

As always, the official meal plan of COOK90 comes with a caveat: you don’t have to follow it. COOK90 is about the act of daily cooking; the recipes you actually cook are secondary. This meal plan is a tool you can use as a strict (and, honestly, very delicious) blueprint to get you through the month, or simply as inspiration for what a month of cooking can look like. Either way, it’s meant to be a resource that comes in handy when you’re cooking for an entire month straight.

Breakfast and lunch are not included in this meal plan. As the official COOK90 rules acknowledge, nobody wants their breakfast messed with. So during COOK90, do breakfast however you want, even if that means eating the same toast-with-sliced-bananas-and-peanut-butter every morning, all month long (and for the rest of your life). Lunch can always be leftovers from dinner, which works perfectly if you’re cooking for one or two (most of the recipes in the plan serve four). But if leftovers just aren’t what you’re craving, here are a few suggestions for lunches you can make in batches.

And speaking of leftovers, a month of cooking depends on them. Or, rather, it depends on nextovers: extra batches of sweet potatoes, beans, grains, etc, that you purposely set aside to use later in the week. You’ll find lots of nextovers in this meal plan; look out for notes telling you to save elements for later meals.

You’ll also find that this meal plan reflects a new initiative for COOK90, which is to cook more sustainably. For COOK90 2020, we define sustainable cooking as being vegetable-focused and grain-obsessed, with no animal protein other than the occasional seafood. We also designed this meal plan to be light on dairy, since it seems that yogurt, butter, and cheese can be almost as destructive to the planet as burgers, steak, and tartare. Personally, I find dairy to be the hardest thing to give up, and you’ll see below that the month of cooking starts off with plenty of creme fraîche and cheese, but gets lighter and lighter on the dairy as the month goes on. This is called weaning, folks—we’re barely going to notice the shift!

Well, maybe we will. COOK90 is a challenge in every sense of the word, and while having a meal plan helps, there will still be little things that start to annoy you. Finding a way to work through those annoyances and still get dinner (and breakfast, and lunch) on the table is what COOK90 is all about. (But also, keep in mind that when things get really annoying—like when you really cannot chop another onion or you’ll scream—you can always use one of your passes. You get three—use them or lose them!)

Finally, every weekend you’ll find a recipe contributed by a food writer we admire—Melissa Clark and Hetty McKinnon among them. These are our Weekend Guests, and you can read more about them by signing up for the COOK90 newsletter, where we’ll be profiling a Guest every Friday.

Is that enough preamble? Thought so. You’re not here to read—you’re here to cook. Welcome to COOK90 2020. We’re here to cook with you.

The Official Meal Plan of COOK90 2020

Wednesday, January 1

Happy new year—and happy COOK90! Perhaps you have a little crab leftover from last night’s party, or some smoked fish, or maybe even some caviar or roe. (The rest of you: how did you celebrate New Year’s Eve without it?) Take that fish and fold it into these Soft Scrambled Eggs. Is there creme fraîche in those eggs? Yes. But that decadence is balanced by tonight’s dinner: Lentil Soup with Wheat Berries and Kale.

Thursday, January 2

This month is going to be low on dairy. Just not tonight. In this recipe for Baked Feta and Greens with Lemony Yogurt, softened greens and crispy chickpeas meet thick slabs of soft, warm cheese. If you have any leftover feta, save it for Sunday night.

Friday, January 3

Don’t call it pasta salad; tonight’s dinner is all about the crunchy radicchio, spicy arugula, and a punchy warm anchovy-garlic dressing—so we call it Salad Pasta.

Saturday, January 4

Our first Weekend Guest of COOK90 2020 is Hetty McKinnon, the author of three vegetarian cookbooks and a cooking columnist for the Guardian. For COOK90, McKinnon developed this hearty recipe for Roasted Cabbage Steaks with Crispy Chickpeas and Herby Croutons. You’ll roast two heads of cabbage tonight, but you’ll only eat one. The other will be nextover’d into a slaw on Monday.

Sunday, January 5

The first recipe of the day (besides whatever you eat for breakfast) is this crunchy Seedy Power Sprinkle. You’ll want to eat the whole batch out of hand, but resist—it’s going to come in handy throughout the month, starting on Thursday. For dinner, it’s Saucy Beans and Artichoke Hearts, a fast stovetop recipe that uses ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. (Feel free to use canned tomatoes if the ones you find at the grocery store are pale and sad.) Eat half the batch tonight with salad (and with or without the feta—it’s great both ways); you’ll use the rest (on toast!) on Tuesday.

Monday, January 6

Can you make slaw with roasted cabbage? Yes, and you’re about to use the cabbage steaks from Saturday to do just that. Use this guide from Anna Stockwell to help you, and eat it alongside Papas con Rajas, a creamy poblano-and-potato dish that’s perfect paired with warm tortillas.

Tuesday, January 7

Time to nextover the Saucy Beans and Artichoke Hearts from the weekend into Beans on Toast with a Fried Egg. You don't need a recipe: Just warm the beans in a small pot, pile them on thick slices of toasted sourdough, and top with a fried egg.

Wednesday, January 8

Make a pesto. Boil some noodles. Toss. Eat. That’s how easy these Ramen Noodles with Miso Pesto are, and that’s why we picked this recipe for a Wednesday night. Note that this recipe serves two, so you may want to double it, or even triple it—especially since you want to reserve one cup of the dressed pasta for Friday night.

Thursday, January 9

You’ve been dying to eat that Power Sprinkle that you prepped over the weekend, and tonight’s your chance—it adds major crunch and character to these Winter Salad Hummus Bowls. This recipe calls for boiling four to six eggs, but if want to have eggs on hand for breakfasts (and even get ahead on next Thursday’s dinner), go ahead and boil a full dozen.

Friday, January 10

Speaking of eggs, tonight’s dinner is the Pesto Pasta Frittata from the COOK90 cookbook. There’s almost nothing to it: you whisk some eggs, pour them into a skillet, nestle in the pasta (gently—you want this to look good for Instagram!), and bake.

Saturday, January 11

There are few dishes more shareable than a platter of gingery shiitakes waiting to be scooped into cabbage leaves, so call a couple of friends—tonight you’re making Spicy Mushroom Larb.

Sunday, January 12

Abra Berens is our Weekend Guest, and her (shhh—secretly vegan!) recipe is this killer Creamy Squash Risotto with Toasted Pepitas (pictured at the very top of this page). It starts with a squash puree, some of which you’ll nextover tomorrow night; it takes about an hour to prep and cook, so consider getting that part out of the way earlier in the day. While you’re at it, here’s a one-bowl (and dairy-free) Olive Oil Apple Cake that you can eat for dessert tonight, and for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Monday, January 13

Tonight you’re going to nextover last night’s squash puree in one of the simplest ways imaginable: turn it into a Miso-Squash Soup. To do that, cook a few aromatics (thinly-sliced onions, crushed garlic, diced carrots and/or celery) in a tablespoon or two of olive oil until soft. Add the remaining squash puree (which is already flavored with paprika and miso) and thin it out with water, vegetable stock, or a combination of the two. (You can even add a little hard cider to the mix. Or wine. Or sherry!) Bring the soup to a light simmer, then use an immersion blender to make it smooth. Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle each with a little more olive oil, and eat it on its own or with bread, salad, or even over a grain like barley, quinoa, or rice.

Tuesday, January 14

Tonight we’ll pull off not one, but two nextovers. Follow this recipe for a Vegetarian’s Dream Sweet Potato Dinner, but double the amount of sweet potatoes—you’ll use the extra roasted sweet potatoes on Friday. Double the lentils, too—you’ll use those on Thursday.

Wednesday, January 15

Two powerhouse ingredients—bright, spicy kimchi and savory, briny clams—are what make this warming, just slightly fiery Kimchi Soup with Tofu and Clams so quick to prepare. (A tip about clams: sometimes they’re salty, sometimes they’re not. So wait until they’ve opened before tasting and seasoning the soup.)

Thursday, January 16

You have cooked lentils in the fridge (because you cooked them on Tuesday), and maybe you already have some hard-boiled eggs on hand. And do you have some tinned sardines or canned tuna in the pantry? Good—you’re already well on your way to making this Any Way Niçoise Salad. There are almost no rules when it comes to this dinner; just make the dressing, assemble a plate, drizzle, and eat. (But don’t eat the sweet potatoes you have stashed in the fridge—you’ll need those tomorrow night.)

Friday, January 17

Tonight you’ll cook another recipe from the COOK90 cookbook: Coconut-Braised Chickpeas with Sweet Potatoes and Greens. The sweet potatoes don’t go into the pot until the very end, because you already cooked them (on Tuesday night, remember?)—so all they need to do is warm up in the spiced coconut broth.

Saturday, January 18

It’s burger night. But because we’re going green in 2020, tonight’s burgers are Chris Morocco’s earthy, “meaty” Chickpea-Mushroom Burgers. These require a bit of planning (they have to freeze at least two hours before cooking), so make them this afternoon. Keep four of the burgers in the freezer until Tuesday night, when you’ll use them in fried rice. (Yes, fried rice. You’ll see.)

Sunday, January 19

Another Sunday, another Weekend Guest. This time it’s the brilliant Meera Sodha, the author of several cookbooks, including Made In India, Fresh India, and East. Tonight’s recipe, Paneer Butter Masala, comes from Fresh India, and closes out the week on a comforting note. Make a big batch of rice tonight—you’ll want some for the paneer, and you'll need some for Tuesday.

Monday, January 20

There’s a recipe in the COOK90 cookbook for pan-seared steak with crispy broccoli, but you’re not messing around with steak this month. So focus on the Crispy Broccoli. Two sheet pans will be enough for you to eat some tonight over a bed of ricotta or, as a non-dairy option, mashed white beans, topped with some of that Seedy Power Sprinkle (assuming you have any left). Save the rest of the broccoli for tomorrow night’s fried rice.

Tuesday, January 21

Tonight you’re going to improvise a Crispy Fried Rice with some of the nextovers you have on hand: the rice from Sunday (obviously), the broccoli from last night, and the chickpea-mushroom burgers you have in the freezer. Using Anna Stockwell’s no-recipe-needed guide to fried rice as your blueprint, you’ll start by cooking two or three of the mushroom burgers in a nonstick skillet, breaking them up into small pieces as you go. Then you’ll sweat some onions and garlic, crisp the rice, throw in an egg, and, near the end, add the broccoli, which just needs to be warmed through. Finish your fried rice with a little bit of soy sauce, mirin, hot sauce, and any fresh herbs that are lingering in your fridge.

Wednesday, January 22

Tonight’s dinner, Tomato-Coconut Curry with Cod, starts with one of the greatest foods ever invented: crispy shallots. The oil you use to make those shallots is then used in the rest of the curry, infusing it with that shallot flavor. This is a 50-minute dinner, much of it hands-off; you can use the down time to make a grain to eat alongside the curry, if you like. But honestly, this is a complete meal without a grain—and this is a grain-heavy week of COOK90—so consider eating the curry as it is, served in a shallow bowl.

Thursday, January 23

We made it 23 days into COOK90 before making a pot of beans, but that streak ends now: start today by soaking a pound of dried white beans (such as Great Northern) in the morning. Tonight, drain the beans, add fresh water, and simmer them on the stovetop while you make this Crispy Tofu in Shitake Broth. (For a more detailed recipe for cooking the beans, use tomorrow night’s recipe as a guide—but note that for COOK90 purposes, you’re going to cook a slightly bigger batch than the recipe calls for.) Store the beans in the fridge for tomorrow night.

Friday, January 24

Take last night’s beans out of the fridge, drain and toss with a lemony dressing, and eat them in lettuce cups—that’s all you need to do to make White Bean Salad with Lemon and Cumin. You’re eating fast and light tonight, because tomorrow’s a big—and decadent—day of cooking. (You’re going to have a few beans leftover—stick them in the fridge or freezer for a few days. You’ll use them on Tuesday.)

Saturday, January 25

This is probably where a little COOK90 fatigue is setting in (that’s perfectly normal). One way to combat that fatigue? Throw a dinner party. Tonight’s dinner is a big, cheesy Eggplant Parmesan. To make the night truly extra, finish the evening with this truly simple Chocolate Cake.

Sunday, January 26

Our final Weekend Guest is the legendary Melissa Clark, a New York Times columnist and author of about 3,000 cookbooks. Her newest book, Dinner in French, doesn’t come out until March, but she’s giving us a preview with this recipe for Salmon Confit with Lime, Juniper, and Fennel. It comes together quickly, which gives you plenty of time at some point today to make this Coconut-Turmeric Relish, which you’ll want to have on hand tomorrow.

Monday, January 27

Because you made the relish already, tonight’s Cauliflower Steaks with Coconut-Turmeric Relish will come together with almost no effort. Note that this recipe calls for a whole head of cauliflower, but only makes two steaks; double the recipe if you need to serve more people. And save the trimmings of the cauliflower—you’ll use them tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 28

So you have a bunch of cauliflower trimmings and a handful of white beans somewhere in your fridge or freezer. These are the perfect makings of a creamy (but cream-less!) White Bean-Cauliflower Soup. No recipe needed here: simply start by cooking sliced onions (or shallots, or leeks) and chopped garlic in a big glug of olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. (Add a teaspoon of cumin seeds to the mix, if you have them. Or use any spice blend you have on hand.) When the onion is soft and golden, add the cauliflower trimmings and cook, stirring, for a minute or two (don’t let the cauliflower brown). Add water or vegetable stock to cover the cauliflower and bring it to a simmer. Let it all cook together until the cauliflower is completely tender when pricked with a fork. Add the beans to the pot and let them warm through. Does the pot look low on water or stock? Add a little more. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it’s completely creamy, adding more water or stock as necessary. Season the soup with salt and black pepper, divide it among bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and finish with the last of the seedy power sprinkle.

Wednesday, January 29

You haven’t seen everything tofu can do until you’ve torn it, spiced it, and roasted it until it’s crispy around the edges and soft in the middle. And that’s exactly what you’ll do tonight when you make the Shawarma-Spiced Tofu Pita Wraps.

Thursday, January 30

Welcome to your dairy dose for the week (it’s feta again—is anybody complaining?). In this Sheet-Pan Roasted Squash and Feta Salad, the cheese gets roasted alongside squash and bread, until it’s soft and warm and the bread is crispy.

Friday, January 31

The final night!! You made it! And that’s cause for a celebration, which is why you’re making this classy Crispy Scallop Salad. It’s crispy thanks to endive, creamy thanks to avocados, sweet thanks to oranges. And it'll come together seamlessly...thanks to COOK90.

Originally Appeared on Epicurious