Week 16: Five Late-Summer Dinners for Two

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Late summer is such a good time to cook.

Peaches are finally sweet. Tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes. A handful of arugula can turn a burger or crispy chicken cutlet into dinner. And the meals can still be quick enough for a regular weeknight.

This week’s menu takes full advantage of all of it.

We’re dividing one pound of ground pork between two completely different dinners: juicy pork burgers topped with warm peaches and goat cheese, and banh mi pizzas with mini pork meatballs and quick-pickled vegetables.

The rest of the week includes lemon-garlic shrimp pasta with asparagus, crispy chicken cutlets with a fresh tomato-arugula salad, and honey-mustard chicken with chunky smashed potatoes and green beans.

Five dinners with plenty of variety and one grocery list that uses everything with a purpose.

Buy what you need. Use what you buy. Make dinner for two feel easier all week long.

1. Ground Pork Burgers with Peaches, Goat Cheese and Arugula

Juicy pork burgers topped with warm caramelized peaches, tangy goat cheese, peppery arugula, and a drizzle of hot honey. Roasted baby potatoes round out the meal.

2. Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Tomato-Arugula Salad

Golden Parmesan-panko chicken cutlets topped with a fresh salad of arugula, cherry tomatoes, lemon, and shaved Parmesan.

3. Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

Tender shrimp, fresh asparagus, and linguine tossed in a light lemon-garlic butter sauce with Parmesan and parsley.

4. Banh Mi Pizza with Mini Pork Meatballs

Crisp naan topped with melted mozzarella, mini pork meatballs, quick-pickled carrots and cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro, and sriracha mayonnaise.

5. Honey-Mustard Chicken with Chunky Smashed Potatoes and Green Beans

Skillet-cooked chicken coated in a sweet and tangy honey-mustard sauce, served with buttery smashed baby potatoes and steamed green beans.

Five completely different dinners. One smart grocery list.

This week’s menu is built around late-summer produce and ingredients that can easily move from one dinner to another.

• One pound of ground pork is divided between two meals. Half becomes pork burgers, while the other half is seasoned with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha for the mini meatballs on the banh mi pizzas. The two dinners don’t taste remotely alike, but buying one package of pork covers both.

• Arugula also gets used twice. It adds a peppery bite to the peach and goat cheese burgers, then becomes a fresh tomato salad for the crispy chicken cutlets. If you made breadcrumbs from leftover burger buns, you can use those for the cutlets, too.

• Baby potatoes show up on two nights without giving you the same side dish twice. Half are roasted until browned and crisp for burger night. The rest are steamed and roughly smashed with butter and milk for the honey-mustard chicken.

• Lemon, Parmesan, and garlic carry several meals, too. They flavor the shrimp and asparagus pasta, the crispy chicken coating, and the salad served over the cutlets.

Every dinner should feel like its own meal. The ingredients are what do the sharing.

Our house is a mess of boxes right now. Half of our stuff is still here, and the other half has already been moved to the land.

Packing is harder than it sounds when you’re still using half the things you need to pack. Every time I tape up a box, I realize there’s a pretty good chance I’ll need something from it tomorrow. 😂

In the meantime, we’re moving what we can and making do until the power is turned on at the property. We have an electric pole now, which feels like progress, but no actual electricity yet.

So, for the moment, we’re living somewhere between packed and unpacked, moved and not moved. It isn’t especially organized, but little by little, we’re getting there.

Weeks like this are exactly why I need a dinner plan. When everything else feels scattered, knowing what we’re having and having the groceries ready is one less decision to make. I may not know which box holds half of our belongings, but at least I know what’s for dinner.

A few quick tasks will make these dinners come together even faster:

• Make the mini pork meatballs for the banh mi pizzas. Shape them, cover them tightly, and refrigerate until pizza night. You can also bake them ahead and simply reheat them on the pizzas.

• Mix the honey-mustard sauce and refrigerate it in a covered container.

• Make the sriracha mayonnaise for the banh mi pizzas.

• Shred the carrot and slice the cucumber for the quick-pickled vegetables. You can pickle them ahead or wait until pizza night if you prefer a crisper texture.

• Wash and dry the arugula so it’s ready for the burgers and chicken cutlets.

• Trim the green beans and asparagus.

• Grate the Parmesan for the pasta and chicken cutlets.

• Prepare the chicken cutlets. Cut one large chicken breast horizontally into two equal portions, then pound them to an even thickness. Store them covered in the refrigerator until chicken cutlet night.

• Set aside the two smaller chicken breasts for the honey-mustard chicken.

None of this requires a full afternoon of meal prep. Even finishing two or three tasks ahead of time will take some of the work out of dinner later in the week.

A little planning up front, and the rest of the week just runs smoother. If you’re ready to cook, the recipe cards are waiting for paid subscribers below.