Weekly Meal Plan: Pounded Steak, Chickpea Salads, and a Genius Faux Burrata

(You may not be able to wait until Friday for the burrata.)

August 15, 2019

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Instant beans. Instant steak. Instant burrata—and you don't even have to buy burrata. If any of those things sound appealing, this meal plan is for you.

First you'll cook a batch of chickpeas (no soak needed), which will give you a head start on two easy dinners for later in the week. Then, on Tuesday, you’ll cook some pounded-thin flank steak, which you'll eat that night and turn into tacos on Thursday.

And on Friday? That magic burrata.

All the details are below. But first, the grocery list:

Pantry

Salt
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Ground cumin
Ground allspice
1 lb. dried chickpeas
Extra-virgin olive oil
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Honey
Bulgur
Capers
1 (6-oz.) jar oil-packed tuna
1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
Pimiento-stuffed green olives
Raisins
Tomato paste

Produce

1 medium English cucumber
1 large bunch dill
1 bunch oregano
1 large bunch basil
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
1 1/2 lb. zucchini
1 shallot
1 lb. green beans
1 large or 2 small heads of Little Gem lettuce or romaine hearts
1 green bell pepper
1 bunch kale
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 lemons
1 lime

Dairy

6 oz. feta cheese
1 ball (8 oz.) fresh mozzarella
Small container sour cream

Butcher’s Counter

2 flank steaks, one 1 1/2 lb. and the other 12 oz.

Bakery- 1 large loaf crusty bread

8 corn tortillas

SUNDAY: A Quick Batch of Chickpeas

Cook a bag of dried chickpeas—unsoaked—in the Instant Pot following the instructions in this recipe (double the salt and water). If you like, prepare the salad, too, and tomorrow’s dinner is ready. Refrigerate everything.

MONDAY: Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Feta, and Fresh Dill with crusty bread

If you didn’t make the salad yesterday, it’ll only take a few minutes this evening. You should have a few cups of chickpeas plus 2 ounces of feta leftover—refrigerate both. Serve with half of the loaf of bread. Wrap the exposed side of the other half in foil and store at room temperature.

TUESDAY: Grilled Pounded Flank Steak with Zucchini Salsa

Tonight you’ll learn to tenderize flank steak—and make it cook lightning-fast. Cook the smaller steak using the same technique; you’ll nextover it into quick tacos on Thursday. Right before you pop the steaks on the grill, get a double-batch of bulgur cooking. It should be ready to eat at the same time as the steak and zucchini.

Platter of a green bean salad recipe with tuna white beans and gem lettuce.

WEDNESDAY: Green Bean and Tuna Salad with Basil Dressing and the rest of the crusty bread

Sunday’s chickpeas pair with green beans and tuna every bit as well as the recipe’s canned white beans, so use them instead. If the bread is starting to feel a bit stale, a short stint in the oven will revive it: leave the foil on the exposed end and reheat it at 350°.

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THURSDAY: Steak Picadillo Soft Tacos

Since the steak is already cooked, slice it thinly and add it to the skillet at the end, just long enough to warm it up. Crumble the remaining feta from Monday to top the tacos, and serve with lime wedges for squeezing.

Kale and tomato salad with creamed mozzarella on a platter with a serving spoon.

FRIDAY: Massaged Kale with Tomatoes, Creamed Mozzarella, and Bulgur

Tonight you'll turn regular mozzarella into a close approximation of creamy (and harder to find) burrata. You’ve already got the bulgur ready to go, so skip the first paragraph of the recipe and you’ll have dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.