The theme of this Late Summer menu is juicy and abundant with deep, rich pigmented colours of the season. You can use this as a comprehensive menu making all the dishes at once or you can use the rollover technique of cooking through the menu as the week moves along, enjoying new and exciting, flavour-coordinated dishes every day.
I’d like to remind you that my Rollover Menus are meant to connect you to the ingredients and rhythm of the seasons. Every recipe is born from a few building block ingredients and these roll over into new forms throughout the menu, and throughout the week. These menus reflect the way I eat at home, the way I save time in the kitchen, and the way I stay satisfied all week long.
Instead of spending hours in the kitchen every day, I make big batches of whole-food building blocks that I roll into my meals over several days. Knowing that I have a foundation awaiting me in the fridge and pantry, I can intuitively build my meals for the week. Instead of “meal prepping” which focuses on the the same meal for many meals, rollovers allow me more flexibility and spontaneity, satisfying any possible craving I have.
Each seasonal Rollover Menu follows a formula that gives you the freedom to create a few different recipes from the same shopping list. The building blocks of the RM Formula are: a grain, a legume, a pickle, a topping, a sauce / dressing, a prepped veg, and a leafy green. From these humble beginnings I’ve created recipes that utilize all of these building blocks so that your life in the kitchen is super simple and super satisfying. You can keep the building blocks as they are, pair them up, OR you can make the recipes that I’ve devised with the building blocks for even more fun, and no chance of getting bored!
The Late Summer Rollover Menu is inspired by the fruitful abundance, different than that of early summer. Late summer’s light is full of warmth, intensity, and with a richness in its rays. The energy is potent, powerful, and passionate and the energy is no longer building like Early Summer but is at its peak, drenching us in warmth, beauty, and offers a time to pause and appreciate the miracles that surround us.
The show-stoppers of this menu (if I have to just choose a couple) are the plant-based dairy recipes which are incredible alternatives for those seeking them or looking for something a little different! The polenta fries too are just a masterful creation that I can’t wait for you to try. Alongside some simple basics, this menu is sure to bring ease, incredible deliciousness, and seasonal connection to your life this time of year.
See below for the links to the recipes and the full grocery list.
Late Summer Rollover Menu Shopping List
Ingredients
Fresh Produce
- 2 medium zucchini or summer squash
- 2 medium eggplant / aubergine
- 4 cups / 1.5 lbs / 680g cherry tomatoes
- 2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
- 6 small pickling cucumber (approx. 12 oz / 350g)
- 7 oz. / 200g piece of English cucumber
- 2 medium red onions
- 2 heads garlic
- 3 – 4 lemons
- 2 bunches fresh dill
Pantry
- 1 cup / 250ml cold-pressed olive oil
- 4 cups / 1000 ml water or vegetable broth
- 1 cup blanched almonds
- ½ cup / 40g + 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 cup / 250ml raw apple cider vinegar
- ½ Tbsp. maple syrup
- 14 oz. / 400g drained kalamata olives preferably with pits
- 1 ½ cup / 325g whole millet
- 1 ½ cups / 250g cornmeal organic / non-GMO if possible
- 1 ⅓ cup / 330ml unsweetened plant milk of your choice
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 cup / 200g green lentils
- ½ cup / 70g raw cashews
Spices
- 4 ½ tsp. fine sea salt
- 2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp. cracked black pepper