Your Monthly Summer Dinner Plan
Anchor Dinners to eat on repeat in July!
Hi there,
Welcome to your monthly Anchor Dinners drop! Every month, I’m giving you 3 dinner concepts and 2 sides to eat on repeat.
I’m so excited to unveil this month’s anchor dinners. Here’s the basic premise: to make weekly dinners work, most people can’t cook a new dinner recipe every night. Right? That’s nearly impossible, in my opinion.
Typically I aim to cook about 3 dinners per week, eat leftovers or quick-order things the other 2 weeknights, and then leave the weekends open for flexibility.
For July, I’ve come up with 3 different dinner concepts to riff on, as well as a few different sides you can use to create dinners of their own with a simple protein. You can mix and match these ideas each week, until you get tired of them. Then on to the next month’s Anchor Dinner drop!
A cool thing here is that you’ve got several protein options, which you can mix and match to keep things interesting over the month.
Here’s what’s on tap for July!
Your July Anchor Dinners
Sheet Pan Fajitas: Shrimp or Veggie
I’ve found this is one of the most versatile and crowd-pleasing ideas there is! This works with veggies (vegan version) or shrimp. You can serve with tortillas, or in bowls as a tortilla salad. I could literally eat this every week.
Free Recipe (Veggie) or Free Recipe (Shrimp) (ad supported)
Big Grilled Salad (Chicken, Salmon or Tofu)
The theme is Alex and my favorite in the summer, and we make it almost every day: grilled protein on top of salad. Below I’ve provided instructions for grilled chicken, salmon, or tofu, with my very favorite Italian dressing and chopped salad vibe. Don’t skip the pepperoncini and Parmesan!
Free Recipe (ad supported)
If you use the free recipe, the alternative proteins are linked in the recipe.
Falafel Bowls
This is another staple for us and it’s so perfect for summer! I like making my baked falafel recipe, but to make it quicker you can find pre-made falafel at many grocery store deli counters. (You could even get takeout falafel and then make the rest of the salad.) I like my baked falafel best, so you can also make a double batch of that and freeze leftovers for up to 3 months.
Free Recipe (ad supported)
Farro with Herbs
Maybe you already love farro, but if you don’t here’s inspiration to add it to your monthly rotation. I love that farro is so hearty and filling: a small serving always satisfies me more than quinoa or rice. That said, if you eat a gluten-free diet, make my Seasoned Quinoa (free recipe) instead.
Free Recipe (ad supported)
PS Make this into a quick dinner by adding grilled chicken, salmon, or tofu. Or try my Chicken Farro Bake (free recipe) to cook the protein at the same time!
Fresh Peach (or Berry) Salad
This one is a big reader favorite and perfect for summer. The nice thing here is that it’s super versatile: you can swap in any summer fruit like plums, cherries, blueberries or blackberries. You can also add a protein to turn it into a dinner! Add the grilled chicken or salmon from the Big Grilled Salad recipe to turn it into a whole new meal.
Free Recipe (ad supported)
I hope you love these: they are all staples in my kitchen. Let me know which you try!
xoxo
~Sonja
PS If you’re a member, all of your Anchor Recipes are located here.
