Everything you need to buy and prepare for food blogger Jonathan Melendez's 'Week of Meals' recipes

Ben Mims
·3 min read
pea falafel with couscous, black bean and mushroom quesadilla, Grilled steak with guacamole salad, nicoise salad baked potatoe and Paella fried rice by Jonathan Melendez
All the ingredients and prep to do before the week starts. (Jonathan Melendez / For the Times)

“Week of Meals” is a new weeknight dinner series that brings you five, easy-to-prepare weeknight recipes from one shopping trip that costs less than $100. Here’s the grocery list and the prep work to do on the day of shopping to set yourself up for cooking Jonathan Melendez's recipes the rest of the week.

BUY FRESH

These ingredients will need to be bought if you don’t already have them.

Meat and seafood

1 flat iron steak (1 1/2 pounds)

8 ounces large, raw, peeled and deveined shrimp

4 ounces Spanish chorizo or other cured smoked sausage

2 cans (5 ounces each) water-packed tuna

Freezer section

12 ounces frozen peas

Dairy section

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup sour cream

6 large eggs

Bakery/deli Section

4 burrito-size flour tortillas

4 flour or corn tortillas (or use burrito-size flour tortillas from above)

Produce

4 ounces green beans

2 large avocados (or 4 small)

1 medium avocado

2 medium vine-ripe tomatoes

1 small yellow onion

1 medium red onion

1 small red onion

1 shallot

6 garlic cloves

1 red bell pepper

1 small jalapeño

1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley

1 large bunch mint

1 bunch cilantro

5 lemons

3 limes

4 large russet potatoes

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes

1 pound sliced cremini or button mushrooms

Pantry

1 can (15-ounce) black beans

1 can (15-ounce) chickpeas

1 1/2 cups couscous

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives

1 packet (1-ounce) low-sodium taco seasoning

AT-HOME STAPLES:

These ingredients we’re expecting you to already have. They are staples that, if you have to buy new for these recipes, you will use again and again in other recipes.

Oil and vinegar

1 cup plus 1 teaspoon everyday olive oil

Spices

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

Dry goods

2 cups long-grain white rice

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Condiments

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

SUNDAY PREP

This is cooking you’ll want to do on the day you go shopping, preferably Sunday, to get more laborious or time-consuming cooking out of the way.

Cook the rice

1 For the 2 cups of cooked rice you’ll need to make the Paella Fried Rice, begin by rinsing 2 cups of long-grain white rice in a sieve under cold running water until the water runs clear then let drain.

2 Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with salt then pour in 1 3/4 cups hot tap water. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork.

3 Set aside 2 cups of cooked rice on a plate to cool completely then transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use in the Paella Fried Rice.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.