Munch Menu V.19
An ode to snapping, munching & crunching asparagus
If you’re new here, welcome! To get started, check out my first munch menu, which includes my dietary philosophy and an overview on how to use these weekly meal plans. Also, make sure to stock up on my (mostly) non-toxic munchkin kitchen essentials which help make meal prep much easier.
My munch loves asparagus season, despite not loving anything about eating asparagus.
It’s one of my favorite vegetables to let her prep. The snapping is easy to teach, even if her execution usually means I have to sift through a pile of rogue-sized stalks like pickup sticks searching for the woody ends.
Despite participation in the trimming, I usually can’t get her to eat more than a bite or two of asparagus. I get it. The texture is crunchy, but there’s no sweetness like you get from snap peas, carrots, even cucumbers.
Plus, it’s hard to explain about the pee smell. Add it to the 500 questions a week I field that I have no adequate response for.
This month we are trying a new technique, forgoing the power of the crunch-off, for a crispy fossilized cheesy asparagus stalk. If that doesn’t work, perhaps the next step is to coat them in potato chip shards like we are doing fish this week!
In other news, I got to accompany my dad to the Tony’s on Sunday. There’s a lot to report (Rose Bryne’s dress! Carrie Coon’s skin! Julianne Hough’s side boob / repeated nip slips! Also…PINK! ) that I will save for this month’s morsels. In the meantime, here’s a little red carpet photo. I’m wearing a corset my mom has had in her closet for 20+ years, because despite a month of shopping and best efforts, I couldn’t find anything else nearly as fabulous to buy.
Happy munching!
Phoebe
THE GAME PLAN
Store-Bought Spotlight
(elements you can buy)
Heyday Coconut Chickpeas: All Hey Day products have ingredient lists I can get behind. You’ll see plenty of their products in future store-bought spotlights. These chickpeas are mild, slightly sweet and super well-balanced. The sauce is such a winner with my munch, I’m always mixing other ingredients I want her to eat into these. PRO TIP: freeze extra portions in this tray and store in a bag in the freezer labelled “Legumes” for future munch menus.
Kite Hill Spinach Tortellini: Though not GF, I find that the kite hill brands of stuffed pastas are very veg-forward and I like that they use nut cheeses.
Teriyaki Tofu: Premarinated organic tofu is one of my munch menu secret weapons for adding protein. You simply slice or dice – no cooking necessary! In this case, I throw it into a quick fried rice. You can crumble or cube, however you like it.
P.S. Have you been enjoying Munch Menus as a free subscriber? It takes me many many hours to put together these game plans every week. If you love them, it’s a very reasonable $1.50 per week if you do the annual option. A small price to pay for someone to do all the planning for you!
Meal Prep
(elements you can make in advance)
Curried Turkey Meatballs: This week’s new recipe! These freeze very well, but also keep for the week in the fridge. If you don’t want to serve with the chickpeas and cauli, you can use them as a base for pretty much any grain bowl.
Curried Cauliflower: This 3-ingredient side was a paid subscriber recipe from last year, but essentially is cauli florets roasted with yogurt, curry powder and a little lemon juice. Alternatively, you can do plain roasted cauli (and/or carrots!). The meatballs taste great with more yogurt on the side and mint for garnish.
Fingerling Fries: Quarter the wee potatoes length-wise, toss with olive oil and salt, and roast for 25 minutes at 425F or until crispy, tossing them once. If making in advance, recrisp for 5 minutes at this temp.
Brown Rice: Brown always takes longer, so it’s a good option for meal prep. If subbing white, that’s a night of quickie!
Sweet & Salty Everything Sauce: This is the second most popular MM recipe of all time, probably because I use it so often in my menus. If you don’t want to make this from scratch, try a store-bought peanut sauce. But since it’s tahini-based, leftovers of this one can be sent in for school lunch!
Quickies
(non-recipe recipes you can cook the night or day of)
Potato Chip Crusted Fish with Snap Peas: My girl Hillary has this easy recipe if you need something to follow. But the idea is fillet of medium-thickness fish (salmon, halibut, etc.), slather it with a condiment (mayo, mustard, etc.), pat it with crushed chips, bake it on a sheet pan with snap peas for 10 minutes at 425F.
Parmesan Asparagus: Toss one to two bunches of asparagus (trimmed) with olive oil and salt. Top with 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan and roast at 400F for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and crispy.
Steamed Broccoli: You can make this straight from frozen or fresh. Just add to a pan with a splash of water, bring to a simmer, salt well, and pop a top on for 3 minutes. Finish with some lemon juice and/or butter.
Rotisserie Chicken Quesadillas: Shred up the dregs of a rotisserie chicken, toss with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar. Divide between 6 to 8 corn tortillas. Pan-fry until the cheese is melted. Top with guac or a simple mashed avocado with lime and salt. You can also add a sauteed bell pepper to the chicken, if you want to sneak a veg in.
FAMILY MEAL IDEAS FOR WEEKENDS
If you’re someone who goes the family dinner route, don’t worry, I still got you! Every month I’ll add two ideas from my archives or the internet that have been kid-approved in my house. You can make them on the weekends or rotate them into a munch menu.
Cold Sesame Noodle Salad: This quick noodle and cucumber dish uses a tweaked version of my sweet & salty everything sauce. If you’re a paid subscriber, sub this one for a sweeter sesame. Otherwise, just omit the gochugaru for less heat.
Turmeric Black Pepper Chicken with Asparagus: This NYT recipe was a banger loved by all in my house. I limited the black pepper and used white rice flour to make it GF. In the theme of today’s post, I’ll note that we got two bites of asparagus out of it.
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Cold sesame noodles sound so good right now -- adding to my list for next week!
That corset IS fabulous! And I have to try those coconut chickpeas-