What I'm cooking this September
your annual reminder that it is in fact, still summer
This month’s roundup is arriving a couple of days late — vacation jet-lag will do that to you. We spent most of August in the Hamptons, and it was exactly the slow summer reset I needed: better sleep, focused work on my next cookbook proposal (without juggling a million balls in the air), plenty of sun, sand, daily swims, beach walks, and time with family and friends. I’m doing my best to carry this mood into fall, even as school routines and the never-ending to-do list start to creep back in.
To help ease the back-to-busy September schedule, I’m sharing something special: 50% off my High-Protein Meal Prep Workshop. This is usually reserved just for my Vegetarian Reset Lab students, but for a limited time, you can grab it too. In under one hour, you’ll learn everything you need to start building balanced, high-protein vegetarian meals—meals that are deeply satisfying and full of flavor.
What you get:
A mix-and-match system for building satisfying meals in minutes
A protein-rich weekly prep plan you’ll actually want to follow
Tips for batch cooking components that give you flexibility all week
Plus: recipes, shopping lists, and my exclusive printable Meal Prep Checklist included
And while my feed has already shifted to pumpkins and fall colors, let’s not rush things. The autumn equinox isn’t until September 22nd, which means there’s still time to savor late summer’s bounty — tomatoes, eggplants, leafy greens, and juicy stone fruit. This is the moment to turn up the heat in your kitchen: roast those vegetables, simmer a soup, or let the oven do the heavy lifting while you hold onto summer just a little longer.
Steal my seasonal shopping list
What I’m cooking
(Note: In most cases, photos are snapshots of the respective websites and link to them directly where applicable)
Tomato, Za’atar and Sumac Salad from the cookbook Boustany by Sami Tamimi, via
I’ve been obsessed with this salad since
published it a few weeks ago and finally ended up making it yesterday with heirloom tomatoes. I riffed a bit, adding corn and feta, and subbing cilantro for parsley. It was juicy and absolutely bursting with flavor - that tomato + sumac + pomegranate molasses combination is beautiful and I can’t wait to use it in a future recipe. Also, if you love cookbooks as much as I do, be sure to subscribe to the .
Balsamic Veggie Skewers from Lasting Ingredient by Paige Adams
While we’re past Labor Day weekend, I’d like to point out that it’s still an excellent time to use your grill and put these beautiful vegetables to good use. That being said, I’m more likely to make this as a quick stovetop weeknight dinner and serve with some whole grains and a dollop of Greek yogurt. The flavoring with balsamic vinegar and pesto is simple, elegant and just the thing for a quick, pantry-friendly but satisfying meal.
In case you missed this recipe that I published in June! Absolutely packed with green veg, family-friendly and perfect for a weeknight.
Eggplants and Tomatoes from The Vegetarian Reset
Eggplant Chile Cheese Toast (page 35) - If your garden is exploding with zucchini right now, this is the recipe for you. Make many loaves and freeze them to use all year. Then you can also make the Avocado Toast (page 20), and Pav Bhaji (page 23) whenever inspiration strikes.
photo credit: Alex Shytsman Socca Pizza (page 32) -While there are many things to love about the French Riviera, for me, the accessibility and variety of vegetarian foods was a delightful discovery. In Nice, we had socca, a simple chickpea-flour flatbread that is incredibly versatile. Here I pair it with a somewhat unusual pizza sauce made of
smoked eggplant (think babaghanoush meets baingan bharta). SO good!
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup (page 109) - This soup combines the best of summer produce, including tomatoes, red bell peppers, and zucchini. While it’s officially soup season, the base recipe is actually what I use as my ‘Airfryer Marinara’ sauce. So if you want to bottle up some pasta sauce for the winter, just skip adding the broth! The croutons are made out of my Zucchini Bread, but you could also use Ezekiel Bread for a delicious shortcut.
If you loved this list and want to binge my What To Cook series from around the internet, click here.
I’ll see you next week with September’s edit of Weeknight Simple. xoxo.
Thanks for the mention! And I love your salad additions.