Happy Sunday.

Our goal is for you to never be stumped for your Sunday grocery store run again.

As always, a grocery shopping list for the recipes is linked in Notion at the end of this email.

By the way, grocery shopping is hard. Reply to let us know what your food-buying pain points are, and we’ll try to pose solutions in a future edition.

In This Week’s Edition:

Try Something New 🤯 — Carne Guisada

Throwback Time 🍳 — Roti Flatbread

The Leftover Shelf 🥡 — Mezze Lunch w/ Roti

Extra Helpings 🤤 — Stretching Grocery $$$, Tomato Sandwiches, & More

Shopping List ✅ — Ingredients sorted into categories for easy shopping!

Try Something New 🤯

The best meal I made this week.

Carne Guisada

If you’re looking for a new Sunday Braise recipe, this is it. Deep flavor, but versatile enough to use in tacos, wraps, rice bowls, or on its own with a side.

Dish Components

• Beef chuck roast or shoulder, cut into 1-2 inch cubes

• 1/2 white or yellow onion, diced

• 1 poblano pepper*, diced

• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced

• Cumin seeds, toasted & ground in a molcajete (mortar & pestle)

• 1 tsp (5 g) chili powder

• 1 bouillon cube or 1 tbs (5 g) chicken bouillon powder

• Water

• Kosher salt & black pepper to taste

*If you can’t find a poblano pepper, use 1 diced green bell pepper + 1 deseeded & diced jalapeño.

Suggested Serving Components

• Tortillas

• Avocado & Cilantro

• Rice

• Refried Beans

Instructions:

1. Sear the meat: In a dutch oven, sear the beef cubes in batches (just enough at a time for one layer to fit) until at least 2 sides are browned. Remove seared beef and set aside, but leave any developed fond and rendered fat.

2. Start the aromatic base: Add diced onions, poblano, and garlic and saut until they are taking on some color. Add the cumin, chili powder, bouillon, and flour and sauté for 2 more minutes or until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and beef back in.

3. Add liquid & braise: Add enough water to cover everything by a 1/2 inch. Bring to a simmer and partially cover with a lid. Add to a 300F preheated oven and let it braise for 2-4 hours or until the meat pulls apart and the gravy has reduced and thickened.

4. Serve: Eat with tortillas or sides of your choice. This can be made days in advance and reheated throughout the week.

Pro Tip - Make sure to avoid these beginner braising mistakes (Twitter thread, 2 min read).

Throwback Time 🍳

Roti is a whole wheat, unleavened flatbread every home cook should know how to make. A few minutes of effort for a soft and pillowy side. Make a large batch and they freeze/reheat well too.

Check out the video, or read the recipe here.

Making these is a big step up from storebought flatbreads, and they are the perfect counterpart to so many proteins, dips, or complete dishes. Use any extra to build a quick lunch to-go:

The Leftover Shelf 🥡

Leftovers are back in style…if you know how to use them.

This week’s move:

Leftover Roti → Mezze Lunch w/ Roti

Get a few extra components and you can pack a filling and fresh lunch built around these flatbreads. If you’re packing this lunch to-go, try using the bento box method (Twitter thread, 2 min read).

Mezze Lunch Components

• Leftover Roti

• A protein: leftover chicken, ground meat, beans, etc

• Hummus, or yogurt mixed with herbs or seasoning

• Cheese, like feta or Havarti cubes

• Pickled items, like olives, dill pickles, or hot & sweet peppers

• Additional veggies like lettuce, tomato, or onion (sliced to preference)

To assemble:

Use any combination of sauces, proteins, pickled items, and veggies you have around. The roti can act as a wrap, side, or dipping vessel.

If taking to go, pack components into a container with multiple compartments.

If you want more inspiration for lunches to take to school or work, check out this video.

Extra Helpings 🤤

🚀 Viral Eats

Food trends explained.

Q: What’s up with the tomato-mayo sandwich? Can a two-ingredient sandwich really be that good?

A: A tomato and mayo sandwich on white bread is a simple yet delicious meal that only takes seconds to make. It’s beloved by Americans, especially Southerners, particularly when tomatoes are in season.

To make the perfect tomato mayo sandwich:

• Be generous with your mayo. Fat enhances the flavors of whatever it touches.

• Use white bread, toasted or untoasted. Sourdough is also a tasty option.

• Use thick, juicy, ripe tomatoes, preferably heirloom.

• Season your tomato with salt and pepper. Salt makes ingredients taste more like themselves, which is key to making the tomato flavorful.

The combination of untoasted white bread and tomatoes make for a chewy, meaty bite that is texturally interesting. It’s reminiscent of a PB&J, but savory.

This sandwich is best enjoyed during summer tomato season, however. Have you tried it yet?

🧠 Reader Q&A

Q: “One thing that I am thinking about a lot these days (and I think plenty of people might be in a similar boat) is what meals can I make that will produce enough food/leftovers for several nights’ worth of dinners or lunches? These days when groceries are so expensive, trying to make the dollars and meals stretch a bit more is definitely a priority for me.” - Mac L.

A: Great question. Here are a few suggestions and resources:

1. Always be thinking about ingredient stacking (video), which is the art of using leftover ingredients from one recipe in the next meal you cook.

2. Braising a big cut of meat, or batch-prepping a lot of chicken, for example, is another excellent habit to get into. Then you can stretch the cooked protein across many meals. Check out the summary of the Sunday braise technique, or find inspiration from these three recipes from one braised meat (video).

3. Lastly, think about final meals you can scrape together when you’re almost out of groceries. Use the last bits of produce in a fried rice, or use up canned/pantry goods to make a pasta bake. Hope this helps!

🏆 Dinner Winner! Reader Photo Submission of the Week

This week’s winner is Michael B, who made sweet and savory kolaches from this past week’s video. He wrote in to say:

“I lived in Austin, TX for two years after I graduated from college and your recent video brought up a ton of good memories. I had to try it myself…The fillings are raspberry, triple berry, ham & cheese, and chorizo with cheese.”

Reply with a picture of the best meal you made this week for a chance to be featured in a future email.

🍽 More Yummy Content

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What We’re Watching: Is Butter Really that Bad for You?​

Food Science: Japanese Fried Chicken Secrets​

Upgrade Your Feed: Connect with Ethan everywhere.​

Ready to shop? 🛒

✅ Shopping List 3/12