This Week's Menu | June 20, 2025

Dairy-free menu! Pork banh mi, ratatouille with chicken, lemony sheet pan trout with roasted potatoes, and corn & coconut soup

Hello everyone!

First, in case you missed it, I want to remind everyone that I won’t be making new menus for the month of July. But all of the weekly menus and recipes will be available on the Lemon Egg website! (Free subscribers will still be able to access all of our free recipes and the first menu of each month.)

Also, did you know we have all of our recipes categorized in our recipe box? It’s right at the top of lemoneggmeals.substack.com!

Once you click into the recipe box, you’ll see everything organized by protein category (Beef, Pork, Chicken, Shellfish, Fish, Vegetarian), dietary restriction (Gluten Free/Dairy Free), and then sides (drinks/salads/desserts) at the bottom.

The recipe box is great if you’re looking for options or inspiration within a certain category, or if you want to make your own menu a la carte. (I usually have my family scan through it to pick what they want for the week!) If you want to search for a specific recipe, you can do that in the Recipe Catalog tab (2nd from left at the top of the home page.)

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And now, for our menu! This week’s meals are super fresh and veggie-packed (you’ll noticed it on the grocery list!) and every single one of them is a strong favorite— especially the ratatouille, which even my zucchini-hating husband loves!

Speaking of ratatouille, summer is a great time to let your kids try foods they might not usually eat. (A certain Pixar movie might help whet their appetites!) Vegetables like squash, eggplant, and radishes will be showing up in this week’s menu, and if you’re afraid your family will balk, try a no-pressure approach, such as letting them help you cook (little kids can wash or peel if they’re not ready to hold a knife) or even letting them decide if they want to taste the new food. FWIW, Noah is usually more interested in tasting something when I’m in the middle of cooking it than when we’re at the dinner table…

By the way, if you’re struggling with picky eating in your house, can I offer some solidarity? Noah is currently refusing the following foods: eggs, peanut butter, carrots, beans, bananas, pepperoni, ham, bread, (BREAD!), dried apricots, raspberries, spinach, all nuts, most yogurts, and what feels like a dozen other foods. He is in absolute love with what he calls a “warm tortilla with nothing in it” which is literally just a flour tortilla that I microwave for 5 seconds.

But I’m trying to remember: this is normal. And it really is. It’s a phase, and it is not worrisome that he has food preferences. It’s important for me to respect them and not create a power struggle at meals, so to the best of my ability, I don’t.
(Hey tho: if your kid is only eating a short list of foods—30 or less— you are dealing with something entirely different, and I would encourage you to get some support. The BetterBites course from Kids Eat in Color is excellent!)

Ok, that was quite a preamble. Anyway, here’s our menu!

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Meals for the week:

Notes for This Week’s Menu

Meals are a little lighter this week. You can make them more filling by making sandwiches to go with the corn chowder (BLTs are ideal!), doubling the ratatouille (make sure to also double the pasta, though it’s not necessary to double the chicken— we made 3 breasts and it was PLENTY), and adding chips or fries to go with the banh mi.

Servings:
Trout: 4
Corn Chowder / Ratatouille: 4-6
Banh mi: 6