How Our Veggie Writer Plans Meals for a Week

I recently bought a basil plant on a whim from Trader Joe’s. I carefully schlepped it home in one of my six glutted tote bags — it was Big Restock Day! — and split it from the roots into two old pots. The plant has, a month later, asserted its dominance over my kitchen windowsill such that I should charge it rent. I’m afraid to look at it the wrong way, for it might grow only stronger and taller in defiance. And I’m not alone, according to one reader’s query:

“Can you help with my abundance of basil?! It just won’t stop growing, and we can eat only so much pesto. I have made and love the pesto orzo zucchini dish.” — Sabine

I have just the thing: a new Veggie meal plan, built around a big bundle of basil. It has been longer than I’d like to admit since our last one graced the internet, so allow me to explain how it works: I use three recipes, a Venn diagram and a can-do attitude to show you how to plan your meals more thoughtfully. My strategy? Plenty of ingredient overlap and substitution opportunities. My goals? Minimize waste, maximize budget and guarantee deliciousness. New this time around, however, is that I developed these recipes expressly for this plan, this newsletter and this new Veggie video:

To begin, I’ve gone ahead and made you a grocery list. For my zucchini and crispy chickpeas with whipped cottage cheese, chickpea salad with grated tomato dressing and spicy cottage cheese pasta alla vodka, you’ll need:

1 head garlic
1 bunch scallions
3 shallots
1 large bunch basil
1 large lemon
1 pound zucchini
10 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes
1 large (8-ounce) heirloom tomato
2 Persian or mini cucumbers
1 (16-ounce) tub whole-milk cottage cheese
2 to 4 ounces vegetarian Parmesan
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas
1 pound mezze rigatoni or other short tubular pasta
1 (4.5-ounce) tube tomato paste (or a 6-ounce can)
Loaf of bread, such as ciabatta, sourdough or baguette
Vodka (you’ll need only half a cup)

That’s assuming you have salt, black pepper and olive oil on hand, and it’s more than likely your well-stocked pantry has crushed red pepper and sherry or red-wine vinegar in it, too. But if not, add ’em to the list!

These recipes were crafted with a use-it-up mentality. You’ll split a tub of cottage cheese, that protein-packed It Girl, between two recipes that have you whipping it beyond recognition. In one, you’ll blend it with a generous helping of basil to create a creamy base for lemon-slicked ribbons of raw zucchini and perfectly crisp chickpeas.

If you take anything away from this plan, let it be that basil whipped cottage cheese, which you can and should snack on as a dip or serve beneath all manner of summery salads. As my friend Becky Hughes wrote last week, sauce should be everywhere, but perhaps most pressingly, under your vegetables.

In the other recipe that calls for cottage cheese, you’ll purée it into everyone’s favorite pasta sauce. Given cottage cheese’s low fat content, achieving a silky smooth consistency requires some finesse. Go slow, add more pasta water than you think it needs and take care not to rapidly heat the sauce to avoid curdling.

The best vodka sauces are rounded out by a whisper of sweetness that only enhances the fiery and savory and acidic flavors. To achieve this, you’ll cook down some shallots and cherry tomatoes until lightly caramelized and jamlike before giving things the blitz.

And speaking of cherry tomatoes: They’re often sold in 10-ounce clamshells, and you’ll use half for the pasta and half for our final recipe, a low-cook chimera of a dish. Is it a panzanella? Or a chickpea salad? Or an impressionist’s interpretation of pan con tomate? Yes.

Let’s talk swaps and other mods. If you’d rather not buy cucumbers just for the chickpea salad, buy a bigger zucchini and chop up any squash left over from the first dish to use here. You don’t have to buy two types of tomatoes. If you’d rather get only heirlooms, go for it! The scallion whites from the whipped cottage cheese salad can be chopped and tossed in with the shallots for the pasta, and any remaining scallions from the bunch are welcome in the chickpea salad. And I can’t help but want to try silken tofu in place of cottage cheese in both recipes, just for kicks. If you beat me to it, let me know how it goes.

I didn’t forget the remaining vodka. Use it in my drink of choice: a vodka — no gin — martini, extra dirty, on the rocks. A take that will launch a thousand ships. Cheers!

Zucchini and Crispy Chickpeas With Whipped Cottage Cheese

View this recipe.

Chickpea Salad With Grated Tomato Dressing

View this recipe.

Spicy Cottage Cheese Pasta Alla Vodka

View this recipe.

‘Veg Everything’ F.A.Q.

My cookbook “Veg Everything” is out in a little more than a month, and you can preorder it now! Here are a few frequently asked questions from Veggie readers.

Q: “How much of the book is vegan?” — Yvonne

A: Half! In the book, 51 recipes are marked with a green “VEGAN” label, meaning they are vegan as written, include substitution options to make them vegan or list nonvegan ingredients as optional (a cheese garnish, for example).

Q: “I’m interested in this book, but can you let me know if all recipes are accompanied by at least one picture?” — Mette

A: Nearly, yes! There are only four recipes without photos: two salad dressings and two “essential” recipes (such as how to make a pot of beans).

Q: “I’m writing to ask if you will have a book tour, and, if so, do you have the venues and dates yet?” — Andrea

A: We sure will! Keep an eye out next week for our announcement of dates and cities!

Q: “I would love to buy this book, but see you use eggs and likely dairy. Do you provide substitutes?” — Karen

A: In some recipes, yes! Some are built around eggs, admittedly. But there are other recipes that suggest swapping tofu for dairy or note oil as an alternative for butter.

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

Email us at theveggie@nytimes.com. Newsletters are archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have questions about your account.