6 dinners, one list

Six people on $70 means roughly a dollar-something per plate, so the week leans on cheap proteins stretched hard and a lot of pantry starch. The two proteins I actually spend on are a 4 lb pack of chicken thighs and a 3 lb pork shoulder — everything else is beans, lentils, eggs, cabbage and potatoes. The chicken pack splits across Monday's braise and Wednesday's tacos. The pork shoulder gets braised low on Saturday, the one night with time, and its leftovers carry Sunday so nothing rots and I dodge a seventh grocery night. One head of cabbage does double duty as Wednesday's slaw and Friday's fried-rice bulk; rice is cooked generously Monday and Tuesday so Friday's fried rice starts from a fridge of cold cooked grains. Tortillas and cheese bought for Saturday's carnitas also feed Wednesday's tacos and Sunday's quesadillas. Perishables are light this week — no fish — so the only real timing rule is buying the cilantro and cabbage for early-to-mid week and letting the hardy stuff (potatoes, dried beans, onions) sit. Meat-lean nights (Tuesday dal, Thursday pasta e fagioli, Friday fried rice) balance the two heavier meat nights so the week's cost and richness land evenly rather than spiking. Total ingredient spend runs around $52, comfortably under $70; the slack is deliberate so you can size up the pork or add fruit without blowing the number. The only honest tradeoff: portions of animal protein per person are modest — beans, eggs and lentils are doing a lot of the filling — which is what a $70 week for six actually looks like.

• Mon

  Braised Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Onion

  Fall-off-the-bone thighs in a deep, garlicky tomato sauce with sweet slow-cooked onion, spooned over rice.

  40 min active6 covers
  560 kcal32g protein$10.00

  Covers6
• Tue

  Red Lentil Dal with Cumin-Bloomed Butter

  Silky split red lentils simmered soft and finished with a sizzling tarka of cumin, garlic, and chili in browned butter. Warm, savory, faintly nutty, spooned over rice.

  30 min active6 covers
  460 kcal18g protein$6.00

  Covers6
• Wed

  Chicken Tacos with Quick Cabbage Slaw

  Cumin-and-chili rubbed chicken thighs, seared until deeply browned then shredded, piled into warm tortillas with a bright, crunchy lime slaw. Warm, smoky, sharp.

  40 min active6 covers
  500 kcal38g protein$9.00

  Covers6
• Thu

  Pasta e Fagioli

  Creamy white beans and small pasta in a rosemary-scented tomato broth, thick enough to stand a spoon in. Rustic, savory, and cheap.

  30 min active6 covers
  470 kcal18g protein$6.00

  Covers6
• Fri

  Egg and Cabbage Fried Rice

  Chewy, wok-charred rice with silky egg, sweet cabbage, and a savory soy backbone finished with fresh scallion. Cheap, fast, and deeply satisfying.

  30 min active6 covers
  420 kcal12g protein$4.50

  Covers6
• Sat

  Pork Shoulder Carnitas

  Meltingly tender pork with crackling browned edges, bright with orange and warm with bay and cumin. Rich, savory, faintly citrusy.

  40 min activeProject6 covers
  600 kcal42g protein$14.00

  Covers6
• Sun

  Leftovers

  from Pork Shoulder Carnitas

  Saturday's carnitas crisped into cheesy quesadillas with the last tortillas and cheese — a leftover night that spends nothing new and clears the fridge.