Italian and Thai proteins around a BBQ balsamic meatloaf, with Spanish rice and charred-corn noodles

The glaze on the meatloaf is balsamic reduced with tomato until it coats a spoon, brushed on twice: once at the halfway mark, again in the last ten minutes so it sets instead of burning. The shrimp cakes are bound loosely, rolled in panko and baked on a rack so the underside crisps as well as the top. Same reason I roast the broccoli and carrots on a bare sheet with nothing crowding them.

Corn is in season right now, so I charred it dry in a hot pan before it went into the egg noodles with feta and lemon. The apple in the chopped kale salad is the same idea, cut firm so it holds for four days against the balsamic dressing. Produce this good gets cooked less, not more.

Reheating, in order of fussiness. The shrimp cakes want 10 minutes at 400°F uncovered, or six in an air fryer, or the panko goes soft. The meatloaf takes 15 minutes at 350°F under foil, and the Spanish rice comes back best with a spoonful of water stirred through it first. The creamy petite peas and butter beans I would eat cold, straight from the fridge.