A tomato braise, a mushroom cream and a coconut lime pan, with squash and asparagus at opposite ends of their seasons

Butternut squash and asparagus are pulling in opposite directions this week, and both are worth having. The squash is at the start of its season, dense and sweet enough that maple and garlic are all it asks for, cut small so the cubes caramelize rather than steam. Asparagus is at the end of its run, so the spears are charred hard and buried under feta and almonds to give them something to lean on.

Pomegranate and cucumber both leak water, so a dressed salad is soup by Wednesday. The gnocchi is baked with parmesan and prosciutto and only meets the greens on your plate. None of that is presentation, it is all shelf life.

Reheating. The beef stroganoff meatballs and the chicken pomodoro both want 12 minutes at 325°F covered, and the pomodoro loses its parmesan lid if you push the heat higher. Sweet and sour chicken bites take 8 minutes at 375°F and are the one dish here that is arguably better on day two. The coconut shrimp should be eaten cold or barely warmed.

Beef stroganoff meatballs are the one dish here I have moved away from its original. The classic is strips of beef in a sour cream sauce, which splits and goes grey by the second reheat, so the same seasoning goes into a meatball instead and the mushrooms carry the sauce. Chicken pomodoro got the opposite treatment and stayed traditional, braised long and slow the way it is done in Italy, because that one only improves sitting in its own tomato. Knowing which recipe to leave alone is most of the job.