More often than not, I found myself thinking about what exactly to cook for more time than I should, so I came up with this “Culinary Roulette.” The tool serves up a week’s worth of meal themes. From “Meatless Mondays” to “Fish Fridays”, each theme sparks inspiration for dishes that might have been off my radar. Not feeling a particular theme? A swift click on the refresh icon (↻) next to each theme shuffles it for an alternative.
- Miso-Monday
Celebrate the umami-rich, fermented flavor of miso in soups, marinades, and other recipes.
- Thai-Tuesday
Dive into the spicy, sweet, and savory flavors of Thai cuisine.
- Wings-Wednesday
From spicy to sweet, try various wing recipes that’ll make you lick your fingers.
- Turmeric-Thursday
Incorporate the health and flavor benefits of turmeric into your meals.
- Fennel-Friday
Experiment with the unique licorice flavor of fennel in dishes both raw and cooked.
- Stew-Saturday
Savor slow-cooked stews filled with hearty meats, vegetables, and rich broths.
- Sloppy-Joe-Sunday
Indulge in the messy goodness of sloppy joes with various twists on the classic.
I developed the Culinary Roulette to speed up my meal-planning and let spontaneity lead my kitchen endeavors. The themes were generated using ChatGPT4, using the following prompt:
I am trying to make meal planning easier by making “Theme-days” such as Meatless-Monday, Tofu-Thursday or Fish-Friday. Please give me 30 different suggestions with the word [day of the week]. Please make several of these themes healthy and vegan. Please add a one sentence description to each them.
I further intend to use ChatGPT to narrow down the actual recipe even more using for example the following prompt:
Give me three recipe ideas for the following prompt. Briefly describe the recipes in one sentence each. Please focus on healthy meals that can be made at home in a reasonable timeframe. Consider that I am allergic to dairy and eggs: [Theme]
I don’t trust ChatGPT with actual recipes, so from that point on I’ll then either improvise or look up an actual recipe. Here’s a quick example of what I’ve now planned for the rest of the week.