Using AI to Plan Dinners for a Week: A Recipe for Success (and Chaos)
Experimenting with AI tools is something I’ve embraced as both a hobby and part of my professional life. After dabbling in using AI for quick recipe inspiration, I decided to take it a step further – letting AI guide an entire week’s worth of dinners. The goal was to create meals that fit into my household’s dietary preferences and schedule, whether I was cooking for myself or my wife and me. While the AI, specifically ChatGPT, delivered some delightful results, the journey wasn’t without its pitfalls. Here’s how my AI sous-chef held up and how you can replicate (or avoid) the experience.
Laying the Groundwork: AI Meal Planning
I approached the challenge by outlining the entire week’s meals in advance to streamline grocery shopping. After discussing our tastes and dietary needs with the AI, I emphasized that we keep kosher – meaning no pork or shellfish, and no mixing of meat and dairy.
Initially, I gave ChatGPT highly specific prompts to test its ability to follow narrow guidelines. It successfully created kosher-friendly recipes like herb-roasted chicken with carrots and potatoes, as well as vegetarian rice-stuffed peppers in a spicy tomato sauce. For added fun, I uploaded images from old recipe books to see if the AI could interpret and adapt them. Surprisingly, it generated complementary dishes that fit seamlessly into our meal plan.
Unprompted, ChatGPT even attempted to visualize the final plated dishes. The results were occasionally amusing – while the concept of the meals was spot-on, the finer details sometimes missed the mark (for example, blending the carrots and chicken visually into one orange blob).
Culinary Triumphs and Surprises
Throughout the week, AI-generated recipes provided plenty of variety. A standout was herb-crusted salmon served with couscous and asparagus – a dish elevated by the AI’s suggestion to add citrus zest to the crust. Another hit was homemade chicken shawarma wraps with tahini sauce and Israeli salad, which added a touch of warmth to a snowy evening.
Perhaps the crown jewel of the week was the mushroom risotto. I’ve always found risotto daunting, but ChatGPT’s precise, step-by-step guidance eased the process. The addition of truffle oil and white wine created a luxurious experience that felt far more elaborate than the effort required.
Of course, not every evening required such intricate cooking. On one night, AI suggested a simple grilled vegetable platter with hummus and dips – a welcome break from the more labor-intensive meals.
Lessons Learned from AI in the Kitchen
While the AI-driven culinary adventure introduced me to new flavors and techniques, the experience highlighted a few caveats. The AI occasionally overlooked finer details, like oven temperatures or ingredient substitutions. Additionally, visual representations of the meals, while creative, sometimes lacked realism.
Still, the convenience and personalization AI brought to meal planning outweighed the mishaps. By tailoring recipes to our preferences and generating easy-to-follow instructions, ChatGPT simplified the process, proving that AI can play a meaningful role in the kitchen – if not as a flawless chef, then at least as a helpful guide.
