How I batch cook
My lazy and delicious "prep" ritual.
I don’t like to meal prep, or spending a whole day making stuff for the week. That’s too much of a commitment, and I get tired of eating the same thing every day.
I’d rather maximize the time I do spend in the kitchen by making extra of what I’m already cooking, and little by little building out an assortment for the week as the days pass.
Note these items are mainly for my lunches, since it’s the meal I tend to overlook. I mix and match based on what I want that day.
A typical week:
Last Saturday I roast a whole chicken (400° for one hour, salt, pepper and old bay seasoning). We used some of the meat for tacos. The rest I cut up and saved, and froze the bones separately as well. I used shredded lettuce so I chopped a whole head and stored what we didn’t use.
On Sunday I cooked a big batch of black beans to make huevos rancheros and had lots to save. Since I was in the kitchen I roast some whole beets (375° for 45min) knowing I’d want them for later.
Monday is my local farm delivery day, and I soon is opened it I prepped some items as I unpacked: two bunches of kale which I rinsed, chopped and massaged with olive oil. A bag of red onions which I sliced thin and pickled with salt, pepper, oregano and lots of lime juice. Sweet potatoes which I roast whole (400° for one hour). And made a beet salad with the ones I had from Sunday (add sliced celery, pickled onions, olive oil). I also made chicken soup with the bones from the weekend.
Today I made some tamari-cured jammy boiled eggs (7min boil, peel and cover with ½ cup tamari, ¼ cup rice vinegar, 1tsp sugar, dash of toasted sesame oil and a bit of water to cover. Rest at least 4 hours.) And made a pot of Quinoa to use later.
A few lunch ideas:
Lettuce bowl with chicken, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes and pickled beets.
Fried eggs with beans, kale and pickled onions.
Quinoa bowl with kale, tamari-cured eggs, shredded carrots and pickled onions.
Keep it simple and fun!
Paola