Cooking & Meal Prep Session 6
Life Update + Risotto Soup + Vegan Chana Masala + Big Weekly Meal Prep
Hello everyone!
It has been nearly two months since my last newsletter. After things went awry during Nick's surgeries in March and April, I had to take time off from Cook Republic. Nick's ordeal was harrowing, almost a repeat of 2019 and I talked about it in this post on Instagram last month. He has now been home for a few weeks and things are definitely looking up. I am grateful for that. I am also grateful that you have all stuck around and showed so much support and encouragement through your emails and kind messages. Thank you!
Before Nick went in for surgery in late March, I had meal prepped and stocked my freezer to tide us for two weeks. But then two weeks became four and four became six. Although I couldn't meal prep between driving to and from the hospital twice a day, I cooked every chance I got to ensure that the boys had plenty of good, homecooked, nourishing meals in my absence. Cooking has absolutely been my saviour in these past couple of months. And I am glad to be back with another of my meal prep newsletters to help you create delicious, nourishing meals for your families while saving you heaps of time every week!
The newsletter poll on Instagram was a BIG WIN for the MID-WEEK MEAL PREP NEWSLETTER (66% votes). So here is the newsletter mid-week and I have structured it to allow you to shop for the recipes over the next couple of days ready to prep in the weekend!
 Let's Get Cooking!
RISOTTO SOUP (BUTTER BEAN AND RICE MINESTRONE)
This Risotto Soup is a one-pot dinner miracle that is as gorgeous to look at as it delicious to eat. With the taste of risotto and the texture of minestrone, it is like a warm hug for your insides. And the smell … oh the irresistible, warming smell of saffron, chilli, bay leaves and tomatoes slow-simmering makes this Butter Bean and Minestrone perfect for dinner parties on cold evenings or just an excuse to gather your family around the kitchen table.Â
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This risotto soup is cooked exactly like a risotto, without any of that stirring and hard work. I used to use arborio rice for risottos for the longest time until a few years ago when I tried carnaroli rice. Mind blown! Needless to say, I now always keep a steady supply of carnaroli rice for all my risotto needs. It is a little hard to find and more expensive than arborio, but if you can find some; it is worth it.
The saffron is key to this recipe, so don’t skip it. This risotto soup is a good one to pop on the hob on meal prep days. That way when you are done meal prepping, you have a hot effortless dinner ready to go. It keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you want to reheat it, you will need to loosen it with extra stock as the rice absorbs the liquid while it sits. I pack a large portion for dinner and a couple of smaller portions of lunches. The boys love this soup in their Thermos for .....
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VEGAN CHANA MASALA (CHICKPEA CURRY)
Chana Masala is a traditionally famous vegan dish from Punjab in northern India. A humble, home-style dish of tender chickpeas swimming in a delicious sauce, Vegan Chana Masala is one of our favourite weeknight dinners. Smoky, spicy and comforting, it comes together in very little time, can be easily scaled up and frozen for a rainy day and tastes even better the next day.
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How To Make A Good Chana Masala
For those of you who have never tasted an authentic chana masala, it tastes unlike any curry you might have tasted before. The sauce is complex and smoky, salty with a slight sweet-sour after-taste. And the heat is a slow build-up on your taste palate and comes from peppercorns and cloves and ginger rather than chilli. This means, you feel it lingering in the back rather than loud and upfront.
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A traditional chana masala dish involves some unusual but readily available ingredients
black tea
pomegranate seeds
dried mango powder
Growing up in India, legumes were always soaked overnight and pressure cooked the following morning before being transformed into delicious dishes for lunch and dinner. In fact, I had never ....
Earlier today, I received my fruit and veg box. I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen meal prepping the things you see in the picture above. This is going to be your Meal Prep Menu for next week. You can follow the entire meal prep session or do parts of it.Â
Weeknight Dinners
Monday - Everyday Fried Rice With Tray Baked Miso Salmon (recipe coming Saturday)
Tuesday - Aloo Gobi
Wednesday -Â Pumpkin & Cashew Soup
Thursday - Vegan Mushroom & Lentil Bolognese
Friday - Roast Veggie Couscous
Bonus (Chicken Recipe) - Oven Baked Thai Green Chicken Curry (recipe Coming Saturday)
Breakfast/ After School Snacks
Hummus Pots (pictured below)
MEAL PREP SESSION (2 HOURS)
Before you begin, get a large plastic/enamel tub to catch all your scraps and rubbish (multiples if you are saving scraps for chooks/compost). I cannot stress how much time you will save and keep the bench tidy if you are not going to the rubbish bin every few minutes.
1. Pre-heat oven. Gather all your meal prep pantry ingredients.
2. Chop leeks and store in a container. Peel a whole head of garlic.
3. Start by sauteing some bay leaves, leek and garlic for your soup base while cutting up a whole butternut pumpkin. Reserve 2-3 cups for the soup and put the rest of the pumpkin pieces on a lined, rimmed baking tray.
4. Add the pumpkin pieces, stock, herbs and some cashew butter to the pan. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. When done, fill in 350ml single-serve glass jars.
Active Time -Â 20 minutes
5. Cut a small cauliflower and separate the florets. Add to a roasting tray with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix and roast in the oven for 25 minutes. Cut another small cauliflower and separate florets into a bowl. Peel and chop two potatoes. Chop and onion and tomato. (This is for the Aloo Gobi)
6. Make hummus. Spoon it in 4 single-serve glass pots, top with olive oil, paprika, cumin and pinenuts. Refrigerate until ready to use. These are great to snack on with carrot sticks or crackers throughout the week.
7. Wash, rinse and cook a mix of basmati and jasmine rice in the rice cooker.
Active Time -Â 20 minutes
8. Slice and shred cabbage to be stored in the fridge for Okonomiyakis in the week.
9. Make Blackberry Chia Pudding and store in the fridge in a glass container.
10. Chop onion and carrot into tiny pieces. Slice shiitake mushroom, spring onion and lettuce. (This is for the Fried Rice). Chop an extra carrot and onion and add to the baking tray with the pumpkin.
11. Cook the Vegan Mushroom & Lentil Bolognese.
Active Time - 30 minutes
Break Time - 10 minutes (good idea to load the dishwasher and pack away cooked dishes)
12. Make Aloo Gobi
13. Make Everyday Fried Rice
14. Make Green Smoothie
15. Make Cacao & Banana Smoothie
16. Put the tray of veggies to roast in the oven.
Active Time - 30 minutes
17. Make Thai Green Curry Paste, store in the fridge ready to mix and oven bake the chicken dish. (Recipe coming Saturday)
18. Make Miso Garlic Sauce for the Salmon, store in the fridge and ready to use for a quick dinner on a weeknight. (Recipe Coming Saturday)
19. Make This Couscous and add your roasted veggies to it.
20. Mix the one-bowl dough for the cookies and bake them (or make this cookie instead)
Active Time -Â 20 minutes
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I have limited copies of my cookbook Tasty Express - a labour of love filled with over 100 of our family's most tried and tested and exciting 30-minute recipes inspired by street foods of the world. Mostly Vegetarian recipes that go from breakfast to quick dinners in a heartbeat. They make great gifts for you or a friend!
