5 healthy recipes to make ahead
You like to cook. Unfortunately, your daily life is so rhythmic that when you come home in the evening, your first instinct is to throw yourself on the fridge to see if there are any leftovers. Why not change your mode of organization by giving yourself two hours on weekends for batch cooking.
The batch, what? Batch cooking, understand “batch cooking” or “group cooking”, consists of preparing dishes in advance. Concretely, you no longer need to take your head every night wondering what you are going to eat. With this method, your menu of the week is planned for the weekend and all you have to do is let yourself be carried away.
However, there is no question of reserving the same dish every day. The idea is to concoct good meals all at once and to vary the methods of preparation. With simple vegetables, you can create a mixed salad and a gratin. “Saving time and money“, assures Caroline Pessin, culinary stylist and author of the book In 2 hours I cook veggie for the whole week volume 2 Hachette editions. “We spend an average of 30 minutes a night cooking. By the way two hours on Sunday instead, we gain thirty minutes over the week. And above all, we take pleasure in cooking“, she assures. No wasting time, either, doing the dishes since everything is done at the same time, or almost, since you will, sometimes, simply to assemble the same evening some food between them.
Another advantage of batch cooking? “This allows to to diversify the menus but also to take care of his health. As the meals are prepared in advance, we are less tempted to order food or cook industrial dishes”, insists Caroline Pessin.
The specialist recommends, as a first step, to refer to a specialized book on batch cooking, which details the preparation for the week and storage of ingredients. “In general, fish or dishes with sauce should be eaten at the beginning of the week. On Fridays, we eat a vegetarian dish because it keeps better, or we defrost a soup or a gratin”.
As you will have understood, batch cooking requires a little creativity and the pleasure of eating well.
What menu idea?
“Excerpts from In 2 hours I cook veggie for the whole week volume 2 by Caroline Pessin, photographs by Charly Deslandes, styling by Caroline Pessin”.
Races
Vegetables / Fruit
⁕ 1.5 kg of potatoes
⁕ 3 carrots
⁕ 3 zucchini
⁕ 1 bunch of radishes
⁕ 1 stalk of celery
⁕ 600g fresh or frozen spinach
⁕ 1 sachet of lamb’s lettuce (use-by date > 4 days)
⁕ 1 small lemon
⁕ 1 bunch of fresh onions
⁕ 250 g small white asparagus
⁕ 8 frozen artichoke hearts
⁕ 4 new turnips
⁕ 2 cm ginger
⁕ 6 garlic cloves
Basic closet
⁕ Olive oil
⁕ Vinegar
⁕ Mustard
⁕ 1 vegetable stock cube
⁕ Ras-el-hanout
⁕ Salt and pepper
Fresh products
⁕ 25 cl liquid cream
⁕ 1 pot of fresh cream (20 cl)
⁕ 200g smoked tofu
⁕ 12 eggs (including 6 for Tuesday)
⁕ 25g butter
⁕ 1 packet of grated Emmental cheese (about 100 g)
Grocery store
⁕ 1 sliced bread
⁕ 1 can white beans (about 400 g)
⁕ 1 can of crushed tomatoes
(about 400g)
⁕ 1 small jar of tomato puree
⁕ 300 g semolina for couscous
⁕ 200 g coral lentils
Menus of the week
Monday
Potato salad with asparagus and boiled eggs
Tuesday
Entrance
Dip for radish
Flat
Mashed potatoes and spinach, scrambled eggs
Wednesday
Couscous with artichokes and zucchini
Thusday
Coral lentil gratin
Friday
Entrance
Zucchini and radish leaf velouté
Flat
Spinach and smoked tofu croque-cake
Preparation
Advance preparation
1) If you have enough space, take out the ingredients you will need during this cooking session: all except the lamb’s lettuce, 6 eggs, butter and semolina. This allows you to have everything at hand and not waste time looking for ingredients in cupboards and the refrigerator.
2) Take out the necessary utensils:
⁕ 1 cake tin
⁕ 1 gratin dish
⁕ 1 large saucepan
⁕ 1 medium saucepan
⁕ 1 small saucepan
⁕ 1 sauté pan with lid
⁕ 1 kitchen salad bowl
⁕ 1 serving bowl
⁕ 1 sieve
⁕ 1 potato masher
⁕ 1 citrus press
⁕ 1 salad spinner
⁕ 1 spatula
⁕ 1 immersion blender or blender
⁕ 1 blender (for the dip)
⁕ 1 grater (for grated carrots and celery)
⁕ 5 containers: 1 large (purée), 1 medium (radish), 2 small (dip and
vinaigrette), 1 bottle to freeze the velouté
⁕ Cling film, parchment paper, aluminum foil
Let’s go for 2 hours of cooking!
1 The radishes. Strip the radishes from their tops. Wash them, dry them and place them in a medium airtight container. Wash the tops of the radishes very carefully in a salad spinner to remove all the soil. Save them for the soup.
2 Potatoes. Peel all the potatoes and cook them whole in a large pot of salted water for 30 minutes.
3 The velvety. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a simmer. Cut 1 zucchini into cubes and put it in the pan with the green of the fresh onions and 1 clove of garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the radish tops, continue cooking for another 10 minutes and mix with very little water. Gradually add the cooking water to the desired consistency. Strain through a sieve to remove the fibers. Transfer to a freezer-safe bottle, leaving enough head space to avoid bursting.
4 Spinach. In a skillet, heat 2 tbsp. tablespoon olive oil. Peel and chop a fresh onion and 1 clove of garlic. Add them in the
skillet with a good pinch of salt and let melt for 3 min. Gradually add the spinach and cook for 15 minutes.
5 white bean dip. Squeeze the juice from the lemon. Rinse the white beans. In the bowl of a blender, combine 1 peeled and degermed garlic clove, the white beans, the lemon juice, 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt and a little pepper. Mix by gradually adding 3 tbsp. tablespoon olive oil. Transfer to a small airtight container.
6 Cooking coral lentils. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Rinse the red lentils in a sieve then cook them for
10 minutes. Drain.
7 Puree. In a salad bowl, combine half the cooked potatoes, half the cooked spinach and half the pot of fresh cream. Crush
in the potato masher. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large airtight container.
8 Couscous. Rinse the sauté pan that was used for the spinach. Heat 3 tbsp. tablespoon olive oil. Peel and chop 2 onions, 2 cloves of garlic
and ginger. Add them to the pan with a little salt. Peel the 4 turnips and cut them in 4. Dice the remaining 2 courgettes. In
sauté pan, add the frozen turnips, zucchini and artichoke hearts. Add 1 tsp. coffee of ras-el-hanout, the tin of crushed tomatoes, the
half the jar of tomato purée and a stock cube. Cover with water and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
9 The coral lentil gratin. Preheat the oven to 180°C (th. 6). Mash the smoked tofu with a fork. Peel the 3 carrots. Grate the carrots and the celery stick and place half of them in a serving bowl (for the potato salad). In a kitchen bowl, beat 3 eggs with 25 cl of liquid cream, 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt and a little pepper. In a gratin dish,
combine ¾ of the cooked coral lentils, the remaining tomato puree, 1 minced clove of garlic, 2 potatoes cut into small cubes and a handful of grated carrots and celery. Add half of the crushed smoked tofu and a ladle of batter to the eggs. Mix well then cover with the packet of grated Emmental cheese. Bake for 10 mins.
10 The croque-cake. Cover the bottom of the cake tin with a sheet of parchment paper. Spread a layer of sliced bread. Cover with a handful of celery and grated carrots. Add a little crushed smoked tofu then 2 tbsp. tablespoons cooked spinach. Pour a ladle of the egg mixture. Repeat the operation until all the ingredients are used up, ending with the bread and the rest of the egg batter. Bake for 30 mins.
11 Cooking asparagus. Wash out the medium saucepan and bring salted water to a boil. Peel the asparagus and cook them for 10 to 15 minutes.
12 Hard-boiled eggs. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil to cook 3 eggs for 10 min.
13 The potato salad.Cut the remaining cooked potatoes into rounds. Chop the remaining fresh onions. In the salad bowl already containing the grated carrots and celery, put the potatoes, the onions, the cooked asparagus and the remaining red lentils. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and lay them on top. Cover with cling film.
14 The dressing. In a small airtight container, mix 1 tbsp. mustard, 4 tbsp. tablespoon vinegar, 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt and a little pepper. Gradually add 8 tbsp. tablespoons olive oil and 2 tbsp. water.
Everything is ready ! Let cool.
Place in the refrigerator:
⁕ Potato salad (keeps 2 days)
⁕ Radishes (keep 5 days)
⁕ White bean dip (keeps 4 days)
⁕ Mashed potatoes and spinach (keeps 3 days)
⁕ The couscous, in its covered sauté pan (keeps for 3 days)
⁕ Coral lentil gratin, covered in cling film
(keeps 4 days)
⁕ Vinaigrette (keeps for 1 week)
⁕ The rest of the fresh cream
Place in the freezer:
⁕ The croque-cake, wrapped in aluminum foil
⁕ The zucchini-radish leaf velouté
To do every evening: Monday 15 min
Potato salad with asparagus and boiled eggs
Preparation time :
15 mins
Ingredients : the salad, ¾ of the vinaigrette.
Cut the eggs in half. Toss the salad with the dressing.
Tuesday
Entrance
Dip for radish
Flat
Mashed potatoes and spinach, scrambled eggs
Preparation time :
5 min
Reheating and cooking time:
10 minutes
Ingredients : radishes, white bean dip; the mash, 6 eggs, 1 tbsp. tablespoons fresh cream, 25 g butter, salt and pepper.
Entrance. Dip the radishes in the dip.
Flat. Heat the puree in the microwave. Meanwhile, prepare the scrambled eggs: in a casserole, melt the butter then break the eggs. Cook for 3 minutes without mixing. Add 1 tsp. cream, salt and pepper then mix slowly with a spatula for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom well. Cover to let stand a few moments before serving with the mash.
Wednesday
Couscous with artichokes and zucchini
Preparation time :
5 min
Warm-up time:
10 minutes
Ingredients : 300 g of semolina, the couscous.
Heat the skillet for 10 minutes over medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare the semolina according to the package directions.
Thusday
Coral lentil gratin
Warm-up time:
15 mins
Ingredients : the gratin, the bag of lamb’s lettuce, the remaining vinaigrette
Heat the gratin for 15 minutes in the oven at 180°C (th. 6). Serve with seasoned lamb’s lettuce.
For Friday, bring out the velouté and the croque-cake
from the freezer and place them in the refrigerator.
Friday
Entrance
Zucchini and radish leaf velouté
Flat
Spinach and smoked tofu croque-cake
Warm-up time:
15 mins
Ingredients : the thawed velouté, the remaining crème fraîche; the thawed croque-cake.
Entrance. Heat the velouté over low heat in a saucepan. Serve with fresh cream, salt and pepper.
Flat. Heat the croque-cake in the oven at 180°C (th. 6) for 10 min.