prep ahead week 3

Last week I shared my idea of preparing a week of meals on one day and then finishing them on the day that you actually eat the meal. This has been working really well for my family of four and I find that even when I am really tired I can have dinner on the table within a half hour with minimal work.

Last week the menu consisted of 7 meals. This week I am reconsidering the 7 as too many meals for the average family. A day or two a week might be devoted to a special meal that you would like to put more time into or it could be a family favorite meal or leftovers or going out to eat.

This week's meal prep ahead consists of 5 meals. Since I cut two meals I am also alternating seitan and tofu instead of including them on each rotation.

Again, the meals are mostly whole foods, little or no oil (you decide) and are complete with grain, protein and green vegetable. They are also complete in the sense that there is a shopping list which includes the recommended accompaniments to the meals, such as bread or crackers.

In addition, I am also breaking out the recipes in the week ahead. Meaning that I will feature each of these recipes as their own separate recipe (apart from the Prep Ahead recipe) so you can make just a single recipe instead of the whole week, if you choose.

Meal 1 is Chimichurri Potatoes and Tofu. Becky Striepe of Glue and Glitter posted a chimichurri recipe a few weeks ago and I have one in my book Vegan Bowls [AMAZON] and I love it! But chimichurri uses a lot of oil and I wanted to come up with a recipe that was equally good without all the oil.

Chimichurri Potatoes and Tofu with Spicy Bok Choy Kinpira

Meal 2 is Pickled Vegetables Salad. This is my riff on Giardiniera but using homemade pickled cauliflower. It is also like a bean salad, but, again, using oil is optional. After pickling the cauliflower and assembling the bean salad, you can stash it until ready to eat. Then roast the cauliflower before adding it to the salad - it is a treat. [I cut the seitan from this dish, but it is in the pic.]

Pickled Vegetables and Beans on a bed of greens.

Meal 3 is Sriracha Artichoke Rolls. These are like the seafood rolls, but instead of mayo, the dressing is made of yogurt. If you like mayo better, sub it. The filling is chickpeas and artichokes. It is served on regular whole grain buns with a side of fresh green salad.

Sriracha Artichoke Rolls with chickpeas and a fresh green salad with homemade vinaigrette. 

Meal 4 is Char Siu Pizza. Mushrooms, bell pepper strips and cannellini beans are tossed with homemade char siu sauce. The pizza sauce itself isn't just regular tomato sauce, but instead has a wonderful kick. Certainly not your ordinary pizza night, but still easy and quick on the day of. This dough is homemade and uses all-purpose flour, but I am working on a whole grain version. In the meantime, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's both have whole grain pizza dough available.

Char Sui Pizza with shiitake, beans, green peppers and steamed chard.  

Meal 5 is Curried Chickpea Soup with rice and spinach. Curried flavors infuse this warm and delicious soup. Rice offers a wonderful body and richness and it is warm and filling on a cold winter night. This is served with Seasoned Pita Wedges.

Curried Chickpea Soup with toasted rice, spinach and served with Seasoned Pita Wedges.

It takes about 2 hours to prepare these meals on a single day and they are ready in about 30 minutes on the day that you are serving them.

PDFs below are the Overview of the meals (basically what will happen throughout the week), Shopping List (all the ingredients are listed so check over it and cross out what you already have), Prep Day Instructions (follow in the order given for speed and efficiency), Prep Day Recipes (these are the recipes that are called for in the Instructions) and Day-of Recipes (cut these in half and staple them together in the order you plan to serve the meals).

Overview

Shopping List

Prep Day Instructions

Prep Day Recipes

Day-of Recipes

prep ahead + winners of "the essential vegan travel guide"

Greetings all! Hope everyone is enjoying the ending of another year. I am so into learning about the patters of history and what brings us to where we are now, that I highly recommend The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe [AMAZON]; it turns out that we are on the cusp of a recurring Crisis. Very interesting!

I'm not into apocalypse theories so this one is really up my alley. Crisis doesn't mean the end of the world; it means a huge change that is measurable, especially in hindsight.

With that in mind - get your travel on while you can! The winners of the giveaway for The Essential Vegan Travel Guide [AMAZON] are....

US winner (of the paperback): Comment number one. Kellyanne, please contact me by December 28 with your mailing address.

International winner (of the Kindle edition): Comment number two, a bunch of random numbers and letters. Again, please contact me by December 28.

Congratulations to you both! zsu [at] zsusveganpantry [dot] com

It's been hard to miss that I've been cracking my head over how to make dinner faster, to the point that I've tried Dump Dinners (very limited in terms of possibilities) and I've tried Pantry+ recipes, but my pantry is not your pantry and let's face it, I doubt anyone actually follows pantry recommendations.

I do want to make meals faster, but I also want to make them healthy and use whole foods as much as possible. To that end, I created a few weeks of menus (testing things out before springing it on you) and I've come up with Prep Ahead.

Take one day, mine is Wednesday because CSA gets delivered on Tuesday, but if you work outside the house, that might mean Sunday, and use it as the Prep Day. Of course, pick whatever day works best for you.

Use the Prep Day to prepare whatever is possible to prepare up to 6 days in advance. A few recipes have night before prep required, but you can do that while you are finishing the daily meal.

The menu is varied, includes soy and seitan, each once a week. One pasta, a few bean recipes, a salad, a soup and a sandwich. All the meals are balanced, with grain, greens and protein.

Prep Ahead Week 2 consists of Italian Mushroom Ragu served over pasta (or rice, if you like). This is a slow cooker meal and I recommend serving it on Prep Day. It makes dinner ready when you are.

Meal 2 is Curried Chickpea Sandwich served with Bok Choy and Carrot Kinpira. Kinpira is an easy and flavorful way to cook vegetables fast. The vegetables are braised in a flavorful liquid and are ready in about 5 minutes.

Meal 3 is Chili Corn Chowder. This is another slow cooker recipe. Chowder and Chili meet forces to create a warm and hearty meal. Serve it with tortillas, tortilla chips or crackers. 

Meal 4 is Steak Salad. Cook up the prepared seitan you made on Prep Day and serve it warm over a bed of greens. It is served with Garlic Yogurt dressing and crostini - which is fancy talk for toasted bread. 

Meal 5 is Mexican Lasagna. Tortillas are baked with a vegetable and bean loaded filling. Serve with vegan sour cream or salsa and loads of radishes and jalapenos (if you like heat.)

Meal 6 is Brussels Sprouts and Balsamic Pasta. This pasta dish is brimming with roasted Brussels sprouts that are finished cooking in balsamic vinegar and served with black beans and walnuts. 

And Meal 7 is Souvlaki of tofu and zucchini served with Rice Pilaf and Spinach. Yogurt-marinated tofu and zucchini sit on top of a bed of deliciously toasty rice pilaf. This interpretation of the Greek dish is highly addictive. 

If you are game to try this Prep Ahead Menu, I have prepared a shopping list, what to do on the Prep Day, what to do on the Day-of serving and all the recipes to make this go as fast and smooth as possible. All the documents are in PDF. 

I recommend you print out the Day-of Recipes and cut the pages in half. Staple them together in the order you are planning to serve them.

Overview [comprehensive look at what is going on].

Shopping List

Prep Day Instructions

Prep Day Recipes

Day-of Recipes