Batch Cooking: 5 Big Dishes to See You Through the Week

Featuring some classic recipes and a sprinkling of new dishes you may not have tried before, this recipe collection has been put together to help you save money and eat deliciously at the same time. What’s not to love? 

With food and energy prices soaring, cooking up batches of your favourite dishes makes more sense than ever. By doing so, you can utilise leftovers, which saves food waste, makes your money stretch further, and guarantees you’ll always have something tasty waiting when you get home from the office.

Best of all, by cooking up a few meals’ worth of each dish at once, you’ll be able to stock your freezer for weeks.

Healing Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Severs 8-10

Provided by: Nicole Derseweh, a cookbook author and celebrity vegan chef with culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu.

“This is an incredible dish that can be made in bulk and stays ready to eat throughout the week.”

It comes with the surprise addition of chopped walnuts, which are rich in fatigue-reducing, metabolism-helping magnesium, while the lentils are a bonus veggie protein source.

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 4 cups shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 onion
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup carrot
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1 1/2 cup French lentils
• 1 cup of peas
• 3 cups of spinach
• 3 cups of mushroom broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 2 tablespoons white pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 190ºC and bring a pan of water to the boil. Roughly chop the cauliflower and drop it in the boiling water.

Add the onion, shallot, garlic, fennel seeds, coriander, white pepper, onion powder and cumin to a skillet pan with some oil. Cook until onions are tender. 

Pour in the Marsala wine to deglaze the pan, and partially cook off the wine. Add the chopped nutritional yeast, walnuts, mushrooms, celery, carrots and peas, along with the mushroom broth, thyme, and rosemary, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Once tender, strain the cauliflower from the hot water and return it to the (drained) pot. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and tahini. Mash with a potato masher and set aside.

Pre-grease a casserole dish. Add the vegetable mixture. Top with the mash. Drizzle with olive oil. Add a sprinkle of rosemary and bake for 25 minutes.

Curried Power Bowl

Serves 6

Provided by: Vandana Sheth, a registered dietitian nutritionist and author of My Indian Table: Quick & Tasty Vegetarian Recipes. 

“This is a delicious Indian-inspired meal that features garbanzo beans, cauliflower, spices and herbs. Garbanzo beans are a powerhouse of nutrition that may support heart health and blood sugar management. Cauliflower is low in calories and rich in a variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Curcumin is known for its anti-inflammatory properties, which potentially help with heart health."

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 serrano chili, deseeded and chopped (optional)
• ½ teaspoon ground red chili
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1-1.5 large cauliflower heads
• 2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2-4 tablespoons chopped coriander (optional)
• Bag of greens

Method

Heat oil on medium-high setting in a saucepan. Toss in cumin seeds and sauté for around a minute until darker brown. Add onions and sauté until golden. Add red chili, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, garlic, ginger, and sauté the lot for another minute. 

Add cauliflower and mix well and cook for five minutes. Add the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, mix well, cover and cook for about six minutes minutes. Season to taste. 

Serve on a bed of greens with a drizzle of cucumber raita, or place inside a wholegrain tortilla and enjoy as a wrap. Or even with a side of quinoa or rice.

Confit Chickpeas and Blackberries

Serves 4

Provided by Penny Stephens, nutritionist at Love Fresh Berries

This dish is a great combination of sweet and savoury that adds a tang to any dinner. Best of all, it’s great for you, too. Blackberries are packed with vitamin C which supports our immune health, and dietary fibre, which is great for good gut health.

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
• 400g can tomatoes
• 1 large red pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 knob fresh ginger, peeled and cut in thin strips
• 2 red chilies left whole
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed, roughly crushed
• Pinch sugar
• 100ml olive oil
• 150g blackberries

For the couscous:

• 120g giant couscous
• Handful each of mint, coriander and parsley leaves

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/fan or 150C/gas mark 3. 

Place all the ingredients except the blackberries in a large, lidded oven proof casserole dish. Add 1/2 tsp salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine everything, breaking up the tomatoes if they are whole. 

Cover and cook for 1 hour 20 minutes, stirring halfway through and adding the blackberries for the final 10 minutes.

For the couscous: place in a pan, cover with boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. Roughly chop the herbs and stir into the couscous with some seasoning. Serve alongside the chickpea confit.

Chickpea Curry

Serves 8

Provided by: Chef Lonnie G, a private vegan chef in Miami 

“This is a great source of plant-based protein and fibre. Turmeric is a great source of antioxidants which help protect the body from free radicals. They also have a low glycemic index, which helps regulate your blood sugar. One cup of chickpeas can have up to 10-15 grams of protein – which is great as there is a misconception that those who eat plant-based diets don’t get enough protein.”

Ingredients

• 2 can of rinsed chickpeas
• 2 can of coconut milk
• 1 cup of diced yellow onions
• 1/2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 4 tablespoons of curry powder
• 2 tablespoon of garlic powder 
• Sprinkle of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt
• 1 old bay seasoning 
• Jasmine rice, fried plantains, fresh avocado (optional)

Method

Sauté the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add the curry powder and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and sauté until slightly firm, about four minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and let simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. This will build the sauce.

Check the curry and stir occasionally. Once the sauce is thickened, add in the remaining seasonings and turn off the heat.

Serve with jasmine rice, fried plantains, and fresh avocado.

Masoub

Serves 6

Provided by: Adylia-Rhenee Gutierrez, registered nutritionist at Yhorlife 

Now for something a little sweeter. This dish is an inexpensive way of providing dessert for the whole family. It’s a great way of using up leftover food, and you can set it aside for the next day, too.

“Masoub is a dish unique to the countries of the Arabian Peninsula – mainly parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is a sort-of dense banana pudding that can be whipped up quickly. Bananas are rich in fibre, potassium, vitamins B6 and C, as well as various antioxidants, and phytonutrients. They also help bones stay healthy as we age, and our muscles to work better. I’ve seen it eaten with shredded cheese, and cornflakes, so don’t be afraid to experiment with toppings.”

Ingredients

• 4 whole wheat pitas or flatbread
• 6 bananas ripened 
• 2 handfuls of dates 
• 4 teaspoons of honey 
• One cup of vegan dairy-free double cream
• Sprinkling of nigella seeds 

Method

Put the bread in the food processor with the dates and blend. Mash the bananas then incorporate into the bread and date mixture. 

Add the cream, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with nigella seeds.