Perfect lunch quest
September 15, 2017 5:46 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for delicious and interesting recipes that make 4-8 servings, freeze excellently, and incorporate inexpensive cuts of meat and non-starchy vegetables. Rather than finding a few favorites and rotating them, I get bored. I do like new twists on old classics. In the past I've had good luck with just about anything involving chicken thighs in some kind of flavorful sauce or braise, brisket, goat stew, chilis, etc.
What I'm looking for:
* Novelty!!!!
* freezes very well
* Not your basic meatloaf/pot roast
* Few simple carbohydrates, moderate complex carbohydrates
* Animal protein is a must. I've tried not eating animal protein at lunch and I'm still hungry after.
* Something I will *prefer* to eating out even after having eaten it 3-4 times fairly recently. So, delicious.
* Actual tried-and-tasted-and-frozen recipes rather than terms to search.
What I'm looking for:
* Novelty!!!!
* freezes very well
* Not your basic meatloaf/pot roast
* Few simple carbohydrates, moderate complex carbohydrates
* Animal protein is a must. I've tried not eating animal protein at lunch and I'm still hungry after.
* Something I will *prefer* to eating out even after having eaten it 3-4 times fairly recently. So, delicious.
* Actual tried-and-tasted-and-frozen recipes rather than terms to search.
I do a lot of what you describe, though most of it is "freehand" cooking and so I can't point you to specific recipes.
But one that might fit the bill: individual Fat Head Pizzas. Hits your low-ish carb requirement. The dough has a lot of mozzarella in it, so between that and the cheese on top and any meat toppings, so will hit your animal protein requirement. Works very well to prepare/freeze/reheat, too--and will get you out of the stewed-meat-and-veg rut.
posted by Sublimity at 8:00 AM on September 15, 2017
But one that might fit the bill: individual Fat Head Pizzas. Hits your low-ish carb requirement. The dough has a lot of mozzarella in it, so between that and the cheese on top and any meat toppings, so will hit your animal protein requirement. Works very well to prepare/freeze/reheat, too--and will get you out of the stewed-meat-and-veg rut.
posted by Sublimity at 8:00 AM on September 15, 2017
I meant to add that I put the whole 283g jar of paste in with a kilo/2lb of brisket (plus all the extra veg) but I would put less if, say, the grandkidlets were eating with us (maybe 1 or 2 of these paste pots, rather than freezing half a jar).
Another one from the much cooked dishes list, Chicken & Posh Ham Bake. I cook and freeze at least 6 chicken breasts at a time so that there's enough for lots of meals and sandwiches.
- Preheat oven to 190/375/Gas 5.
- Throw a large punnet of halved cherry tomatoes (and maybe an optional handful of olives) into an oven proof dish.
- Wrap any number of chicken breasts in parma/proscuitto ham (or bacon) and place on top of the tomatoes/olives.
- Top the chicken breasts with sundried tomatoes then a generous slice of cheese (cheddar, mozarella, feta, all work well).
- Drizzle some of the sundried tomato oil over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes.
- Serve with vegetables of your choice.
- Batch up the leftovers to freeze and eat again as a main course but it's especially good shredded and used as a pasta sauce or sliced as a mega sandwich filling.
posted by humph at 8:58 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Another one from the much cooked dishes list, Chicken & Posh Ham Bake. I cook and freeze at least 6 chicken breasts at a time so that there's enough for lots of meals and sandwiches.
- Preheat oven to 190/375/Gas 5.
- Throw a large punnet of halved cherry tomatoes (and maybe an optional handful of olives) into an oven proof dish.
- Wrap any number of chicken breasts in parma/proscuitto ham (or bacon) and place on top of the tomatoes/olives.
- Top the chicken breasts with sundried tomatoes then a generous slice of cheese (cheddar, mozarella, feta, all work well).
- Drizzle some of the sundried tomato oil over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes.
- Serve with vegetables of your choice.
- Batch up the leftovers to freeze and eat again as a main course but it's especially good shredded and used as a pasta sauce or sliced as a mega sandwich filling.
posted by humph at 8:58 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Quiche: freezes well, delicious with meat & veggie in it (if the egg & cheese isn't enough/the right protein). I suggest broccoli (+ cooked bacon/sausage/chicken), but you can vary these nearly endlessly. Just make sure the veggies are pre-cooked or pre-frozen and well-drained/pressed as dry as possible. You can also make it into more of a frittata by skipping the crust. In that case, I would put the cooking dish into a water bath to protect the egg. I use the basic recipe from Michael Ruhlman's Ratio.
This might not scratch the low-carb veg itch (has tomatoes & onions and I usually add bell pepper, but also has corn and beans), but I have made, frozen, and love: tamale pie from Cook's Illustrated's The Make-Ahead Cook. It's from a whole chapter on meals to freeze, but I haven't tried any of the other recipes in it.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:03 AM on September 15, 2017
This might not scratch the low-carb veg itch (has tomatoes & onions and I usually add bell pepper, but also has corn and beans), but I have made, frozen, and love: tamale pie from Cook's Illustrated's The Make-Ahead Cook. It's from a whole chapter on meals to freeze, but I haven't tried any of the other recipes in it.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:03 AM on September 15, 2017
Cold leftover meatloaf sandwiches with mustard and arugula are really, really good. I often put it in a wrap, I've seen low-carb tortillas.
Chicken Marbella, but I use apricots instead of prunes.
Roasted veg & Polish sausage. I like Brussel sprouts, onions, sweet potatoes, roasted with olive oil & rosemary, at 375, @ 45 mins, stirred every 10 mins or so. Add chunked kielbasa about 15 minutes in.
posted by theora55 at 9:05 AM on September 15, 2017
Chicken Marbella, but I use apricots instead of prunes.
Roasted veg & Polish sausage. I like Brussel sprouts, onions, sweet potatoes, roasted with olive oil & rosemary, at 375, @ 45 mins, stirred every 10 mins or so. Add chunked kielbasa about 15 minutes in.
posted by theora55 at 9:05 AM on September 15, 2017
I do this with the Instant Pot. Step 1 is buying a 4-5lb bag of frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs. At least some of them will have stuck together so I cook approximately half the bag at a time, seasoned neutrally with salt, garlic and onion powders, shake of red pepper flakes: 7 minutes high pressure, natural release (realistically 20 minutes up to an hour or two, they sit on Keep Warm until I remember to go back). I pull them into a container to cool and do the second batch in the juice of the first.
(Alternately, I will make the recipes below, since you prefer recipes, but I always use thighs instead of breast because I find chicken breast goes horribly rubbery in the pressure cooker. The packing-up process is the same as post-sauced chicken.)
From there, I split the meat up into 2-3 containers and sauce them. A lot of times I'm just using jars/packets - "simmer sauce" from the grocery store, jars of curry sauces, canned soup, bottled marinades like Teriyaki (or I just make up a soy-sesame-ginger-garlic dressing at home) or sweet and sour, Velveeta and Ro-tel because I'm a monster. I keep several types of Thai curry paste in the fridge, but those will need to be fried in a pan and whisked with some of the chicken juice and/or coconut milk. Sometimes I have made a big batch of satay-type peanut sauce and I use that.
Then I portion out the chicken into servings in meal prep containers, almost always with frozen cauliflower but sometimes I mix it up and do other vegetables or even cook some kind of low-carb vegetable casserole. Trader Joe's has some veg blends that I like to use in lieu of rice. Most of the prepped containers are frozen, a few stay in the fridge to be used the next few days.
My monstrous cheesy chicken usually gets mixed with black beans before freezing, and then packed with a baggie of shredded cabbage or curtido, and some low carb tortillas.
For specific recipes, if you have an instant pot or other pressure cooker, you might like Cilantro Lime Chicken, Honey Sesame Chicken, Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken. I've made all of these and they are very popular around here.
This one I also love but have not tried freezing. It's a toss-up with cream cheese, it might go fine or it might get a little separated but will still taste fine (OR the bit of wild rice that's in it might keep it stable): Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.
(Note: all the above recipes are from Pressure Cooking Today, and I've never had a bad recipe from there. And they're well written and easy to use. It's worth buying an electric pressure cooker if you don't have one.)
I have not yet converted this recipe to pressure cooker because it is soooooo good as-is: Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup. Freezes great, you just need to pack all the fixins with it at time of eating.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:08 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Alternately, I will make the recipes below, since you prefer recipes, but I always use thighs instead of breast because I find chicken breast goes horribly rubbery in the pressure cooker. The packing-up process is the same as post-sauced chicken.)
From there, I split the meat up into 2-3 containers and sauce them. A lot of times I'm just using jars/packets - "simmer sauce" from the grocery store, jars of curry sauces, canned soup, bottled marinades like Teriyaki (or I just make up a soy-sesame-ginger-garlic dressing at home) or sweet and sour, Velveeta and Ro-tel because I'm a monster. I keep several types of Thai curry paste in the fridge, but those will need to be fried in a pan and whisked with some of the chicken juice and/or coconut milk. Sometimes I have made a big batch of satay-type peanut sauce and I use that.
Then I portion out the chicken into servings in meal prep containers, almost always with frozen cauliflower but sometimes I mix it up and do other vegetables or even cook some kind of low-carb vegetable casserole. Trader Joe's has some veg blends that I like to use in lieu of rice. Most of the prepped containers are frozen, a few stay in the fridge to be used the next few days.
My monstrous cheesy chicken usually gets mixed with black beans before freezing, and then packed with a baggie of shredded cabbage or curtido, and some low carb tortillas.
For specific recipes, if you have an instant pot or other pressure cooker, you might like Cilantro Lime Chicken, Honey Sesame Chicken, Spicy Honey Garlic Chicken. I've made all of these and they are very popular around here.
This one I also love but have not tried freezing. It's a toss-up with cream cheese, it might go fine or it might get a little separated but will still taste fine (OR the bit of wild rice that's in it might keep it stable): Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.
(Note: all the above recipes are from Pressure Cooking Today, and I've never had a bad recipe from there. And they're well written and easy to use. It's worth buying an electric pressure cooker if you don't have one.)
I have not yet converted this recipe to pressure cooker because it is soooooo good as-is: Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup. Freezes great, you just need to pack all the fixins with it at time of eating.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:08 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
This meets all of your requirements and is delicious! I've made it many, many times and am about to make it again. It freezes beautifully. Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken, Lentil, and Bacon Stew With Carrots.
posted by HotToddy at 9:51 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 9:51 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
how about stuffed bell peppers
saute any ground meet and onions with finely chopped carrots until carrots are soft
mix with precooked rice
add any kind of tomato sauce simmer to blend.
Cut bell peppers in half, and spoon in meat mixture.
Place onto baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how soft you like your peppers to be.
After cooked sprinkle with grated cheese, and broil until cheeze is melted.
After cooled these can be frozen and reheated at any time.
posted by icu2bcn at 3:16 PM on September 15, 2017
saute any ground meet and onions with finely chopped carrots until carrots are soft
mix with precooked rice
add any kind of tomato sauce simmer to blend.
Cut bell peppers in half, and spoon in meat mixture.
Place onto baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how soft you like your peppers to be.
After cooked sprinkle with grated cheese, and broil until cheeze is melted.
After cooled these can be frozen and reheated at any time.
posted by icu2bcn at 3:16 PM on September 15, 2017
At this moment, there's a 2 lb pork roast in the crock pot with smoke flavoring, salt & some cabbage at the bottom. It will be dinner and go in to wraps with coleslaw, or sliced with roasted veg.
posted by theora55 at 12:01 PM on September 18, 2017
posted by theora55 at 12:01 PM on September 18, 2017
I just made this "Tuscan Creamy Chicken" tonight and it was surprisingly good. 100% not "Tuscan" but simple and delicious. I used a lot more spinach than the recipe called for and it was great. The recipe is for a pressure cooker but you could do it on the stovetop or oven.
posted by lunasol at 11:29 PM on September 20, 2017
posted by lunasol at 11:29 PM on September 20, 2017
I totally do this!
I like to make a double recipe of Aziz Ansari's mom's chicken korma (you can eat it with rice or cauliflower rice if you prefer) and I'm always SO EXCITED to eat it that I don't even want to eat out. I freeze it in meal-size portions and just store them all in the freezer at work.
Other good ones: Pozole, chicken and dumplings, biryani (I use a recipe someone on mefi gave me for this, actually), and I'm planning to try Roberto the Soup next.
posted by exceptinsects at 1:24 PM on September 21, 2017
I like to make a double recipe of Aziz Ansari's mom's chicken korma (you can eat it with rice or cauliflower rice if you prefer) and I'm always SO EXCITED to eat it that I don't even want to eat out. I freeze it in meal-size portions and just store them all in the freezer at work.
Other good ones: Pozole, chicken and dumplings, biryani (I use a recipe someone on mefi gave me for this, actually), and I'm planning to try Roberto the Soup next.
posted by exceptinsects at 1:24 PM on September 21, 2017
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I put lots of extra carrots in, plus a punnet or two of (whole) cherry tomatoes, (low carb) cauliflower florets and whatever root vegetables are lurking in the fridge/porch and need using up.
I've also made it with jalfrezi and madras pastes, I'm sure it would work wonderfully with other pastes such as thai red/green curry or harissa (which is what I'm planning this weekend).
Lentils, pearl barley, all the pulses would also work very well and lastly, it freezes beautifully.
posted by humph at 7:59 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]