Whether you call it meal prep, cooking in large portions, or just making a one-pot, it all comes down to making a home cooked, delicious and simple meal in a big batch.
Meal prep is what usually is on my mind. I fill plastic containers that travel and fly with me everywhere. Yes, fly, like on airplanes – make sure there aren’t any liquids lurking around in the container, or else security will grab your lunch. Your own bring along food container is also a great way of avoiding expensive and processed foods that you find in most convenience stores or fast food restaurants when you are on the go. I usually make sure my meal preps consist of a ton of vegetables, a choice of protein and whatever carb (potatoes, rice or pastas) I want on the side.
The recipe I used last Sunday, is a version of a Green Curry that Nigella Lawson dished out decades ago. I can’t remember if I found the recipe in a book, video or whatever, but it’s simple and versatile enough in it’s composition, hence easy to remember. The trick or the cheating ingredient, is the green curry paste which comes conveniently premade in a jar. That is the only processed ingredient in this dish, but it gives off a punchy flavour and you only need relatively little, so you are forgiven.
For this recipe you will need:
- 2 – 3 tbsp Green or Red curry paste (whatever brand you prefer)
- a couple of spring onions, chopped
- 500 g of mushrooms or whatever vegetables you would like
- about 650 gram chicken filets – breast or thigh, diced
- 250 ml coconut milk (full fat of light – you choose)
- frozen green beans (use fresh if you like)
- frozen green peas – also optional and to your liking, chick peas?!
- whatever leftover vegetables you have.
You can tell from the above, that this is not an exact science, go by the feel and see how it turns out.
Start off with taking about 2-3 tbsp of curry paste in a pot at medium heat. Chop up spring onions and stir the two together for a couple of minutes. This is supposed to release the flavour! Then add the diced chicken and stir until sort of cooked on the outside. Add mushrooms, the coconut milk and stir. Beware of not adding too much liquid, as frozen vegetables give off some water. If you use fresh vegetables, then no problem.
Let it all simmer for about 20 min in the pot at low heat under a lid. Slight bubbles should be forming on the surface. Then in the last 5 min or so, add in the frozen vegetables, stir and let simmer again for about 5 min. In my fridge that day, I had a can of left over pineapples, which I just added to the mix. Use whatever you fancy and what you happen to have in the house. And when it is all done, it should end up looking something like the below.
So there you go. As simple as can be. Invite your family, friends, eat by your self, or put in plastic containers for a reheat throughout the week. And yes, I am not expecting Michelin to drop by any time soon, so my dishes are kept very low key, but highly edible!
What about the colour in this story?
The paste is called green curry, but I bet that had I gotten the red one, it would have tasted exactly the same. What makes the paste very palatable is the concentration of lemon grass in it. Lemon grass has a grassy straw like colour that transgresses to a more firmer green at the root of its straw. If you have ever chopped up lemon grass, you know it’s quite fibrous and tough to get by. Also amongst ingredients I read kaffir lime leaves, presumably upping the greenish vibe in the jar!
I put the fresh green spring onions next to the paste as a colour comparison. The spring onions look positively vibrant and fresh alongside the paste which is rather dull there in its jar. But what we find in this jar, is a concentrated blend of various herbs, spices and macerated lemon grass that makes for the “zing” in the whole dish. Without it, it would be a rather bland concoction of vegetables and chicken. We can therefore forgive its rather lack-lustre appearance and just dig in.
Digg 😁😁