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Weeknight Cooking Made Easier
Earlier today, I read this article on The Kitchn on why this blogger makes the same recipes each weeknight. I recently felt bad that I was repeating the same recipes over and over, but now I don’t. To some extent, I agree with the author of the article. I know what I like to eat, and, on a busy weekday, I don’t want to waste time making food that I’m not sure I will like. That’s probably why I find myself making the same foods. Hey, I know I will like it. The ingredients are easy to find, and it won’t be a wasted effort.
However, there is a part of me that cries inside at the monotony of what she suggests, especially her menu. It’s totally not paleo, and that is her choice. Yet, I think there are ways to improve on this idea, and still save ourselves time and energy in the kitchen weeknights. Plus, we still get to eat food we love and that we know will nourish our bodies.
In the paleo world, we like to batch cook. That serves us well on busy weeknights. Let’s take that idea a step further and find recipes that can be compliments of each other.
One example is to make a big batch of my Marinara Sauce on the weekend. You get about two quarts or so out of that recipe. It can be served on top of zoodles or spaghetti squash with some browned ground beef or compliant sausage. You can also use it in my Chicken Cacciatore recipe. Another use is a sauce for a pizza with a compliant crust, like cauliflower. Sometimes I freeze half of it. I’ll stick it in the fridge on Sunday and use it midweek after it has thawed.
Ground beef can be browned ahead. You just season it lightly with salt and pepper and cook until just no longer pink. When you reheat, you can season it any way you like. If you are adding it to spaghetti squash and marinara, use some garlic and Italian seasonings. If you are making lettuce tacos, go a more Tex-Mex route with cayenne, garlic and cumin and pair it with my Roasted Tomato Salsa and my Mexican Cauliflower Rice. Sometimes I use marjoram, paprika, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Pair it with roasted veggies, like my Lemon Roasted Carrots and Parsnips, and you have a whole meal. Make a little extra for dinner and set it aside for lunch the next day as you are cleaning up.
A roast pork can be just a versatile. Shred the meat after cooking. It can be eaten on its own, in tacos, or on top of a baked sweet potato. My favorite recipe is Nom Nom Paleo’s Kalua Pig.
Roast a whole chicken, like my Yumtastic Chicken, on the weekend and you can eat all week off of it, depending on the size of your family. I often take the meat off the bones after it cools and store those in the freezer for broth. The leftover chicken can be added to a bowl of salad greens, eaten on its own, made into a chicken salad with a mayo dressing, used in a soup. You name it. The possibilities are endless here.
When I’m in my batch cooking groove, I typically cook two proteins, like a chicken and some ground beef. Then I mix up my meals. I might have chicken on a spinach salad for one meal. I might cook that spinach and serve with some ground beef for another meal. Sometimes I will roast a bunch of veggies and reheat those to go with my proteins. As long as I have several options in my fridge, I can eat with plenty of variety throughout the week.
