A True Summer Meal Prep
with detail prep and recipes attached - Sophia's Weekly Cooking Journey June 11 2024
Sometimes, YouTube recommends videos where people prep and cook three dishes to eat for the entire week. That’s criminal! How unsatisfying it would be to eat the same meal day in and day out?
I know some people are okay with eating the same food every day to have peace of mind, but what if we could minimize the cooking time and still have variety?
With summer finally here, I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I want to be outside hiking, biking, playing tennis, and hanging out with my family and friends. We need a solution, and that is the true summer-friendly meal prep.
In all the restaurants I've worked in and owned, most of the time was spent prepping: cutting herbs, veggies, making sauces and marinades, prepping meats and seafood... all the prep was done before service (before the restaurants were opened for diners), so they could churn out meals at inhumane speed when an order came in. Watch "The Bear"; you'll know what I mean.
If we transfer the same idea to our homes, we could significantly shorten day-to-day cooking time too.
For example, here's what I'd do: Select one day for grocery shopping and 1-2 hours to prep everything. Make extra if you have freezer space so you can build variety over the weeks.
I've included an ingredients guide below based on what I'd do at home.
Here is my order of actions:
Start with the veggies: select 10-20 different kinds, wash, dry, chop what you can, and store in the fridge.
Prep the essential aromatics: peel garlic (seal and store in the fridge), chop green onions (seal and straight to the freezer), slice ginger (seal and freeze).
Buy or make quick pickles, pickled onions, pickled radishes, kimchi. Pickles can last a good 2-4 weeks in the fridge.
Make 2-3 dressings or sauces for salads, proteins, and dips. If they don’t have any fresh ingredients such as lemon juice or dairy, they can last weeks in the fridge.
Pre-cook starches: blanch baby potatoes, cook grains and pasta. Cooked grains last 1-2 months in the freezer. Cooked potatoes and pasta are good for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Marinate 2-3 kinds of meats according to your liking. You can also make burger patties; these are easy and perfect for an outdoor BBQ. See the guide for suggestions. Freeze whatever won’t be consumed in the next 2 days.
Some meats don’t need any pre-marination, such as steaks and lamb chops. Others, such as pork belly, chicken breasts, and thighs, can be pre-cooked to well-done, sliced, and frozen until use.
Prep and freeze your seafood. Pre-portion, seal, and freeze cleaned fish, tuna, salmon, and white fish. Shrimps and grilled mackerels are great for quick dinners.
Keep a few ready-to-eat or quick sides such as canned roasted peppers, olives, dried wakame seaweed, bread, dumplings, and pasta sauces at hand.
When it comes to meal times, all you need to do is quick cooking and assembly, and here are some ideas:
Nourish bowls (beef and mushroom stir-fry, barley, carrots, pickles, fresh fruits, avocado, salads)
Poke bowl (Seared tuna with ponzu sauce, cooked corn, kale salad, tomatoes, avocado, wakame salads)
Japanese dinner (Grilled mackerel, miso soup, lettuce salads with sesame dressings)
Burgers with salads
Cowboy pasta salads
Grilled chicken bowls (grilled lemongrass chicken, rice, Vietnamese salads)
Lamb chops, baby potatoes, and salads
If you are still stuck, subscribe to my meal plans where I share my combos with recipes.
Cheers! Sophia