It's only a few weeks to go until March, and most of us are still trying to process everything that has happened since 2020, as we have been a busy year.
Between pandemics, ERTE, changes in the US president -not everything will be bad-, storms and earthquakes it is not only possible, but also understandable, that preparing lunch and dinner for the week takes you with a certain fatigue and vital fatigue.
If in spite of that it is nothing you can skip, we hope that these ideas to cook one afternoon and live on income the rest of the week will help you.
Everything that can be frozen, thawed and be just as good -always in freezer bags, silicone or perfectly closed containers- is better to eat at the end of the week, such as squid in sauce or roasted vegetable cream: if we have room in the freezer, we can double the quantities and have a meal for the next week.
The bonito onions could also freeze, but you have to be very careful with reheating so that it doesn't dry out;
If you don't want to eat it the first few days and you're not sure you can heat it delicately -or you don't like bonito too much, there are people for everything-, you can change it for chicken thighs
Preparing the same stir-fry base for two different dishes;
in this case based on pak choy - you can use spinach if we don't have it on hand - with tofu and mushrooms, which we will later turn into a comforting soup for dinner and a stir-fry with legumes for lunch.
We could also take them at room temperature, as an Asian salad with a base of wheat noodles and chopped peanuts and sesame on top.
We still do not include breakfasts, snacks or snacks in the weekly organization, since these are not necessarily cooked.
Again, we recommend leaving some of the basics - each house is different - prepared on a tray in the fridge so you don't have to think too much while you're still struggling to wake up.
Yogurt, milk or vegetable drink with oat flakes to drink hot or cold -as is or with a little chocolate 70% grated cocoa-, fresh cheese or quark, apples, pears, tangerines, oranges, bananas, kiwi or avocado to eat on toast or sandwich.
Other staples to take away are small jars or bags with dried fruits and dried fruits, boiled eggs -or a French omelette made at the moment in three minutes- and some spreads with crudités, very grateful in these situations.
Dinners
Squid in spicy tomato sauce + rustic mashed sweet potato, onion and roasted carrots
Rice noodle soup with tofu, mushrooms and pak choy with boiled egg seven minutes
Roasted pumpkin, carrot and onion cream with paprika, almonds and apple + potatoes stuffed with spinach, goat cheese and walnuts
Sandwich with nice onion with wine and arugula + bean spread with romesco
Roasted aubergines with miso + brown rice sautéed with egg and chives
Foods
Butifarras with cherry tomatoes and pickled onions + rustic mashed sweet potato, onion and roasted carrots
Roasted pumpkin, carrot and onion cream with paprika + boiled egg for seven minutes + roasted cauliflower
Chickpeas sauteed with tofu, mushrooms and pak choy + roasted aubergines with miso
Squid in spicy tomato sauce + brown rice sautéed with egg and chives + spread of beans with romesco
Nice onions in wine with rosemary + potatoes stuffed with spinach, goat cheese and walnuts
Preparation
If we buy the squid and bonito frozen, defrost them in the fridge overnight.
Turn the oven on at 180 ° C.
Distribute the sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, the pumpkin cut in half lengthwise, five onions, a head of garlic, three tomatoes and the whole aubergines on two trays.
If there is room, also put a whole cauliflower;
if not wait to remove something and add it at that time (it will take about an hour to do).
While they cook, cut two cucumbers, four carrots, and a bell pepper into sticks.
These crudités in a tightly sealed jar or silicone bag will last well for three days in the fridge: at that time the process will have to be repeated with the rest to accompany the bean spread with romesco the rest of the week.
Also while, peel and slice six onions, which we will brown in a saucepan with a little oil and salt over medium heat.
Prepare the cooked beans, oil, vinegar, almonds and / or hazelnuts, a little paprika or Ñora meat or chorizo pepper in a container or the glass of the American blender.
After about 20 minutes after we have put the vegetables in the oven, turn the vegetables and potatoes so that they are done everywhere (especially if the oven does not distribute the heat well).
The carrots, garlic, tomato and potatoes will be around 10 minutes later.
When we can handle them without burning ourselves, remove the skin from the tomatoes and half of the roasted garlic cloves, add them to the beans and blend until obtaining a fine cream.
Taste, correct the seasoning if necessary and put in the fridge: the bean spread with romesco is ready.
Take three tablespoons of the golden onion and transfer them to a frying pan.
Add the chopped spinach and stir for a few minutes, until they lose volume.
Open the potatoes in half lengthwise and, with the help of a spoon, remove half of their meat.
Break it up well and transfer it to the pan with the rest of the filling;
add half the crumbled goat cheese and walnuts;
taste and rectify the seasoning.
Refill the potatoes with the mixture and top with the reserved goat cheese.
When there is room, return the potatoes to the oven and cook until golden brown: the potatoes stuffed with spinach, goat cheese and walnuts are ready.
Lightly heat two generous tablespoons of miso with two tablespoons of mild oil, two of sugar or honey, and mild vinegar to taste.
When they come out of the oven, open the aubergines in half lengthwise, season hot on the inside and reserve: the roasted aubergines with miso are ready.
When everything is cooked from the oven, remove the meat from the pumpkins and put it in a pot with half of the onions - peeled and chopped - and half of the chopped carrots.
Cover with 1.5 l of vegetable broth or water, a little salt, pepper and paprika and bring to a boil for five minutes.
Add 300 ml of evaporated milk, quark cheese, yogurt or vegetable yogurt, blend well and reserve: serve with diced sour apple, chopped almonds and more paprika.
Chop the cauliflower carefully so as not to burn ourselves and season it, while still hot so that it takes on the flavor, with oil, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper (or the seasonings that we like the most).
Meanwhile, cook the brown rice for the time indicated by the manufacturer, cool and reserve.
When we go to eat it, sauté for a minute with sliced chives with a little oil, add the rice and a little salt or soy and stir for two minutes, add two eggs -for each serving of four- and sauté until set.
Serve as an accompaniment to the desired dish.
Add water to the rice pot, bring to a boil and cook the eggs - at room temperature, so that they do not explode due to thermal shock - for seven minutes;
cool and reserve in the fridge.
Peel and slice the rest of the onion and roasted sweet potatoes, and also the carrots (in this case, unpeeled).
Add a little oil or butter, and some milk or water, dress with thyme and rosemary and mash with a fork or mashed potatoes until you get a rustic puree texture.
Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary: the rustic mashed sweet potato, onion and roasted carrots is ready.
Separate ⅓ of the remaining golden onion into a saucepan and add two minced garlic cloves and a can of chopped tomato.
After five minutes, add 200 ml of dry white wine and whole or flaked cayenne to taste, and let it reduce everything (keep in mind that the longer it takes to eat them, the more the cayenne's potency will rise).
When the oil begins to separate from the tomato, add the cleaned squid and, depending on the size, chopped.
Stew everything for about 15 minutes: squid in spicy tomato sauce are ready.
Put the chopped pak choy with a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add a drizzle of water and let the steam soften the vegetables a little.
When it has evaporated, add the tofu and fresh shiitake or Portobello mushrooms and brown everything.
Add a splash of soy sauce and, if you like, sesame.
Reserve half to prepare the soup: at the moment, bring to the boil 1.2 l of vegetable broth or water with a little miso and the sauce, add the rice noodles and cook for three minutes, season with soy and / or vinegar to taste and serve.
Leave the rest of the sauce in the pan, add the chickpeas and stir for three minutes.
Add a sprig of rosemary and 250 ml of white wine to the remaining onion.
Wait for it to reduce, and add the bonito cut into cubes of about two centimeters and seasoned.
Remove from the heat and let it cook with the residual heat;
transfer to the refrigerator as soon as it is no longer very hot.
One day we will have it on the plate and the other in a sandwich, with a handful of arugula leaves.
In a saucepan, brown four sliced sausages with a little oil and remove them.
Add three chopped garlic cloves and 300 g of cherry tomatoes, let them brown a little and add basil to taste, half a pot of pickled onions -with canned vinegar to taste- and a teaspoon of sugar.
When the juice has thickened, return the sausages, stir for a minute and reserve.
The result is a bit bittersweet, if that combination is not too good for us, add a few more tomatoes and do without the onions.
Shopping list
Greengrocery
1 fiddle squash of about 800 g, 18 carrots, 11 onions, 8 medium potatoes, 400 g fresh spinach, 4 medium sweet potatoes, 4 medium aubergines, 10 shiitake or Portobello mushrooms (or more, if small), 4 pak choy, 3 tomatoes, 3 heads of garlic, 1 cauliflower, 4 cucumbers, 2 red peppers, 2 sour apples for the cream, 2 lemons, a bunch of chives, a bag of arugula (for the sandwich), 300 g of cherry tomatoes (500 if no onions are used).
Poultry
12 eggs
Butcher shop
4 portion sausages (or 12 sausages).
Fish shop
1 kg of squid for braising (or 1.2 k of frozen squid), 1.2 kg of clean tuna with skin and bones in cubes (or 1.4 if frozen).
Dairy products
150 g of goat cheese (roll);
300 ml of evaporated milk, quark cheese, yogurt or vegetable yogurt (one of the three, for the cream), butter (optional, you can always use oil).
further
A block of 500 g of medium-hard tofu, 800 g of cooked beans, 60 g of almonds, hazelnuts or a mixture for the spread, 60 g of walnuts for the potatoes, paprika, Señora meat or chorizo (one of the three, for the romesco), oil, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, miso or soy, sugar, 40 g of almonds to decorate the cream, 500 g of brown rice, aromatic to taste (thyme, rosemary, basil), 3 l of vegetable broth, a bottle of white wine, a large can of chopped tomato, sesame (optional), bread (for the sandwich), a jar of pickled onions (optional).