Prep Cook: Spicy Buffalo Wraps, Loaded Pizza, Strawberry Smoothie & More
Hello, hello, it’s time for Prep Cook ! We’ve taken care of the hardest part of meal planning: choosing what to eat. We test recipes for a week so that you can spend your time and money preparing the most delicious ones. This week we have muffins with jam, pizza with delicious toppings, spicy buffalo wrappers and more.
Everyone has a different schedule (and different tastes), so you can skip meals you don’t like, or change them depending on how much time you have to cook when you get home.) Make weekday cooking easy and set aside two to four hours this weekend to prepare the ingredients for the week (chop food, mix sauces that will be stored, prepare foods that can be frozen, etc.).
Breakfast
Strawberry Shortcrust Smoothie : Fast and satisfying thanks to the protein powder, this smoothie can be made in less than ten minutes and walk out the door.
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Turn it up: add other frozen fruits to change the flavor to your liking.
Jam-filled muffins: If you like, these muffins look (and taste) decadent. Great if you have an hour or so to spend baking in the morning on a weekend.
- Complexity of preparation: medium
- Turn it up: Add nutella or peanut butter instead of jam for a savory version.
No-Bake Protein Bars : Hearty, delicious and super easy to make, these are great snacks to take with you! You can easily use puffed rice flakes instead of puffed amaranth (I couldn’t find this even at Whole Foods).
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Reinforce this: Dip them in chocolate rather than just pouring them over. Yes, more chocolate won’t hurt anyone.
Dinner
Spicy Chickpea and Chicken Pea Wrappers with Smoky Tomato Soup : This dish has a flavor, a lot of flavor. And it’s easy to build, plus it scales well with a little extra effort.
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Reinforcement: Add tahini to the wrapper and sprinkle the soup with fresh herbs.
- Add meat: Substitute chickpeas for diced chicken.
- Pack it for lunch: Keep the pita bread separate from the filling until it’s time to eat.
A very vegan pizza : take the pre-made dough (I used garlic and herbal from Trader Joe’s), add some sauce (I used leftover tomato soup from the aforementioned lunch) and your favorite toppings for a delicious dinner. If you want to eat leftovers the next day, make two pizzas.
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Enlarge it: Add more toppings than you think the pizza will fit. No regrets.
- Add meat: ground beef, turkey or sausages sprinkled with vegetables.
- Pack it for lunch: wrap it in foil and toast if you have a toaster or toaster in your office. Otherwise, use a container that keeps the slices flat to prevent the filling from falling.
Sweet potato and apple latkes with crowd-pleasing Caesar salad : Frying the latkes is a little laborious, but the crunchy goodies that stay on your plate are worth it. The salad helps cut the butter-fried patches.
- Complexity of preparation: medium
- Strengthen it: make your own bandage. Seriously.
- Add Meat: Toss chopped or diced chicken or steak into the salad.
- Pack it for lunch: Store the latte separately from the yogurt or applesauce you plan on adding it.
Rustle with Sticky Rice Mushrooms and Asian Salad : Sounds tricky and a little tricky to prepare, but buying ready-made wrappers from your local Asian grocery store makes this dish much easier to prepare.
- Complexity of preparation: difficult
- Reinforce: Add chili oil to the filling for a bit of seasoning.
- Add meat: Throw minced meat into the filling.
- Pack it for lunch: keep the salad and the noise separately.
Coconut Lentil Curry Slow Cooker : I accidentally let my slow cooker run for too long and added too little liquid, so the edges of my curry started to caramelize – but luckily it added depth! I recommend serving this with rice, naan, or good crusty bread (I go for olive). This dish is very easy to prepare, so it is perfect for the night when you are too busy to cook a lot.
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Fortify it: Add some lemon or lime juice before serving to increase the acidity.
- Add meat: Fry the chicken breast in a skillet and chop it over a bowl of curry.
- Pack it for lunch: put it in a container and you’re done.
Garlic Chili Tofu Cups : I’ve made them before for Prep Cook and they were so good I decided to cook them again! The trick is to make the tofu really crispy by squeezing out the water, rather than fiddling with it while it’s in the pan.
- Preparation Difficulty: Difficult (but the more you complicate it, the easier it gets)
- Make your sauce the star of this dish with chili oil, Japanese BBQ sauce and garlic. Lots of garlic.
- Add meat: Substitute chicken or white fish for tofu.
- Pack it for lunch: Keep the rice separate from the rest of the bowl so it doesn’t get wet.
Oyster mushroom carbonara paste : This is a modification of the classic carbonara using less finicky ingredients. Pasta is my favorite food (carbs … mmm) and oyster mushrooms are amazing ingredients so I highly recommend this dish.
- Difficulty of preparation: Easy
- Turn it up: Cook the pasta yourself (or use fresh, not dried pasta). WORTH IT.
- Add meat: add ham or pancetta.
- Pack it for lunch: put it in a container and you’re done.
Share your tips and tricks in the discussion below as you try these recipes.