I have followed the Mediterranean diet for over five years.
It’s been ranked the healthiest diet for seven years in a row and focuses on the consumption of lots of unprocessed foods and healthy fats. Common ingredients people on the diet eat include vegetables, seafood, whole grains, and beans.
I like to cook some meals in advance in larger batches so I can enjoy them throughout the week or freeze them to eat at a later date.
Some of my go-to Mediterranean-diet recipes stray slightly from more typical ones I’ve seen, but I try to stick with the core principles of that style of eating while keeping things interesting.
Here are some of my favorite meals to make in advance and how I usually prepare them.
I make chicken meatballs to pair with salads and pasta dishes.
Chicken meatballs pair well with all kinds of dishes and are easy to freeze to consume at a later date.
I usually combine ground chicken, chopped red onion, egg, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. Then, I mix in oregano, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and form my meatballs.
I pop them in the air fryer or oven until brown, let them cool, then freeze them in individual portions for later.
Stuffed peppers are cheap, easy, and perfect to freeze for later.
Stuffed peppers are easy to customize with different types of meat, rice, cheese, and vegetables.
To start, I cut each bell pepper in half and remove the seeds. I drizzle the peppers in olive oil and bake them for a bit while I cook my preferred filling on my stovetop.
I often stuff peppers with a mix of cooked ground turkey (drain any excess juice), diced onions, canned diced tomatoes, garlic, tomato puree, chicken stock, and herbs.
Once I bake and cool the peppers, I freeze them. When I defrost them, I add grated cheese and heat them in the oven until they’re hot and the cheese is golden.
I make a chicken traybake that makes me dinner and lunch the next day.
A one-pan chicken traybake is perfect to throw in the oven on a busy weeknight, particularly if you also need lunch prepped for the next day.
For mine, I chop potatoes, onions, and lemons into medium-sized chunks and toss them on a pan with olive oil, capers, jarred peppers, sundried tomatoes, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper.
I start roasting them in the oven while I season chicken thighs with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
I fry the thighs skin-side down on the stove until the skin turns brown, then add them to the tray of things I began roasting. I cover the whole thing in foil for a bit, then keep baking and tossing everything around until my potatoes are crispy.
Once finished, I serve myself a portion and keep the rest for lunch the next day.
I cook Moroccan soup to use up any veggies that are on their way out.
Nothing says batch cooking like a cozy soup.
Drizzle diced carrots, onion, celery, and leeks with olive oil and cook in a large pan on the stove. Season with turmeric, harissa, and chili flakes before adding chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro, vegetable stock, and water.
Leave to simmer uncovered for at least half an hour, then add cans of green lentils and chickpeas. Simmer for another half an hour.
Whisk a couple of eggs, a tablespoon of flour, and lemon juice into a couple of cups of water, then add that mixture to the soup.
Let it simmer for a few more minutes before pouring yourself a serving and freezing the rest.
I whip up a big batch of beef stew for cold days.
Sometimes I spend a free afternoon cooking a large batch of beef stew to fill my freezer with.
To make it, I brown ground beef in olive oil on my stove and set it aside on a plate. Then, I add diced onion, rosemary, and garlic to the pan I was using. I cook them for a few minutes and then add red wine.
I then pour in beef stock, canned chopped tomatoes, and jarred grilled peppers. I add the beef back in and cook my stew in the oven for two hours.
Then, I stir in canned butterbeans and olives and cook for another 30 minutes. I make a slurry with cornstarch and cold water and stir it into my stew to help it thicken. I let it simmer until I like the consistency.
Once it cools, I freeze individual serving sizes that I can thaw whenever I want them.
Try these fishcakes even if you don’t like white fish.
Homemade fishcakes are a great way to incorporate seafood into your diet without spending a fortune at the fishmonger.
To make them, I fry chopped leeks on the stove and set them aside in a bowl. Then, I grind up a few tilapia filets in a food processor and add them to the leeks, along with an egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and cumin.
I form my mixture into small cakes, then fry them in a pan for five minutes on each side until golden brown.
I freeze the cakes individually and usually serve them with garlic mayo and salsa.
Olive salad is the perfect side dish.
I prepare olive salad once or twice a week to keep in the fridge.
To make, I chop pitted olives, shallots, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and bell peppers into tiny chunks.
I toss those in a dressing made with lemon juice, sweet paprika, extra-virgin olive oil, and chili flakes. Lastly, I top my salad with fresh parsley, mint, crumbled feta, and walnuts.
It can be eaten on its own, but I usually serve a small portion of it with one of my batch-cooked recipes.
The post I’ve followed the Mediterranean diet for many years. These are my 7 favorite easy meals to make in batches. appeared first on Business Insider.
