So I'm going back home to batch cook some meals for the freezer at my mom's place this Saturday. She's a retiree and is kind of too tired to feed herself properly. Her pension and living arrangements are quite good, but she kind of tends to eat either enough protein or vegetables but not both because it's too bothersome. I on the other hand lack the space to batch cook in my apartment, she has a ridiculous excess of it. So I cook for her and myself once a month.
The last month we made two dishes: borscht in a giant 10 liter pot and a lasagna type dish in a five liter one stainless steel casserole. I say lasagna type because in lieue of pasta we used potato slices, but I liked it a lot. It was layers of potato and parsnips slices with layers of tomato and white sauces, topped with cheese.
Next Saturday I'll be cooking lentil soup and chili con carne. I wonder if you guys have any soup and stew favorites that freeze well.
Thank you for reading!
cowloom wrote
I'm not much of a stew person, but I've made this vegan beef stew recipe before, and enjoyed it. Tofu has plenty of protein, and the rest of the stew is vegetables, so hopefully it fits the bill! Credit for the recipe goes to Felix Whelan and Carol Ann Whelan.
Ingredients:
1 pound extra firm regular tofu, frozen, then thawed (this dramatically changes the texture from soft and squishy to firm and spongy in a very "meat-like" way)
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth (I use 4 cups warm water in which 4 Magi brand vegetable bouillon cubes are thoroughly dissolved)
5 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 large carrots, cut however you prefer carrots for stew. I cut them into 1/2 inch thick chunky disks.
4 potatoes, peeled and cut "stew style," whatever that means to you!
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons margarine
5 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with water till all the lumps are gone
Directions:
The Tofu:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
Drain the water from the thawed tofu. Cut the tofu into slices and squeeze more water out.
Cut the slices into "stew-style" chunks (however big or small that is in your ideal of the perfect "beef stew") and place in the oven on an ungreased cookie sheet. Check the tofu about every 10-15 minutes, and pull it out before it actually browns. The goal here is to dry the chunks out as much as possible without burning them. When they're just right, they should have roughly the consistency of croutons.
The Stew:
Place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir well, and cook on high for 3 hours.
Stir the stew thoroughly. Replace lid and cook on low for another 5 hours. The stew is ready when it is thick and brown.