Large batch vegetarian meals.

[pixiewhip]

Does anybody have any vegetarian recipes for things you can cook in large batches that will last a week?  Also healthy, make ahead breakfasts and lunches. This is for my treeplanter boyfriend who will unfortunately be planting out of hotels this year which means cooking his own meals (as compared to living in a camp with a camp cook, which is the standard).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  

[vasquez]

This is a quick and easy, but delicious, vegetarian (not vegan) meal that I intend to make for a class party next week:

Simply heat in a pot or pan a bag of Morningstar Farms frozen Veggie Crumbles until the crumbles are no longer completely frozen.  Then add 2/3 cup of water and a package of your favorite chili powder mix (Old El Paso is my personal favorite).  Once the mix is stirred in nicely, begin adding small chunks of Velveeta cheese (the kind with jalapenos in it is great) and stir until they've melted.  I usually use about half of the average-sized block.  The chili should be just the right amount of creamy by that point.

Then get a bag of nacho chips (Nacho Cheese Doritos or UTZ Nachos) and dig in!

Using one bag of Crumbles usually lasts at least two or three different reheatings for myself only.

Ya dig?

[krazigal72]

that sounds so yummy!! and i agree that using doritos w/ chili or dip is so yummy

[SpielMitMir]

fantastic vegetable stew - you will need a huge pot to make this in!!!

olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, diced
1 cup of each of the following vegetables cut into pieces: zucchini, carrot,celery, broccoli, mushroom, peppers - any cooking vegetable you like really!
can of chopped tomatoes
carton of beef stock
1/2 cup soup mix (a mix of lentils, beans etc)
bay leaves, chopped fresh parsley and basil, mixed herbs, salt, pepper

brown the garlic and onion in a little olive oil. add tomatoes, vegetables, stock and soup mix, with a little water if needed to make soup consistency. add salt, pepper, herbs etc.

let it boil up until the lentils and beans are cooked and you have yourself a soup thats more like a meal - you can have it on its own or with some bacon bits stirred through and crusty bread...

[kukeit]

I know you can make easy tomato sauces that last a week in the fridge..then all you have to do is make a lot of spaghetti, or if you are able, make a bit of different grain every day (rice, polenta, buckwheat) until you finish the sauce.  or even have it on bread, towards the end. just reheat it every time otherwise it's no good. 

he can also make shepherds pie (containing black lentils in tomato sauce.) great protein.lasts a few days.

[mikan]

my boyfriend likes to cook up a large batch of different kinds of beans and grains (separately) each week and store them in a large container in the fridge.  then we can make burritos, soups, etc. with the beans anytime.  i mix the grains with fruit and yogurt/soymilk for breakfast.  adding vegies, olive oil, and herbs,olives, etc. makes a great salad.  if your boyfriend is working hard (actually for anyone) i wouldn't recommend having pasta as a main dish very often, seriously lacking in nutrition...
you can get 'salad in a bag' spinach styles which are great cooked or fresh and frozen vegies if you think he won't be in to cutting things up.

[seampoints]

I'm a student studying a trade which is very demanding physically and in conjunction with this my days are very long so I usually make something I can eat for days running,

As already mentioned, the stew idea is a classic. I haven't tried SpielMitMirs recipe which I would be interested to have a bash at, but I usually include traditional earthy root vegetables such as swede, parsnip, turnip, potatoes, carrots and also make dumplings.

This week I had Sheppard’s pie, you can make it in a large casserole dish and it will last you a week. I only have a small oven and not many cooking utensils so I make it in bread tin. (Yucky Teflon coated thing that I want to replace.)

My experiences with making food that you can just heat up on the evening and eat have lead my to the realisation that it is better on your day off to make two different meals that will both last and rotate them than just eating the same thing every evening. I'm a bit funny about food anyway and if things become routine it can put you off eating at all, especially when you’re tired.

Basically you can use veggie mince as in the freezer mince (this has a better taste in my opinion) or if you haven't got a freezer I found the dried tvp mince works well, it just needs a bit more seasoning.

You just boil potatoes to make mash out of.
Lightly fry onions (can include leeks as well, or even finely chopped carrots and peas if you wanted) add the mince to the onions.

Make gravy. I use granules I also add veggie Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf and you can put a small amount of yeast extract in to season.

Add the gravy to the fried veg and mince and put it in the dish you’re using, pour a bit more gravy over it to make sure it won't dry out as you'll be keeping it. Mash the potatoes with a bit of margarine and cover the top with them. I do about an inch of potato to two and a half of the mince mixture.

I then decorate the top with a fork with wavey lines as it tends to crisp better in the oven that way.
On an evening, you only have to make gravy which is just boiling a kettle and dish it out.

Anything with layers is good. Veggie lasagne is another one you can make big and get three days from.

I sometimes make a pasta bake with layers of pasta tomato sauce and tahini sauce layers of onions and different vegetables.

You can also make a seaweed lasagne bake with layers of seaweed in place of pasta layers and various vegetables between each layer.

Another one is pasties,
That’s basically just cubing a load of root vegetables and adding gravy and putting this in wholemeal pastry parcels. This ones good if you’re out for the day too and need a meal rather than something like a sandwich.

Seaweed wraps are good. Just mixing grains (rice/millet) and finely diced fresh vegetables, chestnuts, whatever else will work and wrapping in sheets of lightly wetted nori seaweed to make parcels, you can make a number, just keep them in the fridge and pull them out when you want them.

You can make a good pastry parcel with soy cheese and veggie bacon in the middle. Just make a diamond of pastry and fill with finely chopped cheese and bacon strips you can cook them in the oven and them eat them cold throughout the week or reheat them as you use them. I've also filled these with leek, onion and soy cheese before as an experiment and they were surprisingly quite good. These things can be carried about with you and you can have them at break times to.

Salads with bottles of dressing are good on the side for warmer weather and are easy to carry around.

As for make ahead breakfasts I have no idea. I saw in a health food shop a breakfast in a tub that was kept in the fridge it looked like some chunky grain in yoghurt, it was vegetarian and made by a small company called Laura’s idea, would I have just done a search for and can't find.

I eat at my van in the morning so that I can have a big hot breakfast. If you’re doing a physical job I would say eating a really good breakfast is important and you really feel it if you don't eat on a morning, even though eating early is yucky.

Most of the stuff listed here is quite wintery, but I hope I've been some use. I've waffled enough now, this post is massive.

[pixiewhip]

Wow.  Thanks for taking the time to answer that Seampoints.