My weekend of bulk cooking

Happy Monday! I woke up rested and gloriously happy. It was one of those magical weekends filled with the simple joys of regular ole life – no serious work or volunteering obligations, just being home, running errands, dinner out with friends, and bulk cooking. Lots and lots of bulk cooking.

My weekend cooking:

• Italian Pearl Barley- 20 minutes at high pressure
• Homemade Vegetable Broth  – 15 minutes at high pressure
• Umami Anasazi Beans – 8 minutes at high pressure
• Dal Dip – 5 minutes at high pressure
• Steamed Potatoes – 5 minutes at low pressure
• Bean Barley Mushroom Soup – 2 minutes at high pressure
• Caramelized Onions – 30 minutes in an electric pot
• Italian Bread – 3 hours and 45 minutes in the breadmaker

The Umami Anasazi Beans and Italian Pearl Barley recipes (and a basic vegetable broth) are in my new cookbook (though we did share the bean recipe here a few months ago!).

After I bulk cooked Saturday, I went to the grocery store. Does this seem backwards? Let me explain. I have lots of grains and beans in my pantry. So I start there. I work with what I have. After bulk cooking I have a nice variety of grains and legumes to work into meals and snacks and I make my grocery list from there. Specifically, what fresh produce do I want to round out these meals? What leafy greens and other colorful fruits and veggies? My grocery list becomes much smaller this way and I mostly stick to the produce section. I filled my cart with apples, bananas, fresh herbs, two kinds of lettuce, cabbage, onion, garlic, shallots, a variety of colorful peppers, carrots and celery, a mix of mushrooms, lemon and limes, avocados, fresh garlic, etc. We then pick up a few convenience items – vegan cheese, nut and soy milks, frozen veggie burgers, etc.

So let’s get to what to do with all this stuff.

Well, I bulk cook on the weekends so that I can reheat and eat quickly during the week (this is a big part of our Real World Vegan Meal Plans philosophy). I also freeze a good deal to use the following week or month (my Foodsaver has come in very handy for freezing). I then mix and match my bulk cooked foods with fresh produce and the occasional convenience food.

• Sunday morning I baked cookies for a vegan holiday cookie swap. Then I realized we needed a quick lunch before heading out. I grabbed the vegetable broth and barley that I cooked Saturday and came up with this quick (two minutes at pressure) pressure cooker soup: two cups homemade veggie broth, 1 cup water, 1 cup cooked barley, 2 chopped carrots, 3 chopped celery stalks, 1/2 a small onion, two cloves garlic, 1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms, 1/2 cup diced tomato, 1 can navy beans (drained), 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 2 tablespoons tomato powder. Bring to pressure; cook at high pressure for 2 minutes; use a quick release. Stir in juice of half a lemon. So good!

• We got home Sunday night and needed something savory to counteract the sugar high from the sweet holiday treats. I reheated the steamed potatoes, mashed them with vegetable broth, and spooned the reheated beans over the smashed spuds.

• Today for lunch I’m taking a Dal Dip sandwich (on Italian Bread) to the office for lunch. The dal dip will also be great cold with raw veggies for snacks and reheated and served with sautéed greens for dinner.
• We’ll have a big veggie salad for dinner with a bowl of the Bean Barley Mushroom Soup.
• I froze most of the caramelized onions (after using two cups in the beans) but I kept about a cup in the freezer. They will add a great flavor to sautéed greens.
• I use the vegetable broth in quick soups (I add a can of beans, a cooked grain, salsa, and a handful of leafy greens), for veggie sautées and tofu scrambles, and to reheat my bulk cooked foods.
• That loaf of bread makes for a quick toast and nut butter breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.
• I will saute peppers and mushrooms in veggie broth and add the cooked barley to it for a quick side to accompany reheated beans or a veggie burger.

So that’s how I use bulk cooking to eat well during a busy week. Did you bulk cook this weekend?

In closing, I’ll share my baking for the weekend. I have never, ever claimed to be a baker. And I have proof.

Exhibit A: I make bread in a breadamker.

Italian Bread

• 1 and 3/4 cup water (because I’m at 6,000+ feet elevation, reduce to 1 and 1/3 cup at sea level)
• 3 cups AP flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place all ingredients, in order, in a breadmaker. Select the basic (not whole wheat) cycle.

Exhibit B: I use cake mix to make cake doughnuts.

So I picked up a new pan last week – impulse buy – for cake doughnuts. Saturday I was looking for doughnut recipes and thought, “Wait, it’s cake doughnuts. And I have a vegan cake mix in my cupboard.” So I whisked the mix together and poured it into my new doughnut pan.

Pure genius, if you ask me.

Exhibit C: I repurposed last year’s vegan holiday cookie swap recipe for this year’s swap.

Last year I veganized a family cookie recipe to make these:

Yesterday I used the exact same recipe (skipping the final powdered sugar dusting step) and just pressed my thumb into the cookies, to make, err, let’s call ’em Vegan Pecan Thumbprint Cookies? I placed pecans, dark chocolate chunks and peppermint pieces in the thumbprints during the final two minutes of baking.

Okay, time for me to get out there and make my Monday magical. I hope yours is, too!

Tags: bulk cookingreal world vegan meal plansvegan pressure cooking

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