Vegetarian/pescatarian batch cooking recipes

[AlexaShutUp]

I have planned some time tomorrow to do some batch cooking for my freezer, so that we have a nice supply of healthy home-cooked food for those days when I really can't be arsed.

The one problem is that my current repertoire is rather limited. I'm quite good at vegetable curries/dahl of different varieties, so will be doing a few of those. Will probably do something like a veggie spag bol and/or some sort of bean chilli.

Beyond those options, I'm a bit stuck, and I'm looking for some inspiration. We don't eat meat but do eat fish. Any interesting & freezable pasta sauce recipes would be particularly welcome.

TIA!

[sleepismysuperpower1]

i like this veggie enchilada casserole and it supplies freezing tips on the recipe link x

[AutumnCrow]

Do you like anchovies? They are terrific in a pasta sauce - give it a real boost.

[AlexaShutUp]

Thank you, that looks delicious and right up our street!

[AlexaShutUp]

I like anchovies, yes, though not really sure if DH and DD do - I don't often cook with them. Any suggestions as to what I could pair them with?

[AliasGrape]

I’ve been looking for similar ideas, just bookmarked this page which has a few different recipes

www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/foodanddrink/vegetarian-batch-cooking-recipes-to-make-food-that-will-last-through-the-week-a3701326.html

I’ll have a think what else we do.

[AlexaShutUp]

Thanks for the link, Alias, they look good. It had never occurred to me that you could freeze macaroni cheese. It was my childhood favourite and I still see it as the ultimate comfort food, so having a ready supply in the freezer sounds excellent!

If I find any other good ideas, I'll add them on here too for you to think about.

[StealthPolarBear]

Getting on this thread. Don't forget soup - I've just made loads of vegetable, lentil and potato soup as I had potatoes, carrots and celery which needed using up.

[AlexaShutUp]

Yes, soup is a good idea, especially for work lunches. I love a good lentil soup! 🙂

[StealthPolarBear]

I've never put potatoes in before - never had any leftover but I did this time and they work really well in it. I have about 16 tubs of varying sizes full of soup

[StealthPolarBear]

Plus a large pan we're eating tonight

[AlexaShutUp]

Sounds yummy!

[AliasGrape]

If you eat fish then fish pie is freezeable and can be made healthier with the addition of plenty of veggies.

I poach the fish in milk, then use that milk to make a parsley sauce, pour it over the fish in a pie dish (sometimes add frozen peas or wilt in some spinach at this point) then top with mash.

I also do a lentil cottage pie a bit like this - www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/michela-s-veg-lentil-cottage-pie/ - although that’s a weaning recipe and mine is usually a bit of a ‘chuck it in’ type affair so may include more garlic, chilli or a splash of wine depending on what’s around.

Tom kerridge was making a pasta sauce on tv yesterday or day before, from memory he finely diced an onion, softened it then added a couple of tablespoons of tomato purée and cooked that out for 8 mins or so. He got a jar of those roasted peppers - he blackened them with a blowtorch, guess you could use a griddle pan or something, added them and some cream and then blended it. He was doing it for a family including a baby, but saying you could then add extra seasoning/chilli etc for the adults.

[AlexaShutUp]

Would definitely eat fish pie - had a delicious one recently, so might give it a go, but I'm less than confident about cooking fish as I was veggie for many years and even now only tend to eat fish when I'm out. I do want to learn to cook it though!

Might give the pasta sauce a go too - I can make quite a good tomato one but get so bored with always eating the same thing!

[WildCherryBlossom]

Some good ideas so far. How about a vegetarian chilli? Freezes well.

[Ricekrispie22]

Chickpea tagine www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/healthy/moroccan-veg-and-chickpea-tagine/
Aubergine and lentil bake www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/layered-aubergine-lentil-bake
Vegetable crumble www.vegetarianrecipesmag.com/vegetarian-recipes/vegetable-bean-crumble

[ChaosMoon]

Ooh, I'm so happy I found this thread! (And the whole food board actually.) I'm going to go on mat leave in march and am starting to plan my batch cooking so this is perfect!

I would like to share this recipe with you - //www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash
Everyone I've cooked it for loves it, even the evangelical meat eaters!

I do a lot of Mexican cooking from scratch, so I think I'll also make a load of salsa and refried beans and freeze them in those oversized ice cube trays

[AliasGrape]

I’m back at work tomorrow and my plan for the end of last week/this weekend was to do a huge shop, choose a few recipes and meal plan/batch cook like crazy. Unfortunately I’ve had the lurgy and mostly been in bed.

However - DP made this bhuna curry sauce except with veggies instead of lamb (cauliflower and sweet potato as that’s what we had) and it was awesome thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/lamb-bhuna-with-garlic-naan - he didn’t make any naan, sadly. He’s done the sauce with fish before too - I’m trying to be a ‘proper’ veggie and cut out the fish though I don’t know if I’ll manage it!

I did make some soup - softened some chopped onion (from the freezer) with garlic and a bit of chilli, plus big squeeze of tomato purée. Then some chopped celery (3 stalks), a punnet of cherry tomatoes and 3 normal tomatoes that all needed using up. Sprinkle of sugar, cooked down a bit then added veggie stock and simmered away for half an hour or so. Good seasoning, blitzed with hand blender, stirred in a bit of cream and some chopped parsley, was bloody lovely!

[kateandme]

made a vegetarian lasagne.garlic onion tomatos peppers celery sweetcorn mushrooms courgette.carton of tomato and basil pasata.sun dried tomato sauce jar.ad layer up with your usual cheese sauce and lasagne sheets.freezers really well.or if you want just freeze the base tomatos layer in a tub and then layer up fresh as and when.its a really nice base to have with jackets or in veggie enchiladas too.
fish pie works really well frozen
sweet potato and chickpea curry.
morrocan chickpea stew
veggie samosa or pasties.
quesadillas
veggie pie
lentil sweet potato chickpea stew

[mantlepiece]

I batch cook for my veggie daughter and do many of the above!

One not mentioned is a Tuscan bean stew. Lots of vegetables, onions, leeks, celery, sweet peppers, courgettes, tomatoes. I use butter beans in mine, but you could use any you like. I then freeze in portions. When she defrosts it she sometimes eats it as it is or sometimes adds small pasta to it like orzo. She really likes this.

I also find it useful to have a good tomato sauce frozen in portions as she likes to add veggie meatballs to it and I often use it too.

[AliasGrape]

I posted a veggie cottage pie recipe upthread, but I’ve just made Mary Berry’s version and it’s bloody lovely.

I used frozen spinach as that’s what we had, and a bit of celery that was looking sorry for itself in the fridge. Delicious

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/vegetable-and-lentil-cottage-pie

Also two new cookbooks arrived today - the Hairy Dieters go Veggie (brief glance - disappointing but one or two I’ll definitely try) and one of the little bbc good food ones ‘Vegetarian Dishes’ - some good ideas in here. I’ll report back.

[RichardYeager]

it's also my fav