Vegetarian meal-prep week with less time at the stove

How much you will cook

For one person, this makes six servings: five lunches and Sunday dinner. Make the full four-serving recipe of Lime quinoa with black beans and half the recipe of Bean and vegetable wraps, giving two servings. Breakfasts and the other dinners stay open.

Your Monday-to-Friday lunches

Shopping for this week

The columns give the amounts you will use. Check your spices and pantry first. When a recipe needs half a can, you still buy the whole can; freeze the unused half separately on opening day or use it promptly in another meal. It is not an extra ingredient for the planned dish.

ml means measured volume here, including dry ingredients and grated cheese: 240 ml is one US cup. tbsp = 15 ml; tsp = 5 ml. Can sizes refer to the weight before draining. Chili seasoning means a mild US-style blend, not pure hot chili powder. Optional garnishes are listed in each recipe.

Sunday: cook and divide

The original quinoa recipe takes 30 minutes. Make the full amount late Sunday afternoon and eat one serving for dinner. Keep two chilled for Monday and Tuesday, then cool and promptly freeze one for Friday. Add the cilantro as the recipe describes; its texture may soften after thawing.

Eat one serving for Sunday dinner. Cool two promptly and refrigerate them for Monday and Tuesday. Cool and freeze the fourth on Sunday for Friday. Shallow individual containers make the split easy.

Tuesday: the second batch

On Tuesday evening, prepare two wraps, half the original recipe. The original time is 20 minutes. Choose refried beans without lard and vegetarian cheese. Chill the filling separately from the tortillas, tomato and yogurt sauce, then assemble at eating time.

Monday and Tuesday’s quinoa can be eaten cold if it has stayed chilled. A microwave is useful for the wrap filling. Reheat Friday’s thawed quinoa once, until hot throughout. You can see before shopping which days need somewhere to warm up lunch.

Keep it chilled and ready to eat

Keep the fridge at 5 °C or colder and eat refrigerated cooked food in this plan within 48 hours. Chill perishables within two hours, or one hour above 32 °C. Use ice packs for the commute and refrigerate lunch again when you arrive.

Move Friday’s serving into the fridge on Thursday and eat within 24 hours of fully thawing. Reheat food once and thoroughly; leftovers should reach 74 °C at the centre. Follow stricter package instructions where applicable.

Cooking for two

For two people, make twice the Sunday quantity and the full Tuesday recipe. That gives ten lunches and two Sunday dinners. If one recipe serving leaves you hungry, plan more of the dish or a side.