Healthy, Balanced MEALS in 5 MINUTES

Instructions

1-Vegetable prep

For herbs:

1. Put the ingredients in the jar in cooking order. The one that cooks easiest goes at the bottom and the one that cooks slowest goes at the top.
2. All the vegetables must be dry. This is essential to be able to store them for a longer time.
3. Don’t put any juicy ingredients in the middle of the jar, (like tomato) they might rotten the other vegetables much quicker.
4. Don’t put any ingredients that are already going bad. This will shorten the storing time as well.
5. Try to put the rainbow in your jars! Eating the rainbow is good for your health.
6. Chop the ingredients in different shapes. Chunk, dice, chop, wedge, julienne… Different cuts will add an extra dimension to your dish!
7. Use seasonal ingredients. This rule is not only for this technique but also a rule for great cooking!
8. For onion and garlic,
9. Dice onions and slice garlic thinly, jar them without any space.
10. You can sauté onions with some olive oil and store them like that to save more time.

Broccoli Soup

1. In a large pot, add the onion, broccoli, and garlic.
2. Finely chop the stem part of the broccoli and add it to the pot.
3. Add water until it covers the top of the vegetables and closes the lid. Boil until the vegetables are soft.
4. For the roux of the soup, add 1 tablespoon of butter to a pan and melt it. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and fry until brown.
5. Blend the softened vegetables with an immersion blender and puree them.
6. Add the roasted roux into the pot and mix.
7. Add the cream, salt, and pepper to enhance its flavor and your soup is ready. Finally, you can add fresh coriander leaves and serve.

2-Legumes prep

Canned Chickpea

1. Soak the chickpeas with 1 teaspoon salt the night before and drain the next day.
2. Add the drained chickpeas to preferably a pressure cooker, and add water up to 2 cm higher than the level of the chickpeas.
3. Add 1 teaspoon salt and boil for about 11 minutes after the pressure cooker’s lid is locked.
4. In the meantime, sterilize the jars and their lids with boiling water.
5. Open the lid of the pressure cooker and divide them into jars.
6. Fill the chickpeas up to 2/3 of the jar and do not forget to add plenty of boiling water(aquafaba).
7. You can store them in a dark and cool place for up to six months. Refrigerate after opening the jars.

3- Meat Prep

Frozen Sauteed Chicken

1. Mix all the ingredients other than the onion in a large bowl.
2. Put the onion puree in a strainer and sieve its juice into the mixture. Onion juice will help to tenderize the chicken and enhance the flavor.
3. Heat a large pan and add some olive oil.
4. Add the chicken to the pan in batches and seal without losing its juice on high heat.
5. Sautee for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Add hot water until covering the chicken.
6. Turn the heat off and divide the mixture into muffin molds with its juice.
7. Let it sit to cool down and freeze it.
8. Transfer them into a plastic bag and use them one by one for each meal like wraps, salads, burritos, and pot dishes.

Minced braising sees itself as doner kebap

1. Braising minced meat well enough is a skill like speaking a widely-spoken language. It provides one with many possibilities to cook very delicious meals. I always have my minced meat out of low-fat veal. But if you prefer, you can use 50% lamb – 50% veal, too. The important thing is that you should always be by the pot, waiting and braising it thoroughly.
2. Start braising the minced meat with a middle-high heat in its own fat; when it is being cooked, it will release its water. When it starts to soak its water, add the onion.
3. When the onions start to turn pink and the meat small turns into that of a kebap – meaning, in 30-35 minutes – it means that your minced meat is now braised. Now, you can add black pepper, nutmeg, and salt.
4. This is a long process compared to other cooking times you will see here. Therefore, I braise a lot of minced meat and (without adding parsley), put them into small fridge bags and then into the deep freeze. They will act as lifesavers for a lot of recipes, or you can jar them and refrigerate them, and use them for up to a week.

4- Stale Bread

Stale bread pizza

1. Mix the egg, yogurt, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl.
2. Cut the stale bread in half, then in half on the sides.
3. For the delicious sauce, heat the olive oil and add tomato paste, and fenugreek then sauté it.
4. Add grated tomato and season with salt and pepper to your taste.
5. Add the olive oil to a large pan (which you can put in the oven) and heat it.
6. Dip the sliced bread in the egg mixture by scratching them.
7. Then place the bread in the pan with the insides facing up. If the egg mixture is left in the bowl, pour it into the pan.
8. When one side of the bread is cooked, turn it to the other side and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
9. After 2 minutes, add tomato sauce to the bread.
10. Add the grated cheese, green pepper, and black olives to it.
11. Place the pan into the oven at 200 C (392 F) on grill mode. Arrange the rack to the second shelf from the top.
12. Bake for about 2 minutes and it is ready to eat. Bon a petit!

5- Rice Prep

Orzo Pilaf

1. Melt the butter in a pan. When the butter starts to melt, add the orzo into the pan and stir-fry it until it browns.
2. When the colors of the orzo start to change, add salt.
3. Pour the water and cover the pan and cook on low heat for 8 minutes or cook according to the cooking time on the package. Turn off the heat and cover it with a clean kitchen cloth to rest.
4. After 5 minutes it is ready to eat and serve. Afiyet olsun!