Rapid Family Dinners: These Two Freezer-stocked Items Can Stretch to Six Meals
A few batch-cooked items can make meals in a flash
When 4 PM rolls around, the texts from hungry teens start in, “What’s for dinner?” Then the younger ones on playdates check in…they have invitations to friend’s dinner tables and are looking to weigh their options. Getting meals on the table each night can be a moment to make one feel the pressure.
There’s the work of shopping and cooking and often few who volunteer to share in the cleanup. Some left with charge of the food will skip cooking altogether and run to speed dial take-out. Those living alone might resort to just a few scrounged bits.
There are the alternatives of grocery-aisle frozen pizza or deli counter pre-prepared foods and meal kits, but these options are generally lower in fiber, leafy greens, and higher in salt. They masquerade as time-savers, but, the basic elements of a good home-cooked meal stocked in your freezer give you options to mollify the hungry forces for less than the amount of time you invest to shop and reheat them. To make food at home, a Consumer Report survey found, typically costs about half the price of grocery versions without forfeiting control over freshness and quality. Why not save money and time? It may take 15-20 minutes to chop vegetables and cook one meal, but 30 minutes to prepare four. So, I’ll be regularly posting ideas to batch cook and freeze portions that can easily be assembled into quick family meals. Pop them in the fridge to thaw the night prior and add fresh vegetables like broccoli and greens that cook up in minutes for nutritious meals that will satisfy the people you feed.
These Oven-baked Eggplant Slices can be made ahead for a variety of uses. Have them ready to layer between sourdough in this Eggplant, Roasted Red Pepper, Basil and Fontina Melt or for quick Eggplant, Spinach, and Tomato Towers with Red Pepper Marinara to bake 25 minutes in the oven. I find this Red Pepper Marinara a welcome alternative to store-bought tomato sauce. Very young and older palates will appreciate that it’s less acidic and gentler on the stomach. Plus, you can avoid the salt and sugar hiding in jarred sauces when you make it at home. The recipe takes much less time to cook than tomato-based marinara and easily freezes into smaller portions for a variety of uses. The sauce would do well over a quick vegetable-based pasta made with rabe and white beans or grilled zucchini and black olives.
Eggplant Parmigiana is easy with the eggplant coins. Whenever I batch cook them, I layer the slices alternating ricotta mixed with an egg, sliced fresh mozzarella, and plenty of Red Pepper Marinara in a 9 x 9 glass-lock storage dish. Finish with shredded parmesan and and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. These freeze well for another night to serve with a crisp green salad or over penne for a satisfying pasta. Layer lasagna noodles with the eggplant and perhaps Sautéed Mushrooms and Red Russian Kale for a lovely Red Pepper, Eggplant, Kale, and Mushroom Lasagna. Slice the eggplant along their length or on a steep bias instead of cross-wise to make longer strips. A portion of marinara and these stocked in the freezer are ready to thaw and roll into Eggplant Rollatini with Spinach and Ricotta (Involtini di Melanzane e Spinaci) for a dinner ready in minutes. Use the same ricotta mixture to stuff al dente Jumbo Shell Pasta, nestle them in Red Pepper Marinara, and sprinkle with grated mozzarella or parmesan. Heat at 375 degree F until the cheese is nice and bubbly .
Roasted Red Peppers, Eggplant, Basil and Fontina on Sourdough
For each sandwich:
2 slices hearty sourdough bread
4-5 Oven-baked Eggplant slices
1 red bell pepper
3 leaves basil
1 ounce fontina, sliced thin
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse each bell pepper and remove the stem, core, and seeds. Slice each pepper in half and each half horizontally. Coat lightly with olive oil and place on a sheet tray. Roast in the oven 25 minutes.
Warm the eggplant slices in the oven the last 6-8 minutes of baking. Remove the vegetables and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Lay the sourdough slices on a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. Layer the eggplant on one slice. Add the sliced fontina. Replace the sheet in the oven to toast until the cheese is bubbly and melted. Remove from the oven. Top the eggplant halves with roasted peppers and basil and, finally, the other sourdough slice.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Eggplant, Spinach, and Tomato Towers with Red Pepper Marinara
Serves 4
3 cups Red Pepper Marinara
1 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems removed, or 1 1b. baby spinach, may substitute kale or Swiss chard
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella ovaline, cut in 16 thin slices
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Rinse the spinach, remove any tough stems, and chop into bite-size pieces. Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until aromatic 45 seconds. Add the spinach and chopped tomato, stir to coat in the oil, and sauté 4-6 minutes until wilted. Remove from heat.
In the bottom of an oven-proof 9x13 dish, spread a layer of red pepper marinara.
Lay eight eggplant slices, well-spaced, in the dish. Choose the largest slices as these form the base of your stacks. Spread each with 2 Tablespoons of the spinach and tomato mixture. Top with a slice of mozzarella followed by another eggplant slice. Ladle red pepper marinara over each stack. Add another layer of spinach and tomato mixture followed by another slice of mozzarella. top each with an eggplant slice and additional marinara. Sprinkle the shredded parmesan, about 1-1/2 tablespoons over each stack.
Bake in the oven 15-20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese melted.