Despite being extremely popular and sickeningly practical, meal prep can also be truly tedious. Sure, you’ve cut down on waste, and prep time, but your reward is 3 nights in a row of the same meal, by day three we find that completely uninspiring. Although we have our misgivings about traditional meal prep, there is one thing we can get behind - reducing waste. That’s why we’ve come up with a slightly more inspirational way to reduce waste when cooking for small numbers.
The easiest way we’ve found to reduce waste when cooking for just yourself, is to repeat the fresh ingredients, and use store cupboard staples to switch up each dish. We’ve put together three recipes using cauliflower, spring onions and coriander, in three very different ways, to help you reduce food waste, while still getting a bit of excitement into your mid-week meals.
The recipes we’ve created are for one, so can easily be scaled up to however many people you are catering for.
Cauliflower Pea and Feta Quinoa
• 1/3 Cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1 serving of quinoa
• A handful of frozen peas
• 1 lemon - zest and a little juice
• 1/3 bunch coriander, (just leaves), chopped
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1/4 block or mini pack of feta (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Roast the cauliflower in olive oil with a generous sprinkling of salt, until caramelised with a bit of bite.
Cook the quinoa, once all the liquid has been absorbed, remove from the hob and add the frozen peas, they will cook in the residual heat.
Allow to cool slightly then add the cauliflower, crumbled feta (if using), chopped coriander and lemon zest. Add the lemon juice to taste (you might not need all of it).
Sprinkle with spring onion.
Miso Cauliflower - with Quinoa
• 1/3 Cauliflower, broken into florets
Dressing
• 1 tbsp white miso (although red also works)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 inch ginger, minced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
To Serve
• 1 serving of quinoa
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1/3 bunch of coriander (just leaves - keep the stalks for the next recipe!)
• Toasted sesame seeds
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Combine the dressing ingredients, then use about half to cover your cauliflower, and roast in the oven for approx. 30 mins, it should have some nice caramelisation, but still have some bite.
Meanwhile, make the quinoa according to packet instructions - they usually provide a portion size per person.
Once cooked, set the quinoa aside to cool a little. Chop the coriander and spring onion and stir through the quinoa along with the remaining dressing, leaving a little for garnishing.
Top with the cauliflower, then garnish with sesame seeds, coriander and spring onion.
Cauliflower Curry with Brown Rice
· 1/3 Cauliflower, broken into florets
· 1 small onion, chopped
· 1/2 ginger, minced
· 1 fat garlic clove, minced
· 1 small tin of tomatoes (approx. 200g)
· 1 tsp spice mix- garam masala works well if you’re feeling lazy, but feel free to get creative with your spices here. Always remember to toast spices beforehand, and blitz in a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar if you’ve used whole spices
· Coriander stems, finely chopped, plus a few leaves to garnish
· Salt, to taste
To Serve
· 1 serving brown rice
· 1 spring onion, chopped
· Coriander leaves
Start by cooking the onion in a little oil, it can get some colour, then add the finely chopped coriander stems, and cook until fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Then add the spice mix and cook out for about one min. Add the cauliflower and coat the florets in the spice mixture. Then add the tin of tomatoes and then fill the empty tin with water and add that.
Cook everything together with the lid off until the cauliflower is tender, with a little bite. Check the flavour and season with salt. If it looks a little watery but the cauliflower is ready, remove the cauliflower with a slotted spoon and turn up the heat to reduce the sauce.
Serve with brown rice, garnished with chopped coriander and spring onion.
We’d love to see your upcycling projects, so tag us @wildclouds.co on instagram!