Batch cooking — Week 6

Two sessions this week: Sunday (big) and Wednesday evening (mini). This week keeps the building-block model (batch-cooking) — the Sunday session outputs six reusable components, not one scaled dish, and they feed two burrito meals, two chickpea-feta salads, the Tue halloumi salad, plus daily snacks and protein top-ups.

Truncated week — away Fri/Sat. The plan runs Sun–Thu only. The halloumi salad runs once (Tue, not Tue+Fri), and Friday’s rice-paper rolls + Saturday’s oats are dropped. Grain quantity below is halved accordingly.

Sunday is a two-part cook day:

• Midday (~25 min): chickpea-feta salad for Sunday lunch + prep the shared blocks (boil eggs, cook the grain, chop the chickpea-feta base veg).
• Late afternoon / evening (~70 min): the big batch — beef burrito filling, cilantro-lime rice, roasted/chopped veg, dressing.

Shop Saturday or Sunday morning so everything’s on hand before the midday cook. Salmon is the fish exception — see the shop-timing note in Groceries — Week 6: it’s fine bought Sunday because it’s cooked Monday (day 2), no freezing. Shrimp (Thu, day 5) is the one item to freeze on arrival and thaw Wednesday night.

Building blocks this session produces

The grain, eggs, chickpea base and dressings are the point: they turn into several different meals (two burritos, two chickpea-feta salads, the Tue halloumi salad) plus snacks — that’s building-block batching, not cooking one dish in bulk.

Sunday midday — chickpea-feta lunch + shared components (~25 min)

Assemble Chickpea & feta salad (no-cook) for Sunday lunch and prep the durable blocks that carry through the week.

1. Grain. Cook 130g farro/barley per package (~25 min); this covers the Tue dinner halloumi salad. Cool, store.
2. Eggs — do all 8 now. 8 eggs, 7–9 min hard, ice bath, peel. For hummus snacks, chickpea-feta protein top-ups (Sun + Wed), and boiled-egg-and-fruit top-ups through the week.
3. Chickpea-feta base. Drain + rinse 2 cans chickpeas. Dice cucumber, red pepper, red onion; chop parsley. Combine (no dressing yet). Split off ~half for Wednesday in a separate container. Cube the feta separately (keeps better undressed).
4. Compose Sunday lunch: chickpea base + feta + parsley, dressed with the lemon–Dijon dressing (make now or in the evening batch), sourdough on the side.

Why chickpea-feta splits across the week cleanly: it’s a no-cook cold assembly — the base holds 3–4 days undressed, and you dress each serving fresh so nothing goes soggy. No second cook, no reheating.

Sunday evening — ~70 min big batch

Goal: Sun dinner + Mon/Tue lunches + rice + dressings for the week.

Produces: beef burrito filling (6 servings) · cilantro-lime rice (6 servings) · dressings · (eggs + grain already done midday).

Prep phase (10 min)

• Dice 1 onion, mince 3 garlic cloves.
• Drain 1 can black beans; measure 200g corn.
• Zest + juice 1 lime for the rice; chop cilantro.
• Measure spices (1.5×): 1.5 tbsp cumin, 1.5 tbsp paprika, 1.5 tsp oregano, ¾ tsp chili flakes.

Stovetop: beef burrito filling, 1.5× (≈20 min)

Tex-Mex — lean beef + black bean.

1. Brown 500g lean ground beef in a large pan; drain excess fat.
2. Add onion, cook 5 min. Garlic + spices, 1 min.
3. Add black beans + corn, simmer 5 min. Salt to taste.

Stovetop: cilantro-lime rice (while beef cooks)

• Cook 360g long-grain rice (rinse first). Off heat, fold in lime zest + juice + chopped cilantro.

Dressings (3 min)

• Lemon–honey (halloumi + chicken-thigh): jar — 4 tbsp olive oil, 4 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp honey, 2 tsp Dijon, salt. Shake.
• Chickpea-feta dressing: 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon, 1 tsp Dijon, 1 garlic clove minced. (Or use the lemon–honey for both.)

Portion & store

• Burrito filling → 3 containers of 2 servings (Sun dinner G/H · Mon lunch G/H · Tue lunch G/H)
• Rice → 6 portions; freeze 2 portions for Tue lunch (don’t keep cooked rice past day 3)
• Chickpea-feta Wed kit → 1 container of base + feta separate (dress Wed)
• Grain, eggs, dressings → fridge

After Sunday: Mon & Tue lunches are 2-min reheats; Sun dinner is ready now; Wed chickpea-feta is a 5-min assembly; Tue halloumi salad just needs the grain + a fresh halloumi sear.

Wednesday evening — ~30 min mini-batch

Goal: prep Thu lunch (chicken-thigh salad). This is Wednesday’s dinner too — cook 4 servings, eat 2 fresh.

Produces:

• Roast chicken-thigh salad — 4 servings (Wed dinner G/H + Thu lunch G/H)

Method (scale Roast chicken thigh salad with warm grains 2×)

1. Season 350g chicken thighs (paprika, cumin, salt, olive oil). Air-fry 18 min at 190°C, flip at 10 min — or sear skin-side 6 min, flip 5 min. Rest, slice.
2. Toss greens, cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes with the lemon–honey dressing (from Sunday).
3. Assemble: greens + veg, warm chicken, goat cheese/feta, toasted walnuts. Keep the Thu-lunch portion’s dressing separate so it doesn’t wilt.
4. Portion: chicken 160g G / 115g H; grain/veg base 65/35 favouring G; cheese 50g G / 30g H.

Store

• Wed dinner: 2 servings fresh.
• Thu lunch: 1 container of 2 servings — chicken + undressed greens + dressing on the side.

After Wednesday: Thu lunch is a grab-and-go (dress at the table).

Daily fresh cooks (not batched)

Storage reminders

Reheat tip: stir 1 tbsp water into rice/burrito filling before microwaving, covered 2 min, stir, 1 more min. (Chickpea-feta, halloumi and chicken-thigh salads are eaten cold/room-temp — the halloumi is the only element seared fresh.)

Fish handling: salmon (Mon) is bought Sunday and cooked day 2, no freezing. Shrimp (Thu, day 5) is the one item frozen-on-arrival and thawed Wednesday night — or bought day-of. Nothing is cooked past Thursday (away Fri/Sat).