5 useful meal prep ideas using the food processor

5 super useful meal prep ideas for you to do on the weekend

Weekends are meant for relaxing and restoring. But building in an hour or so of prep for the week ahead, such as in meal prep, makes cooking during the week so much easier. And a food processor makes meal prep a whole lot quicker and easier. If you are in a dilemma if it is worth getting one more appliance in your kitchen, always go for an appliance that is a multitasker and is good for multiple tasks making it worth the precious counter real estate. A recent addition to my kitchen is the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder which ticks all the boxes. You can check out the product and buy it here.

Also, check out my recipe for restaurant-style kadhai paneer here as a part of my collaboration with Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder.

Let’s go through the 5 meal prep ideas that are very helpful for me during the week.

1.     Shredding cabbage

Purple cabbage adds a ton of fibre and antioxidants to your dishes and it is good to have this handy in the fridge. Red or purple is somewhat harder to shred by hand as compared to green cabbage. The food processor jar along with the shredder disc of the  Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder makes quick work of getting thin uniform shreds of cabbage that can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. I use this in salads, subzis, dal, sauteed vegetables, noodles etc.

While I am partial to purple cabbage, you can prep any vegetables in this manner and store for your subzis and salads. And no, refrigeration does not cause any considerable loss of nutrients. You stand to gain much more by consistently adding veggies to your meals.

Don’t miss: 12 healthy cabbage recipes for you to try

2.     Basil Pesto

Keeping Italian basil for more than a day in the fridge makes it turn black no matter how you store it. The day I buy basil, I try to make it into pesto, which then stays good for a week in the fridge. It’s not just a basil-saving operation, but also an excellent condiment to have in the fridge. Cook pasta in ten minutes and toss it in pesto, olive oil and grated parmesan and a quick dinner is ready. It also makes the best spread to make sandwiches with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted bell peppers. I used the food processor jar with the chopper blade to prepare the pesto.

Recipe:

3 cups of basil leaves

2 garlic cloves

 ½ cup roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews or a mix of all 3)

Salt

juice of half a lemon

Blend until you get a coarse paste adding up to ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil from the feeder tube. Scrape into a clean dry glass jar with a lid and refrigerate. For this, I use the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder’s Multi Utility Jar which makes it so convenient to store.

Also try: Vegan Kale Basil Pesto

3.     Salad dressing

Dressings make your salad edible, interesting and even addictive. Preparing a small batch of dressing enough for 4-5 salads for the week is a great way to enjoy salads without the pain of preparing a dressing every single time.

You will need roughly 1-2 tbsp of salad dressing per portion of salad, depending on how big your portion is and how juicy you would like it. I use Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder’s small mixer jar to prepare the salad dressing. Blending it in a mixer jar helps emulsify the oil and water (lemon juice) well into a thick and creamy consistency. It will separate into layers in the refrigerator but give it a good shake or whisk and you are good to go.

An easy go-to salad dressing recipe:

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice (or any wine vinegar / apple cider vinegar)

Zest of 1-2 lemons

1 tsp dried herbs

1 tbsp honey

½ tsp crushed black pepper

½ tsp salt

Blend all of the ingredients in the small chutney jar. Store in an airtight glass bottle in the fridge. Shake before using. Will stay for a week easily.

Also check out: Over 50 salad recipes for you to try

4.     Breakfast batter

Preparing an all-purpose batter for idli, dosa, uthappam or paniyaram is a thing followed by South Indian homes for generations. It not only helps to make a healthy breakfast ready in 15 minutes but also if you are like me, you will be happy with these dishes for any meal of the day, including a lunch box.

Soak 3 cups idli rice and ½ cup poha in a large bowl for 5-6 hours

Soak 1 cup urad dal and 2 tsp methi seeds in another bowl for 1 hour

I use the wet grinder jar to grind this batter.

Drain the soaked ingredients.

First grind the rice-poha mix with up to ½ cup of water to a slightly coarse consistency. Scrape this out into a large bowl.

Next, grind the urad dal-methi seeds to a very fine paste using ½ – ¾ cup water. It should be fluffy and airy. Scrape this into the bowl with the rice batter.

Add 2 tsp salt and mix the two batters well with your clean hand. This aids in fermentation. Cover and keep aside for 8-10 hours until batter is well risen, smells a little tangy and is well fermented. Transfer to compact fridge containers and refrigerate.

For this, I use the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder’s wet grinder jar

Also try: Over a 100 easy breakfast recipes 

5.     Chai masala

Pounding ginger at 5 am gets too noisy. I can’t pluck the lemongrass because my garden is still dark at 5.30 am. And I’m too lazy to deal with cardamom. So here’s how this ready masala chai cube goes – grind up some fresh ginger, lemon grass greens (called chai ki patti in some parts of India) and a small handful of green cardamom pods until you get a coarse paste. I use the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder’s dry grinding jar for this purpose. To save this paste, use my ice-tray kitchen hack and freeze it into single chai worth cubes using some water. 1 cube of this fresh masala mix cube can be boiled along with water until the spices steep in the water, then add tea and milk to make a refreshing cup of chai.

Read: Freeze and store this quick and easy chai masala 

All of this meal prep was done using just one appliance – the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder. It is that versatile — from grinding masalas, and batters, to chopping vegetables and making dressings, this mixer grinder takes care of it all effortlessly.

This post was in collaboration with Prestige and their latest offering, the Prestige Amica Super Mixer Grinder. For further information about this appliance, feel free to explore more details here.

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