Veggie Recipes for Big Batch Cooking

If it takes 90 days to create a new habit, then by-golly I may have just succeeded at one of my New Year's Resolutions. This resolution was inspired by that 5 o'clock HANGRY feeling.

You get off work, drained from the day, and you have no energy or patience to deal with making cooking decisions. Eating--a core function of sustaining your existence--takes the backseat to meal prep, or arguing about meal prep, or whining about why you can't ever eat the salad greens before they turn to slime.

The solution? Big batch cooking on the weekend, or whatever days off you might have. I'm happy to say this has worked for me for 13 weeks in a row. I use recipes from library cookbooks to shake up the flavors, only repeating my favorites. And I've started collecting these recipes by scanning the pages with Evernote's Scannable app (Apple) and saving them to the Evernote Food app (Andoid, Apple).

Here are a few of the books and recipes that have allowed me to conquer the 5 o'clock HANGRY. 

Brussels Sprout Quinoa Gratin from the High Protein Vegetarian Cookbook

• My mouth is watering just thinking about how good this one was. Like every recipe tried for the first time, it took longer to make than expected, but it was well worth the wait. Crunchy, savory, creamy, and sweet. A must repeat.

Warm Southwestern Bean Salad from Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution

• Hearty lentils and pinto beans with corn, tomatoes, and chipotle. Lovely and fragrant warm salad topped with cilantro, cheese and pepitas.
• I was very impressed by how well this turned out. It was quick to put together, and so tasty that I trust that all of the recipes in this book are top notch. Three cheers for a test kitchen.

Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Curried Greens and Chickpeas from the all-vegan Appetite for Reduction

• It's like a chana masala with tons of kale, ginger, and spices.
• This book has a lot of repeat recipes. I've made the ginger apple sweet potato mash at two Thanksgivings already. The "Cool Slaw" is an easy side to make a huge batch of for having with veggie burgers. It uses a cashew sauce instead of dairy.