Recipe: Meal Preparation Sunday

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. Start by marinating the chicken breasts. Set out 4 bowls.
For the honey mustard marinade, add honey, mustard, vegetable oil, freshly grated zest of half of a lemon, and juice of the other half. Season with salt and pepper.
For the herby balsamic marinade, finely chop basil and add to a bowl with balsamic vinegar, mustard, orange juice, and green pesto. Season with salt and pepper.

For the garlic yogurt marinade, add yogurt to a bowl. Finely grate garlic and add to the bowl along with paprika, chopped thyme leaves, and oil. Season with salt and pepper.
For the turmeric ginger marinade, peel and grate the ginger into a bowl. Add turmeric, curry powder, lemon juice, and oil. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.

Continue with the oven vegetables and chickpeas. For the roasted vegetables, peel and slice manioc. Cut Hokkaido pumpkin into bite-sized pieces. Clean Brussels sprouts and button mushrooms, then halve them. Peel and cut red onion into wedges.Transfer the vegetables to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Set aside the baking sheet for now.

For the crispy chickpeas, set out 3 bowls.
For the fennel spice mixture, add fennel seeds, dried oregano, salt, chili, and canola oil to a bowl and stir to combine.
For the turmeric spice mixture, add turmeric, curry, lime zest, sugar, salt, and canola oil to another bowl and stir to combine.
For the sweet chili spice mixture, add sweet chili sauce, coriander, ground ginger, garlic powder, salt, and canola oil to the last bowl and stir to combine.

Drain chickpeas and rinse under water. Thoroughly pat them dry with a kitchen towel so they’ll get crispy in the oven. Divide chickpeas into the three bowls with the spice mixes. Toss to coat, then transfer them to a baking sheet. Add the first two baking sheets with vegetables and chickpeas to the oven. Bake at 180°C/355°F for approx. 30 min. Toss chickpeas from time to time.

In the meantime, prepare brown rice. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add brown rice. Reduce heat to medium, and let the rice simmer covered for approx. 25 min. Remove from heat, and let rest (still covered) for 5 more minutes.

For the granola, add rolled oats, sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract to a bowl and stir to combine. Halve the mixture and transfer to two separate bowls. Mix melted coconut oil, cashew butter, tahini, and 1 tbsp maple syrup. If needed, heat up the mixture until everything is well combined. Add one third of the tahini mixture to one of the bowls of oats and stir to combine. Add remaining tahini mixture to the other bowl along with chia seeds and remaining maple syrup. Stir to combine.

Add the “looser” granola (with only ⅓ tahini mixture) to one half of a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer the stickier granola (with ⅔ tahini mixture) to a parchment-lined rectangular baking dish and press in well. Place the baking dish right next to the loose granola on the baking sheet and set aside.

Remove marinated chicken breasts from the fridge. Form 4 sheets of parchment paper into smaller baskets and fill them with one type of marinated chicken breast each. Transfer them all to a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheets with granola (and bars) and marinated chicken breasts to the oven and bake at 180°C/355°F for approx. 15 min. Only after baking, add cocoa nibs and, if desired, other extras such as dried fruits to your granola.

Finally, only the sauces are left to do. For the curry base sauce, peel and finely chop shallots. Heat some oil in a smaller pot and fry shallots with brown sugar for approx. 3 min. Add kaffir lime leaves, vegetable broth, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer for approx. 2 – 3 min. Add soy sauce and keep simmering for approx. 4 – 5 min. Remove kaffir lime leaves and spoon some of the sauce into a bowl. Add starch to the small bowl with sauce, stir to combine, then add to the pot. Let the sauce simmer until thickened. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste. At this point, you can upgrade this basic sauce recipe with a curry paste of your choice. Peanut butter also works well!

For the salad vinaigrette, add fig mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey to a bowl.
Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. For the almond dip, add almond butter, grated ginger, lemon juice, water, honey, smoked paprika, and coriander to a bowl and stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Now that all of the meal prep components are prepared, store them in airtight containers.
Combine and upgrade them as you like and enjoy!