Hearty sustenance by the batch
One-pot meals that fill and keep on satisfying a recipe for relief
Between working, parenting and teaching or attending school from the increasingly confined boundaries of home during the coronavirus outbreak, cooking a hot meal every night can be one chore too many.
Fortunately, this week we have four big-batch recipes that come together with minimal effort and can feed your family for days — or all week if you’re weathering the quarantine solo.
If it’s comfort and familiarity you’re craving, try our easy take on chicken and dumplings. We’ve skipped the whole messy process of mixing a dough from scratch by using packaged biscuits, which are easy to find at any grocery store. Our version has a brighter flavor with the addition of acidic, dry white wine and a generous scoop of that Italian herb blend you probably
have hiding in a corner of the pantry.
For fans of nutritious, leafy greens, there’s our take on Portuguese-style caldo verde. This soup traditionally includes just a single slice of cured chorizo sausage — but that’s not how we do things in Texas. Our soup includes a pound of your favorite fully cooked sausage for a big, bold flavor fortified with lots of fibrous roughage from slivered kale or collard greens.
Most area supermarkets are well stocked with large cuts of pork shoulder — sometimes sold as pork butt — and those hulking chunks of meat are the perfect base for a zesty stew. We’ve braised that pork in stock, wine, and oodles of ground chile powder and herbs for a bold and zippy stew that will appeal to Texas palates.
Served with a side of potatoes or the starch of your choice, this pot of pork stew becomes a complete meal you’ll love noshing on for days to come.
If you or your family are trying to eat less meat or already have a vegan diet, try our zesty black bean stew. It delivers a unique flavor with the addition of cinnamon and chocolate and provides belly-filling satisfaction from a scoop of lime-spiked barley or rice piled on top.
All these recipes can go directly into the fridge in the pot you prepared them in. Just scoop out the portions you want and reheat them as your appetite strikes.
We know time is precious with all the demands right now, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be sacrificing big flavor or heartwarming meals.