Dash and Dine

Cook up extra time with these easy-to-freeze dishes, and free yourself from the kitchen to linger in the dining room

written By Julie Van Rosendaal

You know it’s not a lack of inspiration that’s thwarting your genius in the kitchen – it’s a lack of time. And the booming convenience food industry is evidence of the high value we place on time. Packaged frozen foods, which generate sales of $27 billion a year in North America, are convenient. But it’s simple to prepare and freeze meals yourself.

Freezing prepared foods is simple to do, and there’s no need to set aside a valuable weekend to cook and stock the freezer in order to save time during the week. Anytime you’re preparing a meal, it makes sense to do a little extra and squirrel it away; for example, it takes as much time and effort to roast two chickens as it does to roast one, or to sauté more ground beef or bison than you need and store extras in a freezer bag. Similarly, while you’re chopping onions or peppers, chop a few extra to stash in the freezer to throw into spaghetti sauces, chili, soups and stews. Even cooked pasta, rice, barley and other grains freeze well; make a double batch and freeze the leftovers to reheat or toss them directly into a pot of soup. As a bonus, the precooked grains won’t make your soup starchy as it cooks.

Saucy foods, such as chili, pasta sauces, soups, curries and stews, tend to freeze well; the liquid acts as insulation against freezer burn. One-dish or one-pot meals are easier to reheat from frozen. Cool foods completely before you put them in the freezer. The more quickly food freezes, the fewer ice crystals will form, so smaller containers are best. To avoid committing all your resealable plastic containers to the freezer, try freezing foods in rinsed one-litre milk cartons, or reuse yogurt and sour cream containers. Flattened freezer bags also take up little space and freeze through quickly. For baked casseroles and lasagna, aluminum baking dishes are available at most dollar stores and come with their own foil covers; after use they can be reused or recycled.

So, what are you waiting for? Try some of these easy freezies. 

Recipes

Greek Lamb Kebabs

Tzatziki

Sausage, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup