ISO ideas for pre-cooking and reheating food

[GotGarlic]

Hi. I have not been feeling well enough to cook for over a month. I'm just starting to get better. DH has been amazing at stepping up and making dinner, going beyond his comfort zone, but really doesn't get into interesting veg, so it's usually something steamed with butter.

I'm looking for ideas for veggie dishes I can make a little at a time in advance that we can reheat quickly for dinner. One idea I have is roasted green beans and red onions with a vinaigrette. What's the best way to reheat without overcooking? And what other tips and ideas do you have?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I think if you are going to reheat roasted foods, freeze in freezer ziplocks and reheat dipping into boiling water. That way you do not lose your seasonings and over cook. Roast until just done or a little under.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don't have much luck reheating vegetables. I eat them, they are just never very exciting.

I often do all of the prep work early in the day, when I have energy, and refrigerate them until it is time to cook dinner. The work to cook fresh versus reheat is really about the same, maybe longer cooking time, but no more effort.

I would also go with raw vegetables in coleslaw, grated carrots or some other "sturdy" salad that could be made ahead so you can just dip and serve for a couple of days.

 

[pacanis]

I reheat veggies a lot. This is because I often make a plate of that night's dinner, cover it in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for another meal.
I reheat by poking some holes in the plastic wrap and nuking on a med/hi setting for a longer amount of time. Typically 4-6 minutes on 6 or seven. This reheats very well without overcooking, but if you have a big glob of mashed potatoes or rice that will need stirred up a bit to heat through.
I've often put veggies in their own bowl or dish if I made too many and reheat the same way. No experience with freezing them though.

I think too many people think there is only one setting on a microwave, High.

 

[Rocklobster]

Do you have a shrink wrap machine like a Foodsaver? Maybe you could do up some veg medley's and store them this way. Just blanch gently or not blanch at all if that is your preference. They can be reheated by microwave or boil in a bag. Maybe you could look at other vegetable recipes like pureees, stews etc that may not be so dificult to reheat without comprimising texture.....ratatouille, legumes, are good ones.
Like Aunt Bea said, raw is a good way to go also. We usually have a bowl of raw veggies in water in the fridge for those times when we don't feel like prepping veg or dirtying another pot...

 

[GotGarlic]

Thanks I don't have a Foodsaver but I'll try boiling cooked veg in a bag. I can't eat much raw veg because of digestive issues, but DH can. And I like the soup idea a lot. I'll see what we have that I can get started with. Thanks again.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I'm looking for ideas for veggie dishes I can make a little at a time in advance that we can reheat quickly for dinner. One idea I have is roasted green beans and red onions with a vinaigrette. What's the best way to reheat without overcooking?

Rather than roasting the beans and onions, you might simply go a different direction. One thought would be to blanch the beans and onions ahead of time, so they are partially cooked. Be sure to plunge them into an ice water bath to arrest the cooking process and retain color. At this point you can freeze them or refrigerate for several days.

Then all you have to do is saute them in a hot pan with a little oil to finish them off and toss with the vinaigrette. Not exactly the same as roasting, but it should give similar results.

I made a dish much like this for a cookout last year (it had an Asian sauce rather than vinaigrette) and it came together very quickly.

 

[GotGarlic]

That's a good idea, too. Thanks, Steve.

 

[cave76]

Someone mentioned that a microwave does have more than a 'high' setting, something I too believed for a while.

Then I learned how to reheat slices of left-over tri-tip which I like rare. I set the MW down to 30 power (maybe other MWs will be different) and nuked for about 2-3 minutes. (You have to play with the time at first).

They came out perfectly rare and warm. So, back to veggies----- I imagine that the same thing would apply to them---- careful nuking at a very low setting.

 

[Zagut]

Feel better GG.


I like the boil - in -bag method of reheating the best.

Next is the microwave on a lower setting. It's true just zapping on high isn't the way to go.

A lot depends on what you want to reheat.

Many think low and slow is the way to go but I've found that fast and hot lets you get your food up to temp without over cooking it.

As far as pre-cooking goes.......
I prefer to cook it and then reheat it later. I know it's cooked the way I like it and bringing it up to a palatable temp is easier.