I  better get moving on posting everything I’ve made before my own baby comes out and I need to eat the things in the freezer instead of writing about them.

SO, SOUPS

I bet you have some you like. Make those! If not, I’ll give you some ideas. I like to freeze them in 500ml round containers for 2 reasons

1- it’s the perfect soup bowl size for one person. throw it over a cooked grain to make it heartier

2- you can pop it out of the container and into a pot to simmer while it’s completely frozen.

I mostly made 3 kinds and then froze the odd bowl of other soups I’ve made for us that had leftovers (because variety- spice of life).

I made the harira from Heidi Swanson’s Near and Far, my gumbo, and a palak aloo recipe that I looooooooove from Veg Recipes of India (with a couple tweaks). Think of hearty, whole-meal soups that will keep you going. Most of these have a bean or lentil, veg and lots of flavour. The palak recipe is just a massive amount of cooked spinach which is really great for getting your much needed postpartum iron stores back up.

HARIRA

This recipe calls for pasta but I like to use a really quick-cooking kamut capellini in this and I don’t think it would freeze well. I recommend adding a handful of a thin tiny pasta when reheating and that should be enough to cook it through.

• olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 celery stalks, dice
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp minced ginger
• pinch of saffron
• 2 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp crush red pepper flakes
• 2 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 c. chickpeas
• 1 1/2 c. du puy lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 4 c. water
• 2 c. stock/broth
• 1/4 flour
• 1 795ml can of whole tomatoes

Heat oil, add onions, celery, garlic and ginger. Cook until soft. Add spices and cook until aromatic. Add beans, lentils and 4 c. water. Simmer. Whisk the broth in a bowl with the flour until smooth. Add tomatoes and break them up. Add to the soup and simmer 20 minutes stirring occasionally so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Taste and season!

PALAK ALOO w/ chickpeas

I am in love with the intense spinach-ness of this recipe but feel the potatoes won’t freeze well and also why not add some extra protein, so I’m replacing the potatoes with chickpeas. 

• 1 bunch spinach,
• 1 c. cooked chickpeas (or 1 small can, follow your heart)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp each: minced ginger and garlic
• 2 green chilies, seeded
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 pinch asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1.5 tbsp chickpea flour
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 tsp dry fenugreek leaves
• sea salt
• optional: 2-3 tbsp coconut cream

Blanch the spinach then blend with green chilies. Keep aside.

Heat oil, fry the cloves and cinnamon until aromatic. Add the onion and brown. Add garlic, ginger and tomatoes and cook until softened. Add turmeric and asafoetida then spinach puree. Whisk the chickpea flour into a the water until smooth, then add to the pot. Add chickpeas and salt to taste. Simmer until slightly thickened and finish with coconut cream if that gives you feelings. Sprinkle with garam masala and fenugreek. DONE!