Every week I plan my lunches and dinner for my weekdays ahead. I always try to have 5 lunches that I can make on the Sunday, usually it is the same thing everyday which can sometimes get boring by the time I get to Thursday/Friday, resulting in me dumping the food I’ve prepared and buying a sandwich or something from the local pret. It is really hard to try to keep lunches exciting that are quick and easy to put together in the morning.

So last Sunday I was doing my usual search through the internet when I came across this on Pinterest. Full credit goes to Christine Byrne who had put this on buzzfeed. I was sceptical but I didn’t have to be, it has been a fantastic week of food. Everyday something different and something yum, I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

On Sunday, do your grocery shopping and then go about cooking your week’s worth of food. The cooking process takes about 2 hours if done consistently, or if your like me who gets distracted very easily, it may take slightly longer!

Grocery Shopping List:

• 1 fennel bulb
• 1 garlic head
• 2 bunches of kale
• 1 orange
• 2 small bunches or 1 large bunch of parsley
• 1 large red pepper
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 chicken breasts
• 4 eggs
• 60g feta cheese
• Apple cider vinegar
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup farro
• 2 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• Tahini
• ⅓ cup walnuts
• 400g can cannellini beans

You will also need several airtight containers to store all the food.

Sunday food preparation

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 2 sweet potatoes

Preparation:

1. Let the chicken and sweet potatoes cool completely before storing them in town separate airtight containers in the fridge.
2. Roast in the preheated oven until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are soft,  about 40 mins.
3. Dry the chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels, then season them all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts on a large baking sheet. Pierce each sweet potato 4 to 5 times with a fork, then wrap each one separately in foil. Place the wrapped sweet potatoes on the baking sheet.
4. Preheat the oven to 220°C

Roasted Red Pepper

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper

Preparation:

1. Turn a gas burner to medium heat and place the whole pepper directly onto the flame. Cook, rotating the pepper every 2 minutes, until the pepper is completely blackened and soft, about 10 mins in total.
2. Transfer the hot, cooked pepper to an airtight plastic bag and seal the bag. Let the peppers sit for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, so that it steams and then cools. If you’re leaving it for longer than an hour, you can put it in the fridge.
3. Take the pepper out of the bag and use your hands to peel away the blackened skin. Cut the top off of the pepper and discard, then peel it open and scrape out any seeds. Cut the pepper into thin strips, then cut the strips into rough ¼-inch pieces.
4. Let the pepper cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

Farro

Ingredients:

• ½ cup farro
• 2 cups chicken stock

Preparation:

1. Place the farro in a small mixing bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak for 20 minutes.
2. Drain and rinse the farro, then combine the farro and stock in a small saucepan with a lid. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to low.
3. Leave for 25 mins until the farro is cooked al dente.
4. Drain the cooked farro and run it under cold water to cool before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Tahini Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsps tahini
• 3 tbsps apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed

Preparation:

1. Whisk together the tahini, vinegar, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper in a bowl.
2. Continue to whisk as you slowly drizzle in the olive oil, and whisk until everything is combined.
3. Stir in the cloves of smashed garlic and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
4. This dressing will be the basis of 3 different sauces throughout the week.

White Bean with Roasted Red Pepper, Fennel and Parsley

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, chopped into rough ¼-inch pieces
• salt and pepper
• 3 gloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsps parsley stems, thinly sliced
• ½ of the chopped roasted red pepper
• 400g can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the fennel is soft and translucent, about 4 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and parsley stems, season with a little salt and pepper, and cook until the garlic is fragrant and just starting to brown.
3. Add the roasted red pepper and white beans and cook, stirring often, until the beans start to break down just a little bit, about 2 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chopped parsley leaves, and stir everything together.
5. Let the beans cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

Medium Boiled Eggs

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs

Preparation:

1. Fill a medium saucepan with about 5 inches of water and bring to the boil.
2. When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the eggs, one at a time, carefully.
3. Reduce the heat as low as it will go, cover and cook for 9 mins.
4. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. When the eggs are done, use a spoon to transfer them into the ice water.
5. Cool for 3 mins, then peel the eggs and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Garlic Kale

For this part, you will start with 2 bunches of kale. Remove the stems from both bunches and then slice it all into strips about ½ inch thick. Store ⅓ of the sliced kale in an airtight container in the fridge, and sauté the remaining kale following the below recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• The kale you just prepped as per above instructions
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, season with a little salt and pepper and cook, stirring often just until the garlic starts to brown.
2. Add the sliced kale and season with more salt and pepper.
3. Cook, tossing often, until the kale is soft and dark green, about 3 mins.
4. Let the kale cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

And that is the food prep complete. You should have something that resembles the below.

Monday: Chicken and White Bean Salad with Feta and Orange Vinaigrette

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the juice of  ½ orange, ¼ teaspoon orange zest, a pinch of salt, and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. Add 1 tsp olive oil and whisk to combine. Put into a dressing container.
2. Cut the remaining ½ orange into segments. Use a knife to cut the peel off the orange, so that there is no white pith left on the outside.

Put this in a large container:

• ⅔ of one chicken breast cut into roughly ½ inch pieces
• ⅓ of the sautéed white beans recipe

Put this in a small container:

• ½ orange, segmented
• 30g feta cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves

At lunchtime:

Microwave the chicken and beans on high for 90 seconds, until heated through. Toss with the orange vinaigrette, then crumble the feta on top along with the orange segments and parsley.

Tuesday: Kale Salad with Eggs, Sweet Potato, and Honey-Tahini DressingPreparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together a ⅓ of the tahini dressing recipe with 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add all of the raw, sliced kale and use your hands to massage the dressing into the kale.

Put this in a large container:

• Raw kale with honey-tahini dressing

Put this in a small container:

• 2 boiled eggs, quartered
• ⅓ of the cooked farro recipe
• 30g feta cheese
• ½ a baked sweet potato, cut in ½ inch cubes
• 3 walnuts, roughly chopped

At lunchtime, top the kale salad with the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.

Wednesday: Farro Bowl with Roasted Red Peppers, Chicken and Parsley-Tahini Sauce

Preparation:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves with ½ tsp apple cider vinegar and a ⅓ of the tahini dressing recipe. Put in a dressing container.

Put this in a large container:

• The remaining cooked farro
• The remaining roasted red pepper
• ⅔ of one roasted chicken breast, thinly sliced

Put this in a small container:

• 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves
• 3 walnuts, roughly chopped

At lunchtime, microwave the farro, red pepper and chicken on high for 90 seconds, until heated through. Drizzle with the parsley-tahini dressing and top with the parsley and chopped walnuts.

Thursday: Kale and Chicken-Stuffed Sweet Potato

Preparation:

Put this in a large container:

• Rest of the roasted chicken, shredded
• ½ of the sautéed kale recipe

Put this in a small container:

• 1 whole baked sweet potato

Put this in a dressing container:

• Remaining tahini dressing 

At lunchtime, cut the sweet potato in half, lengthwise but not al the way through. Stuff it with the chicken and kale mixture and microwave on high for 2 mins, until it’s heated through. Drizzle with the tahini dressing and serve immediately.

Friday: Warm White Bean and Kale Salad

Preparation:

Put this in a large container:

• The remaining sautéed white beans
• The remaining sautéed kale

Put this in a small container:

• 2 boiled eggs
• 2 tbsp parsley leaves, roughly chopped

At lunchtime, microwave the white beans and kale on high for 90 seconds, until heated. Cut the boiled egg in quarters. Top the warm bean and kale mixture with the egg quarters and parsley, and serve immediately.