In contrast to previous posts, this week’s requires a contents menu…
The Recipe
The Method
Storage
The Verdict
Final Notes
First up, an apology for my absence. Long story short, I ran out of antidepressants, couldn’t replace them, had a few weeks of brain fog limbo. But I’m back on my medication and back on my bullshit.
This is my own recipe this time, inspired by Tesco’s ‘Plant Chef’ Roasted Vegetable & Pesto Wrap. Because I love this wrap so much, but can’t afford to have it every day, I figured I should try and make something similar. So, while this recipe definitely will not be as good as the original, it’s still going to be vegan, relatively healthy, and cheaper to boot. Probably.
All in all my shopping came to about £16, and that’s including some toiletries and vegan Ben and Jerry’s (look, I can’t be healthy ALL the time). So, without further ado, here’s my recipe and method…
The Recipe
Allow 1 hour of cooking time for dilly-dallying. This should (hopefully) be 5 servings!
You will need:
- A pack of tortilla wraps (at least 5 for 5 portions)
- 2 bell peppers – 1 red, 1 yellow
- Baby plum tomatoes (1 pack of at least 20ish)
- Shallots (do you still have some from the Broccoli Bowl? Perfect. Otherwise I only used like 3 in the end so get a small pack if poss)
- Vegan mayo (Tesco list a ‘fava-bean alternative mayo’ but that shit wasn’t in little Tescos and I couldn’t be arsed to make it myself so I just got their ‘Mayo-Maize’ mayo alternative
- Vegan pesto (small pot will do, I’m only using a tsp per wrap)
- Spinach (can be baby or adult)
- Parsley
- Garlic Powder
- Oregano
- Olive Oil (or your oil of choice for roasting with)
The Method
First up, you gotta roast the veg. Sure, you can go to the effort of roasting them properly, or you can half the bell peppers and about 23-25 plum tomatoes, sprinkle some oil over them – making sure they’re well-covered – and pop them under the grill at full temp for about 20 minutes, or until things start to smell a bit smoky.
While they’re ‘roasting’, you can either eat breakfast or, if you’re not preparing this an hour before you have to leave for work, you could chop 2 or 3 shallots as small as you want, ready to pop in the wrap.
Once the roast veg is looking soft and juicy, remove from grill, turn grill off (this is important), and allow to cool for a bit. While they’re cooling, get your tinfoil, pop a tortilla wrap on top, then spread about a tablespoon of “mayonnaise” in a line in the centre of the wrap. Next to it, spread a line of 1 teaspoon-full of pesto.
Wash your spinach and add about a handful of it on top of the condiments (a step I forgot the first attempt), then sprinkle some chopped shallots over that. Your peppers and tomatoes should be cool enough to touch by now, so chop the bell peppers into bitesize chunks and add as much as your heart desires to the wrap. There’s no need to chop the tomatoes further, so just pop a few of those in the wrap too.
Finally, your herbs. Sprinkle some parsley and oregano, and a pinch of garlic powder, over your wrap. Fold it (diagram below if you need help), wrap the wrap in tinfoil wrap, and you’re good to go.
Storage
According to a quick Google search, you can store your roasted bell peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for about 5 days – these will be fresher if stored in olive oil. Perfect. Sort that out, put the rest of the tomatoes in there for good measure, any leftover chopped shallots, and put the whole lot in the fridge ready for tomorrow’s wrap. Lovely.
As for the spinach, you can freeze this after washing it – you shouldn’t need to blanche it first (so there’s no need to look up what the fuck blanching is) – just get several sealable freezer bags, make sure your spinach is relatively dry by patting it with a paper towel/kitchen roll, and put a handful of spinach in each bag – a portion per bag.
If you’re worried about your tortilla wraps, the ones I have are suitable for freezing, they just need to have 2 hours’ defrost time. So you can probably whack those in the freezer too.
Then all you need to do is take out the next day’s portions from the freezer the night before, and allow them to defrost overnight. Probably in the fridge.
The Verdict
Day One (Tuesday)
Yeah, okay, I missed a day. I also missed the spinach and the garlic powder when making the wrap this morning, and I could have packed it a bit more full. As for the taste, it doesn’t really compare to the professionally-made plant chef Tesco version, but it was still very tasty – though probably not as filling as it should be. I may have to make two wraps tomorrow and save half of one for Wednesday. We’ll have to see how far the ingredients I bought go – or maybe actually adding the spinach this time will make all the difference…
Day Two (Wednesday)
I remembered the spinach and the garlic this time, and the wrap was much better – still not completely filling, and having an extra half didn’t really leave me satisfied for the rest of the day. The ingredients I stored have retained most of their freshness and I have no concerns about leaving them in the fridge for at least another couple of days. I also froze my tortillas and spinach in the morning, ready to defrost one portion overnight in the evening. Hopefully everything will go just as well tomorrow!
Day Three (Thursday)
Both the spinach and the wrap defrosted well for this morning, and the wrap wasn’t soggy at all, which was promising! I’m not concerned about the amount of filling I have left, although a full five-day-week would likely require a few more tomatoes. Other than that, another tasty (but ultimately not filling wrap). I have had to forgo the fasting for the week in order to not go into starvation mode.
Day Four (Friday)
All pretty much the same as before – spinach and wrap defrosted nicely, ingredients are still quite fresh, and I have plenty of pepper and spinach left – plus a little left over for some wraps tomorrow!
The Final Verdict
A final summary of my experience with this meal prep would be:
Pros:
- Easy to make, no cooking involved
- Quite cheap and healthy ingredients
- Easy to keep ingredients fresh and they don’t take up a lot of room in the freezer
- Vegan (as always)
Cons:
- Not very filling – unsuitable for those following an intermittent fasting schedule
- Watch out for pesto leaks!
Got any suggestions for future meal prep recipes? Please do let me know in a comment!
I like recipes that a) require very minimal/simple cooking, b) use a small budget, and of course c) are vegan!
The Lazy Vegan 