This beef and broccoli is insane! Teia was craving a little Asian Zing this week, so we figured why not take advantage of this great meal prep recipe. It is basically a one pot recipe, with the meat being slow cooked until unbelievably tender, and the broccoli gently steamed in the savory aromas of the beef and jus together. Garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, you will want to eat this more than once a week!

Ingredients:

2lbs of sirloin steak (or your preferred cut of meat), sliced as thin as you can

2 heads of broccoli, cut and washed

1 32 oz. package of beef broth

4 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp ginger paste (the tubes of this are amazing and stay fresh so long!)

Cornstarch (for the slurry)

Green Onions, to garnish

Sesame Seeds, to garnish

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms, optional

Recipe:

1) Grab your largest pot, the one you normally boil pasta in, and put it on medium-high heat.

2) Add your meat directly to the pan and season with salt and pepper. You want to cook this just until it browned and starts to give off the juicy, meaty, succulent scents that you know and love from steaks.

3) Once the meat is browned add in the sesame oil, the garlic, and the ginger paste. This is where you want to add the mushrooms if you want to add one more element of texture. Mix to combine everything in the pot and cook just until the ginger and garlic become fragrant.

4) Once your cooking space has been filled with incredible, salivating-inducing aromas, add in the beef broth and an additional cup of water and bring turn the heat down to low and cover. You want this to cook for ~1 hour so you do not want an aggressive boil. This helps the meat get super tender and lets the flavors really get to know each other.

5) After around an hour of cooking, add in the broccoli and cover for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the broccoli has been cooked through. You want it to have a slight crunch to it on the outside, but soft and, almost, creamy inside. You do not want mushy broccoli.

6) Once the broccoli has been cooked through properly, add in a slurry of cornstarch and water that will thicken the sauce.

7) Turn the heat off and begin putting away into, preferably, glass containers. The glass will be able to handle the heat of the beef and broccoli, and will reheat much better for you. Add your garnishes on top of the beef and broccoli, we decided on green onions and sesame seeds.

ENJOY!

The best thing about this recipe is the versatility! If you do not like fajita veggies and only want your protein, rice, and beans, you can do that! If you want to add a bunch of cheese and guacamole, you can do that! If you want to keep your hot and cold ingredients separately, you can do that! Maybe you like pinto beans and not black beans, or you like both and not corn (which is crazy but you do you), you can do that! Any and everything you can do so you enjoy this deliciously nutritious meal is a win for meal prepping.

Ingredients: (8 servings)

4 chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 cups of brown rice, dry

1 can of black beans

1 can of sweet corn

4 roma tomatoes, diced

1 white onion, diced

1 jalapeño, diced (and seeds removed if you want to lessen the heat)

2 bell peppers (different colors makes for a prettier meal), julienned

1 red onion, julienned

1 bunch of cilantro

3 limes

Various seasonings to get the desired burrito/taco flavor, most important are probably Tajin, salt, pepper, chili powder, oregano, cumin and garlic powder.

Recipe:

1) Measure out your rice and the proper water ratio and get the water boiling. Once it is boiling, add your rice and turn it down to a simmer. Follow the package instructions for cooking, but usually brown rice takes the longest to cook so I like getting it on first so it can go low and slow and you can let it do its thing. The trick to rice is not checking on it too much so it can soften and absorb all of the moisture. Season early with the rice so that as it opens up it will absorb all of the aromatics and flavors that you want to be consistent throughout the entire dish. I season everything consistently and at every stage so get used to adding all of the various seasonings at each step of the way.

2) Season your chicken with your desired spices and place in a hot skillet or wok and cook until completely cooked, 165°F. It is very important to cook your chicken all the way through to kill any potential bacteria.

3) After cooking the chicken, cook the peppers and onions in the same skillet and season as you did the chicken. You only want to cook these a few minutes so they stay bright in color, but they absorb some of the seasoning that you have added. These are great even fresh, but we want them to be more fajita style.

4) Add together your diced roma tomatoes, dice white onion, diced jalapeño, chopped cilantro, and the juice of one lime in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, and Tajin to taste. This pico de gallo is incredible and takes the dish to a whole new level. Burrito bowls can get boring, but this alone will have you wanting to come back for more every day. Set this to the side, or in the fridge, while you finish cooking everything else.

5) Check your rice as it should be getting close to finishing or might be done already. Fluff and remove from heat.

6) Open and drain the cans of beans and corn.

7) Get your 8 containers ready and start layering everything together. We like to start with rice on the bottom and then adding everything in sections on top of that. Top with a little extra cilantro and a lime wedge and enjoy!

Sometimes all you need are a few easy ingredients and one bomb protein to make a dish! This is one of the easiest meal prep dishes we have made and the varieties are endless!

Ingredients:

Freshly chopped lettuce, or pre-washed salad in a bag (enough for 8 meals)

16 chicken tenderloins or 4 chicken breasts quartered

1 cup Caesar Dressing of choice (we used the Simply Dressed brand)

16 Tbsp (or 8 portions) of Low Sodium Balsamic Vinaigrette (we used the Panera brand)

Olive oil

Lemon Juice

Worcestershire Sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

Recipe:

Marinade:

1) Place chicken in a large container and add in the olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper. Mix it all up and really get the pieces of chicken coated.

2) Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Grilling:

1) I am not about to tell you every little thing to do for the grilling because each grill and grilling scenario is different. Listen to your grill, or grill apparatus, and make sure it is on medium-high heat. You want to go for grill marks without burning, and you are going to be turning every ~2-3 minutes, so keep that in mind.

2) Place the chicken on the grill, leaving an inch or two between each piece. You should hear a good sizzle when you place it down, but if you don’t, TAKE THE CHICKEN OFF THE GRILL! If you do hear the sizzle, GOOD, and cook it on that side for 2-3 minutes.

3) Turn the chicken over after 2-3 minutes, or until grill marks have formed. You are going to repeat this process two more times to ensure the chicken is cooked through properly.

4) After turning and cooking the chicken on both sides twice, check the temperature with a meat thermometer and make sure it registers at 165°F. If you are a less than 5 degrees away, you can pull it off and place in a pan that you can cover with foil for 10 minutes.

5) Make sure you rest your meat! Pretty much all of the animal proteins we eat are muscles. When they heat up, they contract, which is how we know it is cooked, but they will release a little and become tender if you let the meat chill out for a few minutes.

6) After the 10 minutes, slice the chicken in ~1 inch pieces and set aside in a mixing bowl.

7) In the mixing bowl, add the caesar dressing and mix to combine.

Assembly:

For this, separate everything into equal portions and begin your assembly. Aim for two chicken tenderloins worth, but the eyeball test is the best when going for uniform meals. If one looks a little low on lettuce or dressing, now is the time to adjust it, or you will notice when you get to the office that today’s lunch is a little too light, or way too heavy.

This meal is great when you do not have a ton of prep time, or just want something fresh and healthy with a little twist on it. Play around with the dressings and marinades if you want. We did not add too many seasonings and went light on the sodium because the dressings are packed with a ton of flavor and the seasoning on the chicken is the one place you can control the amount of sodium in the meal.

Enjoy!

Another quarantine cuisine idea! After watching too many Youtube videos or episodes of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, we just had to make our own Mojo pulled pork. This is definitely more in the vein of a Cuban Mojo pork, but you could add any varieties of citrus juices and use a few separate spices in order to adjust the flavor. The key is to marinate and to slow cook. Outside of that, just have fun with how you enjoy this! We made tacos, burrito bowls, nachos, and more! This keeps really well when quarantined, and has great versatility so you should not get bored with it!

Ingredients

5 lbs, at least, Boston butt or pork shoulder, cut into manageable portions

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 onion, sliced

6-10 garlic cloves, feel free to add more if you really like garlic, but these soften up beautifully and are delicious morsels later on

2 tbsp kosher salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp Tajin, the best chili/lime seasoning

Recipe

1) First, marinade your pork in a large glass bowl, or large enough container or bag, and cover pork with juices and seasonings. Seal properly. Allow this to marinate for 3 hours, or overnight if you have the patience.

2) Remove from bag or bowl and add to slow cooker on the low setting. We like the crockpot for this because you are not going to overcook or undercook any sides of your pork. The temperature is even and consistent and you just let it do its thing.

3) Cook on low for 8 hours, but check at 7 to see if it will need more time. The connective tissues and sinew in the pork will begin to soften and untangle ~170°F and you want to take it another 10-15°F up gently from there. This will leave you with tender, juicy pulled pork.

4) After the pork is literally fall-off-the-bone tender, use two forks or pulled pork claws and shred your pork up like you are Wolverine. Now is the fun part. HOW SHOULD YOU EAT IT??

5) Serve up in tacos with avocado, pico de gallo, our incredible Chipotle Lime Cream Sauce, and pickled red onions and have the best Cuban Pork Taco of your life!

or

5) Add chips to a cookie sheet, add shredded cheese to cover chips, add shredded pork and another layer of cheese. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Add fresh chopped red onions, diced roma tomatoes, fresh cilantro, the Chipotle Lime Cream Sauce (it really goes with anything that tastes like this), and some homemade nacho cheese. Enjoy the best homemade nachos of your life!

or

5) Prepare rice (white or brown) and beans (black or pinto) and add your pork to this. Add fajita veggies (optional), salsa (optional), fresh tomatoes (optional), shredded cheese (optional), shredded lettuce (optional), fresh cilantro (optional), guac (extra), queso (extra), for the best burrito bowl, and much better than most chain restaurants (still trying to perfect the cilantro lime rice from Chipotle)

The great thing is that you can do all or none of these things. Make a bomb pulled pork sandwich, we would love to see the pictures. All we want is for you to enjoy this as much as we do!

Quarantine Cuisine at it’s finest! Teia makes the best Chili, and it is made with turkey, so it’s basically super healthy. Make a batch of this up to devour throughout the week, or freeze and stock your freezer up if you are worried about access to meals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The fun thing to do is to change up your toppings depending on the mood! Sour cream, parsley, cheese, green onion, crumbled up chips, avocado, etc., there are so many delicious options!

Note: We will give recommendations for amount of seasonings, but, as always, adjust as needed. The fun thing about cooking is that it is new every time you cook something.

Ingredients

2 lbs of ground turkey

1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans of kidney beans

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato or pasta sauce

1 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder (not pictured)

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp adobo powder

1 tbsp cumin (not pictured)

2 tbsp of brown sugar (not pictured)

Shredded cheese, we used cheddar

1/2 white onion, diced, for topping at the end

1 dollop of sour cream

Any other toppings you would like to add

Recipe

1) In a large pot, on medium-high heat, sweat your garlic, onions, bell pepper until slightly translucent. Then add your ground turkey and salt & pepper, cook until the turkey is cooked through and browned thoroughly.

2) Add first round of seasonings to the meat and veggies so those flavors can start to get to know each other. Do not drain off the liquid, this is gold!

3) Once fragrant, add in cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and kidney beans. You can use other beans, but we find that kidney beans are best for this chili.

4) Add second round of seasoning. This is meant for seasoning to taste, so check for any flavors that you might be missing, or something that is too pronounced that needs to be mellowed out.

5) Allow this to simmer for ~20-30 minutes, or until the flavors have combined in a savory sonata. Once the chili is singing to you, serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!