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If the Michelin guide awarded stars for meal prep, I'd win 69% of them.
But nobody would care.
Because no matter what I cook at home...
It can't compete with the all-encompassing luxury of a real fine dining restaurant experience.
At the highest echelons of cooking...
Professional chefs spend ALL DAY preparing your dinner.
Trim meat, cut meat, cut vegetables
Sear meat, caramelize vegetables
Deglaze, braise, strain, reduce, adjust
Taste, cool, portion, refrigerate
Fire, plate, garnish
That's 10-12 hours for ONE dish alone.
Time that we don't have.
But here's the twist:
The same aromatic vegetables that build the base of flavor in high-end restaurant cooking will also add a sweet/savory infusion to high-protein meal prep...
In only a fraction of the prep time...
If you modify your technique.
Today I'm sharing an Indian-inspired approach to unleashing the flavors of aromatic vegetables like:
ginger
chile
onion
garlic
So you can win a (meal prep) Michelin star for flavor at home...
In under 2 hours.
Follow me into the lab ⬇️
Garam masala chicken with turmeric couscous and baingan bharta
What are aromatic vegetables?
Full-bodies dishes like soups, curries, stews, and braised meats come to mind when the weather cools down.
Meat or seafood are the stars of most of those dishes, but their mouthwatering flavors are supported by vegetables.
Certain vegetables, in particular.
This type has more than just nutritional value. They also bring a particular sweetness, scent, and complexity to food as they cook.
Here are a few examples of these "aromatic vegetables":
Onions: Yellow, white, red, or shallots.
Garlic: Fresh cloves or minced.
Celery: Often used in mirepoix and stocks.
Carrots: Adds sweetness to aromatic bases.
Leeks: A milder, sweeter onion flavor.
Bell Peppers: Often used in sofrito or Cajun dishes.
Scallions/Green Onions: For a lighter onion flavor.
Ginger: Common in Asian and Indian cuisines.
Fennel: Adds a subtle licorice-like flavor.
Chiles: Fresh or dried for heat and aroma.
Diced mirepoix
How to use aromatic vegetables
The flavors of aromatic vegetables change as they sizzle and brown in a pan, becoming sweeter and less spicy/acidic as their sugars caramelize and moisture evaporates.
The best example is an onion.
Imagine the flavor of raw red onions in ceviche. Then imagine the flavor of caramelized onions, cooked slowly for an hour until they're very sweet.
Same ingredient, but totally different flavor.
On its own, a single aromatic vegetable will improve the flavor of a dish. But things really get interesting when you use combinations of them.
Adding spices to aromatic vegetables in a pan
Many regional cuisines use their own combination of aromatic vegetables as a base of flavor for their well-known dishes.
A few examples:
- Mirepoix (France) Diced or rough-chopped carrot, celery and onions are caramelized in a pan before being added to a stockpot to flavor brown veal stock, pot-au-feu, etc.
- Sofrito (Latin America) Onions, garlic, tomatoes and chiles are sautéed together to become the base for hearty dishes like sancocho, picadillo, and arroz con pollo.
- Holy Trinity (Cajun/Creole) Onions, celery, and green bell peppers are browned in a pan before being combined with spices and other ingredients for classic dishes like jambalaya and gumbo.
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Garam masala chicken
This week's SIMPL recipe uses an Indian-inspired method to inject the sweet/savory flavors of cooked vegetables into the main ingredient.
Ginger-garlic paste is a common ingredient in Indian kitchens used as a base of flavor.
The paste is cooked in a pan with mustard oil until it becomes very aromatic. Spices, tomatoes and chiles are often added to make curries and other dishes.
But instead of making a paste of the ginger and garlic, this dish starts by cooking diced onion, garlic, ginger, chiles, tomato paste and spices until lightly browned.
This mixture is divided in half.
Half remains in the pan, where it's folded together with charred eggplant, peas and fresh cilantro.
This is the vegetable component of the meal, a popular North Indian dish called baingan bharta.
The other half is pureed with garam masala spice mix, then rubbed onto the chicken legs (like a marinade).
As the chicken cooks in the oven, the sweet aromas of the cooked vegetables and spices add a complex, savory dimension to the meat...
And give it a mouthwatering dark-red color.
Round it out with a simple steamed couscous, and you've got yourself a satisfying, 48g protein meal in under 2 hours.
Here’s the nutrition breakdown for 1 serving:
Calories: 656
Protein: 48g
Carbs: 50g
Fat: 29g
Garam masala chicken with turmeric couscous and baingan bharta
Wanna know what happens when you add high-protein dishes like this to your weekly rotation?
You catapult your meal prep skills from “good” to “superior.”
Or as I like to say, "ELITE."
And when you have easy-to-follow breakdowns for each dish at your fingertips…
Plus step-by-step videos…
That's when you master them.
Become a SIMPL Insider today and see the exact steps to craft every high-protein recipe I've made in the last 5 months.
It's your key to becoming nutritionally self-reliant at home while supporting your gains in the gym.
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Watch the step-by-step video (YouTube unlisted)
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Garam masala chicken with turmeric couscous and baingan bharta
Cooking time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
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Ingredients:
10 oz tomato paste (order 2)
2 medium eggplants (order 2)
Directions
For the baingan bharta:
Place the eggplants on a sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven under the broiler, and let them brown for 8-10 minutes until they're soft, turning twice so they brown evenly.
Transfer them to a large mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let them steam for 15 minutes.
Remove the plastic wrap, and peel the skin off the eggplants. Discard the stalk and the skin, and lightly mash the soft eggplant flesh with a fork.
Heat the oil in a small stockpot or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds until they darken.
Add the onion, ginger, garlic, jalapeño, and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato paste, half the turmeric, and 2 Tbsp water, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes while stirring.
Transfer half of the mixture to a small container and set aside.
Continue cooking the rest of the mixture, adding the peas, and cook 5 more minutes on low heat until the peas are tender.
Turn the heat off, stir in the eggplant, and add salt to taste.
For the chicken:
Add the garam masala and a large pinch of salt to the vegetable mixture that you set aside, and puree it until smooth using an immersion blender or an upright blender.
Transfer it to a large mixing bowl and add the chicken. Mix the the chicken until it's thoroughly coated, and place it in a heavy sauté pan.
Cook the chicken on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes until it's fully cooked and browned on the surface. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool.
For the couscous:
Place a saucepan on high heat and add 1 1/2 cups water, the remaining turmeric, and a pinch of salt. Cover with a lid and bring it to a boil.
Stir in the couscous, then turn the heat off, and let it sit covered for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid, lightly fluff the couscous with a fork, and transfer it to a container to cool.
To finish:
Pour the chicken juices into the baingan bharta, and stir the chopped cilantro.
Divide the couscous between 5 meal prep boxes, and spoon the baingan bharta alongside it. Place 1 cooked chicken leg on top.
Seal the containers and store them in the refrigerator until you're ready to reheat.
Garam masala chicken with turmeric couscous and baingan bharta
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