Cooking With Fire: Meal Prepping For A Delicious And Nutritious New Year

January has arrived, and once again Americans are looking to change up what, and how, they eat to get the new year started off right.

But this can be incredibly challenging with our busy schedules. Between jobs, kids, and a mass of activities, we just don’t seem to have the time to cook those healthy meals we all want.

This was the challenge facing my wife and I when we started our new shop this past fall. We have two kids and we both work more than full-time hours, but we knew we didn’t want to rely on frozen meals and fast food to fill our stomachs on the go.

This is when we got serious about meal prepping, and we have set aside Sunday as a day to cook and prep meals for the week that are quick and easy on the go, as well as nutritious.

But we don’t just cook up our lunches — no, we plan our dinners and cook them ahead of time too.

But what do we cook?

One of our favorite meals is chicken breasts and Brussels sprouts. These are two incredibly versatile ingredients that can be made into a ton of recipes so you aren’t getting bored of what you eat too quickly. Chicken will soak up whatever flavor you throw at it, and the Brussels sprouts can be grilled, roasted, sautéed or even sliced thin and used as a cold salad with a nice vinegar-based sauce.

In this episode, Chef Tom prepares an Asian-inspired chicken and Brussels sprouts, and I delve into the fascinating history of one of my favorite vegetables.

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
• 1/4 cup white miso paste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

 For the Brussels sprouts slaw:

• 1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved, thin sliced
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Instructions

1. Place the shredded Brussels sprouts in a bowl. Sprinkle the sugar over the sprouts and massage. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk. Add the liquid to the sprouts and toss to coat. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
2. Preheat your grill to 450ºF, set up for direct grilling.
3. Rub the chicken breasts with the miso. Season with salt and pepper. 
4. Grill the chicken breasts until the internal temperature reaches 155ºF. Remove from the grill and rest.
5. Slice the chicken breasts and serve topped with the Brussels sprouts slaw.