Stocking Your Fridge and Putting your Convection Oven to work for Winter Meals

It’s that transitional time of year when the days are warm, but the evenings chill rapidly, so while a salad might be appealing for lunch by dinnertime we are craving a warming casserole or braise.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Ancho Chili

The home kitchen is in effect a restaurant, and the best way to run a restaurant is to plan meals and cook them in advance when you can. Knowing that your refrigerator and freezer are stocked with some homemade soup, portions of your favorite casserole, or a braise relieves a lot of stress at the end of the day and it’s not that difficult to prepare those meals in advance.

In a recent Blog Post, I outlined suggestions for making good use of your Convection and Steam ovens for making soups stews and casseroles in the oven. These foods may be warming and comforting but they do take some time to prepare, so planning is key. Using the ovens to cook a complete meal is a great use of the Convection feature, this Blog Post will provide a useful guide to help you along and while the food is cooking you can enjoy some free time instead of cooking in multiple pans.

The steam mode in the Steam Oven is another very useful tool for cooking multiple dishes at one time. For example, if you wanted to steam rice, lentils, vegetables, and some chicken for salads or sandwiches, all four containers of food can be placed in the oven and cooked at the same time. Cooking in four different pans on the cooktop seems like a lot more work in comparison and clean-up is much easier when cooking in the Steam oven.

Another recent Blog Post covers the challenge of cooking to please various tastes in one meal. Children often prefer simple meals, but the adult palette may like something a little spicier and with more flavor.

Again, Convection can be a great tool to help you juggle cooking to please the entire family.

I hope you will find that the resources we offer here at Convection Kitchen will help you make delicious meals with less stress.

Larissa, Your Convection Enthusiast