Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Greens
September 16, 2011
Our country is awash with cheap fast food options. As companies increasingly market these inexpensive, yet low quality foods to us in the drive-through and the supermarket the questions arise: Are fast food and prepared foods the only option for families on a budget? Can nutritious and delicious foods also be economical? For our family, we make almost all of our food from scratch, yet still adhere to a strict food budget. Absolutely, YES, nutritious and delicious foods can be economical! September 17, 2011, Slow Food USA is hosting a $5 Challenge. They seek to counter-act the myth that slow food has to cost more than fast food. The challenge calls upon us to serve a meal to our friends and/or family for less than $5 per person.
Truly, $5 per person is quite generous. At this cost, a meal can be more than just a way to feed our hunger, it can be special. Back in May, my Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart won Best Dirt Cheap Dinner on a food52 contest. This tart, though inexpensive to prepare, is suitable to serve for a dinner party. For $5 per person, you can afford the tart, a salad, and a bottle of wine! Most of the meals I serve my family come in at about half that price- closer to $10 for our family of 4. In fact, the more of the preparation I take on myself, the lower the cost. The base ingredients for bread, sausage, and soups are very low. We also have a productive garden which helps to cut the costs of our produce. Preserving the bounty of the seasons is a great way to ensure low cost, high quality food throughout the year.
Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Greens is a perfect late summer stew. It is for those days when tomatoes are still abundant, but the air slightly hints of fall. The flavors are rich without being too bold and the light color of the beans makes the dish seem light enough for even a hot night. It is a perfect example of a delicious meal that does not cost much nor take exorbitant amounts of time to prepare. In fact, the total cost of this meal is less than $10 total, or even less if you have garden tomatoes and cook with dried beans instead of canned ones. This meal came together on a Thursday night, when the cupboard was nearly bare and the young natives of the household were restless and hungry. Taking stock of the pantry, I found two cans of cannellini beans. Heading out to the garden, I collected a pile of tomatoes and a handful of basil. These humble ingredients cooked up with a small amount of sausage for flavor and protein made for a tasty dish. The little man gave his seal of approval stating that it was “very, very good.” For an extra treat, bake up a loaf of Weeknight No-Knead Bread to serve on the side. Nutritious, delicious, homemade food does not have to be expensive.
What will you make for the September 17th, $5 Slow Food Challenge?
Other My Pantry Shelf meals for under $5 per person:
Soups and Chili
Big Beef Chili, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Mexican Pozole Rojo, Split Pea Soup with Ham and Beer Bread, Vietnamese Hue Noodle Soup
Pasta, Pizza, and Tarts
Perciatelli and Meatballs, Green and Brown Spaghetti with Basil Pesto, Roasted Asparagus Pizza, Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart
Poultry and Meat Dishes
Chicken Satay, Biscuit-topped Chicken Pot Pie, Corned Beef, Divine Indian Butter Chicken, Fresh Ground Bacon Burgers with Homemade Bun, Huevos Diablos con Chorizo, Lamb Kebabs with Greek Salad, Roasted Garlic Lemon Chicken, Sesame Ginger Meatballs, Southwestern Chicken Burger, Swedish Meatballs (Kottbullar), Thai Lettuce Wraps, World’s Easiest Carnitas with Grilled Tomatillo Salsa
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
September 9, 2011
Everyone needs a go-to cookie recipe and this is mine. I have made it more times than I can remember for snacks, parties, camping trips, gift bags, potlucks, you name it. They are my favorite! Adapt it to what you have on hand by adding nuts (walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, etc.) or leaving them out. The chocolate chips can be replaced with peanut butter chips or white chocolate, but do not dare leave those out!
Mix up the dough, then chill it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them (at least two hours). You can also freeze the dough if you want to make it in advance. Portion out the dough before freezing to make it easier to use. The cookies bake up slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are great straight from the oven, as well as days later. There is never a shortage of taste testers!
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Fresh Ground Bacon Burger with Homemade Bun
September 3, 2011
This is no ordinary burger, in fact, it is quite possibly the best burger I have ever had. I know, it is a bold statement, but one spoken from the stomach heart. We make burgers once a month or so, usually as an easy dinner. That is how this meal began, as an answer to what to make for dinner that would be easy, popular, and satisfying. That was all well and good, until I got it in my head that I could make everything from scratch. Oh, and add bacon to the beef. Whoa.
After we picked up a meat grinder attachment for our Kitchenaide, we discovered the magic of burgers made with freshly ground meat. This burger includes not only beef chuck roast, but also a very special not-so-secret ingredient, bacon! This was a perfect use for some bacon ends we had from our piggy in the freezer. Using a ration of 4 parts beef to 1 part bacon, I ground the two meats with the course grinding plate. After lightly tossing them to mix, I loosely formed them into patties. I pressed the meat just enough so they would hold together on the grill, but so there were still some small air spaces between the meat pieces. This gives a place for the juices and fat to collect (did I mention this is not a low-fat meal). Grilled over medium high and plopped on a fresh toasted bun, these burgers taste amazing. The bacon flavor is strong enough to make itself known, without being overpowering. The best part is that unlike a burger topped with slices of bacon, the bacon does not slide out of the bun as you try to bite through it. The flavors of the beef and bacon are perfectly blended. And then there is the bun…
This recipe came from King Arthur Bread. They were so good that my son declared, “Mom, these are CRAZY. I never want to buy buns again.” (I love that my kids love to eat!) The recipe uses an egg and some butter, so the buns are very tender and hold together well under the pressure of the burger and condiments. They browned up beautifully and some extra butter brushed over the top yields a very tender top, making it easy to bite into the burger. They came together very quickly and rose through the day. The recipe makes 8 buns large enough for 1/4 pound burgers or bigger. This is enough for two meals for my family, so I froze half of the buns for another dinner. You could also make the buns smaller and use them for sliders. They would be delicious with pulled pork. Mmmmm… We will definitely make these again.
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Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles
August 28, 2011
My mom taught me how to can. In fact, she was full of useful instruction when I was a kid including: how to make my bed (hospital corners), the art of the thank you letter, and the ever-so-wise tip: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” (I seem to have forgotten this last one recently and so I am resurrecting it as my new mantra- I think it will serve me well.) Though I do still try to do my best with thank you letters, I admit to having given up on the tightly made bed (duvees are the way to go!) The canning skills I learned from her though, are still extremely relevant and useful. I took it for granted growing up that the pantry was always full of a variety of delicious jams. It was not until I was older that I realized how few people my age knew about this practical art. Gratefully, the art of preservation is experiencing a resurgence. Just look at the popularity of sites such as Punk Domestics and Food in Jars.
My first canning projects were jams: apricot , raspberry, blueberry. My mom showed me how to carefully sort the fruit, meticulously wash the jars, fill them leaving just the right amount of head-space, and secure them with clean lids and bands. It was a fun activity to share and I of course loved to taste the fruits of our labors. Over the years, I branched out in quantity (such as the 200 jars I made for our wedding favors out of our 20 square foot college kitchen) and variety by adding in pickles and relish, as well as applesauce and curds.This recipe is not one of my childhood. It has become a family favorite none-the-less, born out of necessity as my parents’ garden expanded and they learned that three of four zucchini plants really are extreme plenty for a two-person household.
Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles is the recipe that makes me yearn for our zucchini plants to over-produce. No matter how many jars I make each year, it is never enough. By February or March, I find myself rationing them so that we have enough to last until the next harvest. Sweet, tangy, and crunchy with just a little bit of spice. These are a staple on our weekend lunch table. They are great on sandwiches or on their own.
What tips did your mother teach you that you still put to use?
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Apple Blackberry Cake
August 24, 2011
Summer is not complete without a morning spent picking blackberries. Last weekend, under the pressure of a fall-like chill in the air and the craziness of back to school time, the kids and I pushed out for a ramble along the creek. We brought the wagon, a gazillion containers, and a baby doll or two. We dressed in our jeans and forced socks and closed shoes onto our spoiled summer feet. We were ready for a real berry picking session. What we found however is that like all other summer fruits (tomatoes especially!) everything is super late this year.
Not about to let a little thing like red under-ripe blackberries get us down, we assigned ourselves roles for our Blackberry Team. I picked the berries, my little man dumped the small containers into the bigger ones, and my little lady dragged the wagon up and down the trail laughing hysterically. After an hour of hard work (and just a few scrapes), we cruised home with a half-gallon of berries. Just enough for a few smoothies and Apple Blackberry Cake. While we suffer a shortage of ripe blackberries, we have boxes and boxes of Gravenstein apples from my parents’ trees.
Apple Blackberry Cake is a treat to make each late summer or fall. Though it is simple to prepare, somehow the cake has the ability to pass as both an elegant special dessert and a casual weeknight treat. This time it even disguised itself as a birthday cake. The apples are peeled and sliced and then pressed into a basic butter and brown sugar batter. The blackberries scatter across the top lending both a colorful burst and a tart contrast to the apples. The sugar and cinnamon sprinkled over the top help to form a nice sweet crunchy topping. This cake is well matched with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I would not mind eating a slice for breakfast either with a nice cup of coffee.
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