One-Pot Chili Mac & Cheese Serves 6 Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon of olive oil – stock 1 spanish or yellow onion, chopped finely – $1.19 2 cloves of garlic, minced – stock ½-lb lean ground beef – $5.49 12-oz bottle of beer (I used a wheat beer, Blue Moon) – stock 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth[…]
Sesame-Miso Noodles with Green Onions & Edamame
Sesame-Miso Noodles with Green Onions & Edamame Serves 3 Ingredients for the Dressing: ¼ of a ripe avocado 1 Tablespoon white miso paste (I get it at Whole Foods) – $4.23 1 small garlic clove – stock 2 teaspoons lemon juice – stock ½ teaspoon sesame oil – stock ¼ kosher salt – stock 1/3[…]
No-Cook Tomato & Brie Pasta Sauce with Sweet Basil
No-Cook Tomato & Brie Pasta Sauce with Sweet Basil Serves 4 Slightly adapted from a recipe published in Redbook Ingredients: 1-pound pasta (cavatelli or cavatappi works well here) – $2.39 ½-cup reserved pasta water 1-pound very roughly chopped ripe tomatoes (I use grape or cherry tomatoes b/c they’re often sweeter) – $3.99 ¼-cup extra virgin[…]
Pear, Pancetta & Gorgonzola Quiche with Toasted Walnuts
Pear & Gorgonzola Quiche with Toasted Walnuts Serves 8-10 Ingredients: 4 oz. diced pancetta (or bacon) – $3.69 1 extra-large shallot, diced – $0.79 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter – stock 1 Tablespoon brown sugar – stock 2 large ripe pears; 1 pear cut into chunks, 1 sliced thinly – $1.99 4 eggs, lightly beaten –[…]
Warm Super Greens Salad with Pistachios & Sweet Peaches
Warm Super Greens Salad with Sweet Peaches Serves 6 Ingredients: 2 cups baby heirloom or grape tomatoes – $2.29 3 ripe peaches cut into 1/8ths – $1.60 18 cups of “super” greens – $5.99 6 Tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese – $3.99 (for the block) 6 Tablespoons of chopped nuts (I use pistachios) – stock[…]
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad
Pulled Pork Pasta Salad Serves 12 as a side dish Note: This salad was intended as a straight-up side dish to enjoy pretty much any season. As I wasn’t entertaining a large group of guests, I found myself scarfing up just about all of the leftovers after our first round of photos and tastings. At[…]
Roasted Tomato and Kalamata Olive Pasta Sauce
Roasted Tomato and Kalamata Olive Pasta Sauce Serves 4 Inspired by a recipe in Real Simple Ingredients: 2 pounds tomatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks – $6.50 1 teaspoon sugar – stock Salt & pepper – stock ¼-cup olive oil, plus some for drizzling on the tomatoes – stock 4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (you want[…]
Chicken Marsala with Prosciutto
Chicken Marsala with Prosciutto Serves 10 Ingredients: 3 lbs. boneless chicken breasts – $7.10 Flour seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging – stock 1/3-cup olive oil – stock 4 Tablespoons sweet butter, divided – stock 1 large Vidalia onion, diced – $ 1.74 3 cloves minced garlic – stock 1½ lbs. assorted mushrooms, sliced[…]
Cheesy Eggplant Lasagna with Prosciutto
Eggplant Lasagna Serves 10 Ingredients: 1 large eggplant cut and sliced into ¼” rounds – $2.79 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided – stock 1- 8 oz. package no-boil (oven-ready) lasagna – $1.99 1 small Vidalia onion, diced – $1.11 3 oz. prosciutto, chopped – $3.29 3 cloves garlic – stock 2 (15 ½ oz. each)[…]
Sweet & Savory Asian-style Pulled Pork
Sweet & Savory Asian-Style Pulled Pork Serves 8 Inspired by Dessert Before Dinner Dry Rub Ingredients: ½-Tablespoon Chinese Five Spice – $2.26 Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper – stock ½-Tablespoon kosher salt – stock ½-Tablespoon packed brown sugar – stock 1 teaspoon ground ginger – stock 5lb bone-in pork shoulder – $10.51 Ingredients[…]
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese
Sweet Potato-Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheese Serves 8 Tip: My local grocery store sells Butternut squash already peeled and chopped. This makes the vegetable just so much more “user-friendly” as I simply had to cook it in a pot of boiling water along with the peeled and chopped sweet potato. I didn’t need all of[…]
Lighter Pasta Carbonara with Peas
Lighter Pasta Carbonara with Peas Serves 4 Adapted from Our Eating Habits Ingredients: ½ lb. bacon, crumbled – $3.59 4 large garlic cloves, minced or run through a press – stock 2 large/jumbo shallots, finely diced – $1.89 1 lb. Spaghetti, Linguine or Fettucini – $1.59 Splash of olive oil – stock 1 cup fresh[…]
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes
Spinach-Mango Salad Pizzettes Makes 6 Pizzettes Ingredients: 1-package whole-wheat pita breads (6 per package) – $2.59 1/3 lb. Fontina cheese, shredded – $2.00 1 ripe mangoes, pitted and cut into ¼” dice – $1.00 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped – $0.99 1 Jalapeno pepper, minced – $0.14 ¼ cup Bermuda onion, finely diced – $0.79[…]
Cold Sesame Noodles
Cold Sesame Noodles Serves 2 to 3 Adapted from Saveur Ingredients: ½ lb whole wheat spaghetti, cooked al dente, according to package directions (soba noodles also work, but I find they have a slightly bitter after-taste that’s distracting) – $2.19 4 Tablespoons sesame oil, divided – stock 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce – stock 1[…]
Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew with Chicken Sausage
Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew with Chicken Sausage Serves 10 Ingredients: 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided – stock 2 stalks of celery, sliced – $0.49 3 medium-large carrots, cut into ½ – inch rounds – $0.69 1 medium Vidalia onion, diced – $1.22 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ – inch dice[…]
Classic Chickpea Hummus
Classic Chickpea Hummus Makes about a pint Slightly adapted from Simply.Food Ingredients: 15-oz can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed – $1.29 1 clove garlic – stock 2 tablespoons water – stock 1 tablespoon olive oil – stock 3 teaspoons tahini (sesame seed paste) – $4.79 2 teaspoons lime juice – $0.59 Freshly[…]
Honey & Cashew-Crusted Chicken
Honey & Cashew-Crusted Chicken Serves 3 Ingredients: 1½ lbs chicken drumsticks – $3.00 ¾-cup Italian seasoned Panko breadcrumbs – $2.59 ½-cup roasted, unsalted cashews, crumbled into bits (I dump into a ziploc, seal and bash with a mallet) – $5.99 ¾ teaspoon kosher salt – stock ½-cup flour – stock 1 egg – stock 1[…]
Savory Marsala-Infused Mushroom-Shallot Sauce
Savory Marsala-Infused Mushroom-Shallot Sauce Serves 4 Note: The consistency is not particularly creamy nor saucy, it’s almost chunky, even tapenade-like. But it’s perfect and packed with flavor. Ingredients: 2 large shallots, halved – $0.89 3 cloves of garlic – stock 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, divided – stock 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided (you[…]
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Tikka Masala Serves 3 to 4 Adapted from Annie’s Noms Ingredients for the Marinade: ¾-cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt – $1.49 3 teaspoons lemon juice – stock ¾ teaspoon ground cumin – stock ¾ teaspoon kosher salt – stock ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper – stock ¼ teaspoon ground ginger – stock 1½ lbs[…]
Pumpkin Seed and Spinach Pesto
Pumpkin Seed and Spinach Pesto Makes about 2 cups Adapted from Whole Living Ingredients: 1 cup hulled, raw pumpkin seeds – $6.87 1 cup fresh basil, packed – $1.79 ¼-cup fresh chives, roughly chopped – $0.69 1 cup baby spinach, packed – $3.99 1 large garlic clove – stock 1 teaspoon salt – stock Freshly[…]