Good Enough To Eat... Again! Red's Mediterranean Salad

This weather has been crazy--hot, cold, hot, cold. Even if I only win 50% of the time, my mind refuses to give in to the cold weather on the less pleasant days. I'm still wearing a lighter coat, I've worn skirts and open-toed shoes, and I'm even making springy salads for lunch. The one I'm toting today was kind of a random stroke of frugal inspiration, so I figured I'd share it with you.


Red's Mediterranean Salad



What You'll Need

1 cucumber, chopped....................................$0.80
2 small or medium tomatoes, chopped........$1.00
1 small red onion, finely chopped.................$0.75
juice of 1 lemon..............................................$0.25
about 5 ounces marinated feta, crumbled....$3.00
salt
pepper

Total Cost...........................................$5.80
Cost Per Serving.................................$1.93


What To Do

1. Chop all vegetables to desired chunkiness and combine
2. Add in crumbled feta, as well as some of the oil and spices it has been marinated in
3. Squeeze in some juice, add salt and pepper to taste, and viola! You're done!

Optional: Add olives, parsley, basil, or whatever additional seasoning you may be craving!

By the way, this is a great way to get rid of extra stuff in your fridge! Enjoy!

Good Enough to Eat... Again! -- Ramen Quiche

I know Good Enough to Eat is usually a Monday thing (every other Monday, at that), but I've decided to switch it up a bit for my own sanity and convenience this week.

Honestly, this week has been more hectic than I could have imagined, and it's only Tuesday. But my workload has literally doubled and with a new freelance project to eat away at my free time, I have less and less time to devote to glorious weeknight meals. It's a good thing I found incredibly cheap already-marinated meats at my gourmet grocer yesterday (like ginger-teriyaki spare ribs for $4 a pound!) but it's also quite fortunate that I found this super dirt cheap recipe, which can easily feed me lunch for an entire week and save me oodles (noodles?) of morning time.


Ramen Quiche
adapted from the Food Network Magazine

What You'll Need...

1 package ramen.........................$0.25
1/2 bunch leafy green.................$1.00
3 eggs...........................................$0.75
1 cup mushrooms, chopped........$1.00
1/2 cup grated parmesan............$2.00
1-2 tbsp. Italian Seasoning
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Total Cost............................$5.00
Cost Per Serving..................$0.84


What You Do

1. Remove seasoning packet from ramen and soak noodles in a big bowl of hot water to soften. After about 5 to 7 minutes, gently pull apart the noodles and strain.

2. Toss noodles with salt and pepper to taste and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add in veggies and seasoning, and toss.

3. Beat the eggs and add to the mix. Blend all ingredients together until evenly dispersed.

4. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet (medium heat) and pour the mixture in to cook. Press down with spatula if it doesn't seem like it's quite coming together. After about 8 minutes, flip the quiche onto a plate and slide it back onto the skillet so that the opposite side cooks through. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, cut into slices and enjoy!

Good Enough to Eat... Again! -- Pringles Chicken

Well friends, I'm back. The power of antibiotics is a wonderful one :)

I must admit, however, that it's a bit difficult to enjoy food as much as usual when the drugs make your stomach achy and the lingering congestion makes things difficult to taste. I only realized the appropriateness of this recipe in hindsight, but this is a great dish when you want something that's boldly flavorful yet not too heavy on the stomach. The secret lies with a surprising ingredient... Pringles!


Red's Pringles Chicken



What You'll Need

2 Chicken Breasts....................................................... about $4.00
1 short can of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles.........$0.79
1 egg.............................................................................$0.25

Total Cost.....................................................$5.04
Cost per serving............................................$2.52


What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Clean chicken breasts and trim off excess fat. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk it.

2. Put all the Pringles in a ziplock baggy, leave a little bit of an opening, and mash up the chips so they reach the size of flaky bread crumbs. Don't pulverize them!

3. Coat the chicken in egg, then dip in the Pringles. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. No seasoning is necessary as the chips have all the flavor you'll need! Enjoy!


PS. The photograph is pre-bake so you can see the texture of the Pringles before baking... the end product is a surprise for you to discover!

Good Enough to Eat... Again! -- Chickpea Deliciousness

It's a new year, and that means that many of us have made resolutions that we won't try hard enough to keep. Mine? To keep cooking, and to expand my repertoire of healthy, light dishes. Goodness knows I eat indulgent meals often enough, so I think a bit of balance will go a long way. To kick off the year with such a start, I tried out this fantastic chickpea-based recipe--it's vegetarian, but packed with protein nonetheless. And with some chicken on the side, it's a hearty meal for strict carnivores. Packaged up in tupperware, it reheats quite nicely after a day or two, too!



Lemony Chicken Stirfry
closely adapted from Serious Eats



What You'll Need...

4 tbsp. olive oil
3 shallots, diced
2 cups cooked chickpeas (canned is fine)
2 cups chopped kale (spinach would be fine too)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced and halved
1 lemon

What You Do...

1. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and sautee chickpeas with a hearty pinch of salt. Add shallot and sautee until the chickpeas start to turn golden in color. Add in the kale and cook until wilted; remove from heat. (Note: the more you cook the chickpeas, the more they develop this wonderful nutty flavor... it's an unexpected treat!)

2. Heat remaining oil, sautee zucchini and red pepper for about 3 minutes or until just cooked. Add the chickpea mixture, zest from most of the lemon, and juice from half the lemon. Mix them all together, remove from heat and finish with salt and pepper to taste.

Good Enough to Eat... Again! -- Thai Chicken Dumplings

It's always at this time of year that I begin craving foods that need to be blown on a whole lot before they're edible. I'm talking about temperature--when it's freezing outside I love the sensation of seeing steam burst out of what I'm about to eat, ensuring that my belly will become warm and happy within moments. And the smells emerging along with the steam... it's pure comfort. That's why on my last trip to Boston, I was insistent that TWB and I make these wonderful Thai Chicken Dumplings. The flavor comes largely from the red curry, but it's far sweeter and milder, with the tang of plum sauce giving it a complexity that's nothing if not addicting. It was only as we were making them that I realized how perfect they are for Good Enough to Eat... Again! Instead of tossing your leftovers in the fridge, simply freeze what you don't think you'll eat at they'll hold until the next blistery cold night you're craving them.


Thai Chicken Dumplings
makes at least 4 servings



What You Need:

1 lb. ground chicken.................................................. $ 4.00
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro....................... $ 0.50
2-3 tbsp chopped scallions (optional)....................... $ 0.50
1-2 tbsp honey............................................................ $ 3.00 (for a jar)
2 heaping tbsp. red curry paste................................. $ 2.50
1 package of wonton wrappers
(available at any asian market)................................ $ 1.50
plum sauce (for dipping)........................................... $ 2.50
oil for frying................................................................ $ 4.00

Total Cost.................................................... $ 18.50
Total Cost Per Serving................................. $ 4.62

(keep in mind many ingredients are priced by the whole jar and there will be leftovers!)


What You Do:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, cilantro, scallions, honey, and red curry paste.

2. Wrap dumplings into the wonton wrappers by putting about 1 tbsp. of the mixture into each skin, moistening the edges with a bit of water, and sealing them shut in any shape or form you find attractive! Make sure they're well sealed so that they don't explode while frying.

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry dumplings in batches, until puffy and golden, setting aside the finished ones to strain.

4. Serve with plum sauce and enjoy!

Good Enough to Eat... Again! --Pasta with Mushrooms and Cream Sauce

About two weeks ago, I made a version of my favorite pasta dish. It's a good thing that it came out fantastic, because I went wild finishing up two boxes of pasta that seemed to be far emptier than they truly were. The result was an entire week's worth of pasta, and I wrestled with the idea of reheating pasta and eating it overcooked... for another four days. But somehow, the sauce kept the pasta at just the right consistency each time I reheated a portion, and when I finished the batch on day four, I was almost a little sad to see it finally go. I knew I had a winner for Good Enough to Eat... Again, so here's a nice kick-start to the week.

Red's White Sauce Pasta With Mushrooms
Serves four, easily


1 box of pasta............................................................$2.00
1 cup heavy cream...................................................$0.99
1 cup white wine......................................................$3/bottle at TJ's
1 shallot....................................................................$0.50
1-2 tbsp. garlic..........................................................$0.10
1 cup fresh parmesan (not dried)............................$5.00
1 cup each Portabella and Shitake mushrooms.....$3.00 (a steal at the farmer's market!)

total cost...................................................................$13.59
total cost per meal......................................$3.40

Instructions:

1. As you're cooking the pasta, chop the shallot, garlic, and mushrooms, and sautee them in a large pan with a tiny bit of olive oil until just cooked through.

2. Place sauteed vegetables aside in a small bowl, deglaze the pan with the white wine, and simmer on medium heat until wine reduces by almost half. Add in the full cup of cream and vegetables. Bring back to a simmer, and add half of the cheese.

3. Drain pasta, add to the pan, and add the rest of the cheese. Mix together. Viola! Enjoy your meal with the leftovers from your three-buck-chuck bottle of wine.

Note--it's really easy to add chicken to this recipe in place of (or in addition to) the mushrooms. Just cook the chicken along with the vegetables and keep all those ingredients together.

Good Enough to Eat... Again! --Green Curry Chicken

Welcome back from the weekend! Today, as I wait for the computer technician to fix my temperamental shift keys (which now work every eighth time or so), I'd like to introduce a new recurring feature for eatmywords!

Good Enough to Eat... Again! is a new recipe feature that will appear every other Monday. The inspiration? It's been a huge adjustment to cook for just myself, being used to living with someone else throughout college. One of the ways that I've learned to adjust is to simply continue cooking for two whenever I make dinner... and eating the second portion the next day. With Good Enough to Eat... Again!, you'll get some of my easy, fast, and affordable recipes that won't be a pain to eat two nights in a row. Promise.

So, with that... here's my super simple recipe for Green Curry Chicken.


Ingredients

3/4 lb. chicken, preferably pre-cut into strips... $3.00
1 can coconut milk... $2.50
Green Curry Paste (this will make many, many portions of the dish)... $3.50
1/2 cup jasmine rice... $1.00
A few leaves of basil (optional)... $1.00

total cost... $10.50
total cost per meal (with some ingredients left over for next time)... $5.25
once you have the curry paste, the cost is reduced to... $3.75!

What You Do...

1. Set rice to cook as normal.

2. Combine coconut milk and 2 teaspoons of curry paste in a large pan over medium-high heat. Allow the paste to dissolve completely and mixture to come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium.

3. Optional: throw in any vegetables that might be sitting in your fridge already. Bell peppers work particularly nicely with curry!

4. Add the chicken to the sauce, allow to simmer until cooked through.

5. Julienne strips of basil (or simply chop to desired thickness) and add to the mixture just before taking it off the heat.

5. Two ways to serve:
option a) Serve by spooning chicken and sauce over bed of rice; garnish with basil leaves for a little extra oomph.
option b) pour all that extra sauce into a bowl with your chicken, then serve rice on the side.