Quick Inexpensive Meals

[Mottmott]

During the lively discussion in "Amanda Slaps Sandra Lee" the issue arose of harried and overworked people not having the time or, perhaps, money to cook from scratch. My belief is that is simply untrue. Even if you overlook the many dishes that can be prepared ahead such as soups, stews, casseroles that can be frozen, etc. which we might take up in a companion thread.

Note: This is not to be taken as an attack on those who don't cook from scratch because they don't like to do it. I just don't believe that lack of time or money need disqualify people from eating well as is so often claimed.

What are some foods that can be whipped together within, say 30 minutes (approximately). The goal is to provide ourselves with tasty nutritious food. This can be either individual dishes or an entire menu.

For the purposes of this discussion some elements can come in packages such as flash frozen vegetables, a can of of beans, stock, dried pasta, tomato or anchovy paste in a tube, etc.

It might also be useful to mention it if the item is inexpensive as well as quick. My favorite example of a quick inexpensive food is mussels which are less than a dollar a pound and can be steamed with any number of sauces way faster than heating up something in a box.

[LaurieA-B]

Some good ideas on this Really Fast Dinners thread.

[fresco]

During the lively discussion in "Amanda Slaps Sandra Lee" the issue arose of harried and overworked people not having the time or, perhaps, money to cook from scratch. My belief is that is simply untrue. Even if you overlook the many dishes that can be prepared ahead such as soups, stews, casseroles that can be frozen, etc. which we might take up in a companion thread.

Note: This is not to be taken as an attack on those who don't cook from scratch because they don't like to do it.  I just don't believe that lack of time or money need disqualify people from eating well as is so often claimed. 

What are some foods that can be whipped together within, say 30 minutes (approximately). The goal is to provide ourselves with tasty nutritious food. This can be either individual dishes or an entire menu.

For the purposes of this discussion some elements can come in packages such as flash frozen vegetables, a can of of beans, stock, dried pasta, tomato or anchovy paste in a tube, etc.

It might also be useful to mention it if the item is inexpensive as well as quick.  My favorite example of a quick inexpensive food is mussels which are less than a dollar a pound and can be steamed with any number of sauces way faster than heating up something in a box.

I absolutely agree with you that it is possible to prepare quick, inexpensive meals from scratch, and that mussels are an excellent example (especially since that is what we prepared for dinner last night).

The problem is that mussels, and most kinds of fish, are viewed with horror, I suspect, in about 99 per cent of households in Canada and the US. And that the same households probably consider Kraft Dinner to be not just more convenient, but actually tastier than anything they could make from scratch.

Edited October 4, 2003 by fresco (log)

[Mottmott]

I just saw an episode of Ming Tsai this afternoon on black bean and garlic sauce. He gave a master recipe for the sauce which will keep for about 3 weeks and several individual recipes that use it (clams, beef & eggplant - or just eggplant or some other vegetable, pork and tofu, and fried perch (though it was fried on the show). Any one of them could be made quickly once the sauce was on hand. And, in the spirit of compromise, one could buy the sauce, too, I suppose.

That eggplant and beef was sooo tempting I'm going to make some tomorrow.

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/

Edited October 4, 2003 by Mottmott (log)

[Human Bean]

Quick (also cheap) meals?

Two words (or one hyphenated word): Stir-fry.

During a prolonged period of un- and under-employment, I pretty much lived on stir-fry. Chinese/generic Asian/whatever. It generally requires more expensive cuts of meat, but veggies are very cheap. And of course we're talking about real food, not packaged crap. Many's the time I prepared several meals with the same basic ingredients, but with different marinades/sauces/spices-- the same stuff, but the flavor can be very different.

[pjs]

I just saw an episode of Ming Tsai this afternoon on black bean and garlic sauce.  He gave a master recipe for the sauce which will keep for about 3 weeks and several individual recipes that use it (clams, beef & eggplant - or just eggplant or some other vegetable, pork and tofu, and fried perch (though it was fried on the show).  Any one of them could be made quickly once the sauce was on hand.  And, in the spirit of compromise, one could buy the sauce, too, I suppose.

That eggplant and beef was sooo tempting I'm going to make some tomorrow.

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/

Black Bean Sauce is a quick, cheap and very tasty stir-fry sauce. A holy trinity of black beans, garlic and ginger. Clams with Black Bean Sauce (garnished with grated lemon rind) is a classic.

Ming's recipe--like lots of other BB recipes--leaves out a crucial step though. Those beans need to be well-rinsed under running water to get rid of the salt!

Trust me. The first time I used fermented black beans I didn't wash them.

PJ

[Mottmott]

A good tip. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, but as he omitted it, I might have done so, too. That's a problem with recipes. Some drive you crazy by omitting a step the writer thinks "speaks for itself" and some drive you crazy by telling you how to boil water.

[SobaAddict70]

Pasta and certain EVOO-based sauces. Add a salad and a piece of fruit.

Soup, salad and bread.

Quiche, steamed vegetables.

Steak or chops tossed in the broiler, roasted veggies and potatoes.

Larb -- the non-larb burger version. Noodles or rice.

It's not too difficult or expensive or time-consuming for any of these meals -- longest wait time might be 45 minutes with respect to the roasted veggies or quiche, but the effort involved might be more than a little for people who don't want to expend that kind of effort.

I'm preaching to the choir though.

Soba

[Suzanne F]

I load up my fridge and freezer with condiments, stocks, and sauces, all of which can be used in many different ways to make quick meals. For example: on my last supermarket trip, the "reduced price produce" shelves had packages of red and green bell peppers for something like 39¢ a pound. Most went into the slow cooker with sliced onion, garlic, and a little oil, and came out as 10 jars of piperade -- to be used with a quick saute of a little veal or pork, or an omelet, or mixed with pasta, etc. The rest are now marinated roasted peppers, for use on pizza or who knows what else. I also got artichokes at 99¢ for three, which so far have been used with linguine, and will probably join other pastas at another time.

Yes, it took an afternoon of work to prep all that stuff, but now all I have to do is open a jar or thaw a container.

Oh, and I save excess sauces from stews, which get recycled into new sautes and pasta dishes.

[picaman]

For the purposes of this discussion some elements can come in packages such as flash frozen vegetables, a can of of beans, stock, dried pasta, tomato or anchovy paste in a tube, etc.

While I admit I don't do it consistently, you can make your own fresh pasta and whatever quick topping in the amount of time it takes for the water to boil. The dough kneads in the KitchenAid while I make an easy topping. And the pasta gets cranked through the Atlas while the topping simmers or whatever. The total cooking time is actually a bit less as the fresh pasta takes less time to cook. It ain't perfect technique but it's better than dried pasta.

The main reason I don't do it as much as I should is that I'm mostly lazy after working all day, and I don't always want to be so frenetic.

Jamie

[pjs]

Here's a recipe for a quick and cheap Italian bean soup that uses pantry and fridge ingredients I always have on hand. I learnt it from Marcella Hazan a long time ago and modified it somewhat since. Just the thing when you don't get home 'til 8pm and you want something savory and fast for dinner.

Heat ½ cup olive oil--Vigo Imported Extra Virgin Spanish Olive Oil, Cold Pressed, $3.95/½ltr--in a saucepan. Add a teaspoon or so of chopped garlic and lightly brown it.

Add to the pan two, well-drained 15½oz. cans of Goya Cannellini Beans, two cans for a $1.00. Season lightly with S&P and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Run about a cup of the beans through the food processor and return the paste to the pot along with a 14oz. can of Swanson 99% Fat Free Chicken Broth, 89¢. Stir and simmer for about another 5 minutes.

After the second five-minute simmer you are basically done. Adjust for seasoning and consistancy--you can thin or thicken according to personal taste--and stir in a generous amount of chopped parsley.

Serve in a bowl over a toasted thick slice of baguette. Follow with a salad and fresh fruit for dessert.

This recipe makes two or three main plates. It is also very good as a side dish for four or more instead of the usual potatoes, pasta or rice.

Oh yeah. Take your copy of Semi-Homemade Cooking: Quick, Marvelous Meals and Nothing Is Made from Scratch -- by Sandra Lee, Wolfgang Puck (Introduction): $19.95 and use the ripped-out pages as a starter for your BBQ charcoal chimney.

PJ

[tommy]

spaghetti alla carbonara is quick and easy, made from what most people have in their pantries, save the pancetta.

[mamster]

And it would be hard to complain about having it with regular bacon.

[browniebaker]

My quickest, cheapest meal has to be a quesadilla and salad. When the whole family gets home late from errands and cub scouts and ballet, and the children are screaming hungry, I heat up the cast-iron skillet, put in a tortilla, slice some pepper jack cheese on top (and add scallions or other seasonings if there's time), slap another tortilla on top, flip it once, and am done. The salad is quick, too, of course. Oddly, this is not only the cheapest and quickest meal but also my children's favorite meal -- well, isn't that convenient?

My children also love scrambled eggs, and that is another cheap and fast dinner in a pinch. They even prefer scrambled eggs to omelettes, and who am I to dissuade them from choosing the easier-to-make dish?

Yesterday afternoon I spent three hours making chili, including dicing chuck and roasting peppers over an open flame, and it seemed a lot of time to spend cooking, but I read the Sunday paper during the cooking so that it wasn't all work, and now I have four meals' worth in the freezer, for a very quick meal on weekdays. For the primary cook in this household, there's nothing like the security of having a freezer full of ready meals.

edit: spelling

Edited October 7, 2003 by browniebaker (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Amen to that.

My mom raised me pretty much by herself (full-time working mom with an only child), so you'd think that she's the target audience for Lee's book. I think not.

Mom somehow found the time to make an entire week's worth of meals, usually on a Sunday, which we would just reheat when she got home from work. We're talking about things like dinuguan, pancit adobo, sinigang and spaghetti and meatballs.

I credit my love of food and cooking in part to her efforts, which were, as you might imagine, quite considerable -- add to that the pressures of working for a major NY investment bank and lengthy commutes to and from our home in New Jersey...for 20+ years.

She is an amazing woman.

Soba

[Chad]

Another way to go is The Quick Recipe from the Cook's Illustrated folks. I like it a lot. There are some pretty good recipes, and everything can be made in less than 60 minutes (including all prep time). We've made several meals from the book, and while they're not grand gourmet, they are damn tasty -- and most importantly, pass the "kid test."

Consider this one the Anti Sandra Cookbook.

Chad

[Toliver]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but Bon Appetit has a "30 Minute meals" recipe section towards the back of each issue.

[Steebles]

Noone ever counts the "washing the dishes" part.

Half of cooking my be Thinking About Cooking, but a huge part of what's left over is washing the dishes

[hannahcooks]

Last night I mixed up some (leftover) roast chicken with grated (leftover) jack and cheddar cheeses. Added some (leftover) scallions and some (always stocked up on when it's on sale/I have a coupon staple) Ro-Tel. I sprayed some Pam on both sides of a flour tortilla, put 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture inside, folded it into a packet, repeated until I had 4 and baked at 415 for 11 minutes. Served with sour cream.

Total time under 20 minutes. Due to judicious use of leftovers, total cost for new ingredients $2.79. And it made enough for 2 people plus even more leftovers.

[torakris]

One of my favorite quick cheap meals is a Thai curry, a can of coconut milk a spoonful of curry paste and in 10 minutes you have dinner with anything you may happen to have in your refrigerator.

One of my favorite quick cooking books is Donna Hay's New Food Fast with sections on meals or desserts in 10, 20 and 30 minutes, all homemade and very good! and pictures of every dish like you don't in the American cookbooks

[Kim WB]

Almost any fast food can be made healthier and cheaper at home. Tonight, kids off from school, we tackled the garage and did what I hope was the final grass cutting, covered the grill, somewhat winterized the outside...tired, dirty, not into cooking.

Poached three boneless breasts. Kids had them on toast, with mayo. Nuked a sweet potato, mashed with butter, salt and a little maple syrup. I wanted spicy, so I chopped the breast up and sauteed them quickly in some butter and hot sauce...then topped with blue cheese and had it on a kaiser roll with a green salad.

I can't quite compute the cost, but I'm pretty certain it was cheaper than a BK spicy chicken sand and fries.

Edited October 6, 2003 by Kim WB (log)

[helenas]

Here is the bible of Real Fast Food, as told by Nigel Slater

[AndrewM]

I'm rather suspicious of the whole 30-minute meal concept. Not because of some dedication to slow food -- believe me, there's nothing I'd like better than to be done in 30 minutes during the week. But I find very few complete dinners can be done in this short a time starting from scratch. Part of this may be that I'm cooking regularly for four. Even washing and chopping vegetables for a stir-fry for four instead of 1 or 2 adds time for me, and while I don't have the knife skills of a pro, I'm not a complete plodder. You can adulterate a jarred pasta sauce pretty quickly i suppose, and then there's various tricks with eggs (which I'm perfectly happy with for supper, but confronted with eggs for supper the kids are dumbfounded). Just making rice takes 25 minutes minimum.

So a lot of the 30 minute meal concept seems to me to rely on cooking ahead or relying on some premade stuff to jazz up or some variation on a sandwich. Cooking times can be real quick but prep time is another story.

When I want to cook a complete dinner really fast, I'm with Jinmyo: Steak. Cooks in minutes, deglaze and you're done. I can make a simple salad and dressing, do something with potatoes, and cook a steak real fast. Probably under 30 minutes given a completely clean kitchen to start with (in my house, not bloody likely). Change the steak to pork chops, veal chops, fish, the potatoes to rice, and we're still pretty close.

Otherwise, I'm with FatGuy: bread and cheese.

[bloviatrix]

One of my favorite, quick dinners is a bean salad and baked salmon.

If I don't have beans pre-made, I take a can of black beans and a can chick peas. Dice up some peppers, red onion, garlic and a bit of parsley. Toss with balsamic vinegar and EVOO. Brush some salmon with mustard and sprinkle with bread crumbs and place in oven.

Serve beans over mesclun with fish on the side. You've got your protein, your greens and your good fiber. A nice, quick balanced meal.

[SethG]

Several months ago I raided my mother's cookbook shelf, which was full of perfectly good, never-used cookbooks she probably obtained through the Book of the Month Club. Among these books were two of Pierre Franey's 60 Minute Gourmet compilations. Each page is a reproduced column from the NY Times, in which he gives a main course and a suggested side, usually for about four people. And these cookbooks might be a little long in the tooth, but I've tried a bunch of things from the first volume and they really work. He always tells you a little bit about French technique, and although he simplifies some famous dishes, he does so to make the point that anyone can get the basic essence of many great dishes, at home, in a short period of time.

Some of the sections depend on expensive cuts of meat in order to come in on schedule-- the veal section comes to mind. But I've made his simplified Coq au Vin a number of times, and although he refuses to label it Coq au Vin because of his simplifications, it remains a wonderful and quick (and "gourmet-like"!) meal.