Fast & Inexpensive Meals … Finally, a Cookbook I am Actually Using!
I truly love perusing recipes … in fact I used to be a recipe-clipping addict. Luckily, my frugality kept me from purchasing every cookbook in sight, especially considering I have only trialed about a dozen recipes from the little cookbook collection I am already housing. Clipping, marking, and emailing recipes is one thing, but actually making them… for some reason that was always my stumbling block. But a cookbook I recently received sparked something in me. At long last, I was venturing new foods in the kitchen!
The magical book? The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook … true, the name may not sound enticing to some, but the recipes within were so simple, so intriguing, and so filled with ingredients that I typically buy anyway, it was really a natural fit. As someone who hadn’t tried a new recipe in months, I made guess how many recipes in just over a week… okay, I can’t hold it in… six. That’s right, I tried six new recipes just like that. Okay, I am counting the chocolate covered raisins and the saffron rice, but I gradually became more adventurous. Here is what else I made…
First (or third if you count the first two recipes) up was Raf’s Cuban Beans & Rice. These slow-cooked black beans were easy to prepare, as I left them to simmer for about 2 hours, stopping by to stir occasionally. I drained the beans, assuming this step was required, but perhaps not. The honey can easily be replaced with maple syrup for a vegan pot of beans. Serve with rice (I steamed a mix of red rice and brown rice) and a salad for a full vegan meal. For my meaty husband, I served the beans and rice alongside some freshly made Italian sausage (on sale for $2.99/lb) and a serving of steamed broccoli. (sorry, this first pic is horrible, they do get a bit better!)
Second up was the Penne with Cauliflower and Olives. This was a very simple but tasty recipe. I opted to stay vegan on this entrée, “beefing” up the penne with some extra sautéed veggies. Our brown rice pasta had some issues, not cooking and sticking badly. That was the only bummer of the whole meal. Basically, you steam up the cauliflower and mash it with a fork for a chunky, clingy ingredient. Add in the finely chopped olives (I recommend the canned pre-chopped olives, they are actually cheaper ounce for ounce, and easier), some fresh parsley, olive oil, garlic, and season with crushed red pepper flakes and salt to taste.
Third up was the Falafels. This was a fun one; I had never made falafels. These are actually baked, rather than fried. Lacking pita bread or even a tortilla, I served the little patties overtop a bed of jasmine rice and lightly steamed caught-it-just-in-time organic spinach. While the author (Cybele Pascal) recommended her tahini sauce, I was lacking in tahini. So I made a hummus sauce (I had some pre-packaged Trader Joe’s hummus on hand – picture is pre-sauce). Really, this was an easy, tasty, and vegan entrée, that even my meaty husband positively loved. I will be making these again! As a side note, the recipe calls for oat flour. A cheap and easy shortcut is to grind regular old oats in a spice grinder ($9 at the grocery store, best investment I have ever made) for about 30 seconds, until a nice flour develops. Gluten-free consumers can by “safe” oats and make oat flour using this method too.
Fourth up was the Creamy Avocado Chicken Salad. I give this one a not bad. Really, our fridge was running low. No bread for a sandwich and no lettuce for a salad, so this chicken salad went atop quinoa. The avocado dressing was a bit sweet for my tastes, but overall it was pretty good. The chicken tenders were actually on for a cheaper price than the chicken breasts (always keep an eye on this) and they made for convenient preparation.
The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook is free of the big eight allergens: milk, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, eggs, fish, and shellfish. While there is a good-sized “meaty” section, I wouldn’t write this one off completely for vegans. The egg-free, dairy-free nature makes for many excellent vegan baked goods and desserts (note: occasional small amounts of honey that look easily replaceable with another liquid sweetener), salads, dressings, snacks, and as you can see from the recipes I trialed, entrees and sides. Actually, the vegan options easily won out taste-wise in our household.
So what was the damage? Well, aside from a whole pile of dishes, I calculated that each full meal cost less than $3.00 to serve (and satiate) two of us, just $1.50 per full individual meal, or less really. While I love eating out, I must admit this is quite a good deal for some easy recipes. Thanks Cybele!
8 thoughts on “Fast & Inexpensive Meals … Finally, a Cookbook I am Actually Using!”
I LOVE beans&rice, pasta w/vegetables, and baked falafel, so I appreciate you sharing those recipes from the book; and I checked out the book on Amazon.com – it does indeed look like a great cookbook filled with simple recipes. Thanks for blogging about this book!
Those falafel looks insanely delicious.I like how you’ve flattenend them—why not enjoy a falafel burger, right?
I like your philosophy of frugal cooking. I spend more on food than anything on my life b/c it’s most important to me [but I still appreciate saving a $$]–but I try to save and be frugal in other areas.
Yeah, I don’t know what it was, those falafels were just begging to be flattened. Really, they were so easy to work with that they made perfect little disks with ease.
Yes, I too love Cybele’s cookbook. I was in such a rut cooking wheat,dairy, egg, peanut and treenut free, it was heaven. Now after looking at your pictures, I know I need to dust it off and get it out again.
You’ve inspired me to try the Falafels.
Take care,
Gina
LOL, I love cookbooks and I love easy and simple and I love Whole Foods! How perfect! Chocolate raisins and saffron? I was raised with a Dutch heritage, so frugal is right up my alley. OH, and I LOVE your thoughtful, easy-to-read, beautifully articulated new blog!
Thank you for your post! I’ve been toying with the thought of getting this cookbook for quite some time, but wasn’t sure if there was enough gluten free recipes to make it worth while. Just the few that you’ve shown have piqued my interest again and I think I’ll give it a try. Everything looks so good and I LOVE beans and rice!
I love your new site too!!
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article Inexpensive Meals … Finally, a Cookbook I am Actually Using!, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
Great post. Keep up the great work. Thanks again, Arthur
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