Chili with cornbread and various salads is nice for summer. Or you could do baked ziti with sausage or meatballs with some vegetables or salad. Barbequed pulled chicken is very easy (throw chicken breasts, bbq sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar into a slow cooker for a couple hours, then shred the meat) and you could serve it on fresh rolls with corn on the cob, broccoli slaw, cole slaw, and other condiments. For something a little more fancy, you could do risotto - which can be done every inexpensively.
Curry!
With a salad and bread/popadoms it usually comes out to $1.50 a plate. If you use dry chickpeas instead of canned, then it is a lot less. That's my local price, but keep in mind a dozen farm fresh eggs here starts at $6, onions a dollar something each, so it would probably be a lot less if you live anywhere else in North America.
I love curry for affordable group meals as you can toss in whatever you have available. If potatoes are on sale, use mostly them, if tomatoes, put those in. Onions and some sort of starch are mandatory, I usually start with chickpeas, onions and a quality curry paste like Pataks (or make my own). The paste is somewhere you don't want to skimp.
If you can make it ahead of time, use the slow cooker. Chop everything, pre cook the beans if working from dry or drain if working from canned, put it in the slow cooker, with a few Tbs of curry paste of your choice mixed into half a cup of water, and turn it on high. For a meat curry, either toss in leftover roast beast or find the cheapest cut of meat out there and chop it fine, toss it in. Don't worry if the meat is usually tough, the spices and slow cooker soften it up.
If cooking for vegetarians, vegans, or people with allergies check that the curry paste doesn't contain any wrong-foods. Better still, make your own. Jamie Oliver's book Food Revolution has some fantastic curry paste recipes that are easily adjustable for different dietary needs.
I always gravitate towards baked pastas or tacos usually - you can cook the taco meat and serve with toppings and mini tortillas, serve chips and salsas as an appetizer, grilled peppers and onion and/or rice on the side
Pasta! Serve it with a few vegetable sides and a dessert, and you're good to go. On this site, I love Craig Claiborne's pasta con asparagi, the pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions, macaroni peas, and I've been meaning to try the pasta with lemon and walnuts. You should search "pasta" within recipes and filter for community picks and contest winners.
12 Comments
With a salad and bread/popadoms it usually comes out to $1.50 a plate. If you use dry chickpeas instead of canned, then it is a lot less. That's my local price, but keep in mind a dozen farm fresh eggs here starts at $6, onions a dollar something each, so it would probably be a lot less if you live anywhere else in North America.
I love curry for affordable group meals as you can toss in whatever you have available. If potatoes are on sale, use mostly them, if tomatoes, put those in. Onions and some sort of starch are mandatory, I usually start with chickpeas, onions and a quality curry paste like Pataks (or make my own). The paste is somewhere you don't want to skimp.
If you can make it ahead of time, use the slow cooker. Chop everything, pre cook the beans if working from dry or drain if working from canned, put it in the slow cooker, with a few Tbs of curry paste of your choice mixed into half a cup of water, and turn it on high. For a meat curry, either toss in leftover roast beast or find the cheapest cut of meat out there and chop it fine, toss it in. Don't worry if the meat is usually tough, the spices and slow cooker soften it up.
If cooking for vegetarians, vegans, or people with allergies check that the curry paste doesn't contain any wrong-foods. Better still, make your own. Jamie Oliver's book Food Revolution has some fantastic curry paste recipes that are easily adjustable for different dietary needs.
// Pork Shoulder / Butt
https://food52.com/recipes/3909-matilda-maple-garlic-pork-shoulder-with-crispy-skin
https://food52.com/recipes/28617-sweet-and-savory-overnight-roast-pork
// Instead of pork shoulder you can do pork belly (inexpensive yet filling)
https://food52.com/recipes/23136-pork-belly-carnitas
https://food52.com/recipes/22618-creme-brulee-pork-belly-confit
https://food52.com/recipes/1828-slow-cooker-pork-belly-with-braised-apples-and-cabbage
// Corn Salad
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/raw-corn-and-radish-salad-with-spicy-lime-dressing
// Slaw
https://food52.com/recipes/12810-summer-slaw
https://food52.com/recipes/12828-melon-mango-slaw-with-lime-and-ginger
https://food52.com/recipes/20537-crunchy-cabbage-salad-with-miso-ginger-dressing
https://food52.com/recipes/8746-jalapeno-apple-slaw-with-honey-lime-vinaigrette
https://food52.com/recipes/7650-shaved-brussels-sprout-salad-with-red-onion-lemon-and-pecorino
https://food52.com/recipes/19587-fennel-slaw-with-vanilla-vinaigrette
// Dessert
https://food52.com/recipes/20617-citrus-semolina-olive-oil-cake
https://food52.com/recipes/20135-melomakarona-greek-honey-spice-cookies
https://food52.com/recipes/22665-rosemary-honey-lemon-frozen-yogurt
https://food52.com/recipes/21570-oatmeal-ice-cream-with-toasted-walnuts
Hope it helps...
Green salad, grilled corn on the cob. Watermelon wedged, potato leek soup , served hot or cold.