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So having seen how many comments were generated by the recipes in yesterday's diary, I have decided to complete a draft that has been sitting there for a couple of months.Having been once part of ( or close to) the 1%, and now living on a more meager fixed income, I thought it might be a good idea to share a few ideas on healthy eating at low cost. Now my recipes and ideas are based on German costs, so your mileage might vary, but the principles are sound.
Locally, I have 2 supermarkets - one - Rewe - which is " high quality" and Aldi which is "a discounter". If I want fresh meat, deli meat or cheese, good coffee, etc I go to Rewe. If I want flour, oil, sugar, tinned goods, dry pasta or fruits and vegetables for immediate consumption I go to Aldi. Learning what each of these suppliers offers is a key to sensible shopping.
Now, I live in Germany - which is very pork centric (I have never seen that phrase before). One of the regular offers at the quality supermarket is Krustenbraten - which is pork shoulder with the skin on. Now this is a) really tasty and b) very cheap - we are talking about $2/lb.
Krustenbraten, with oven Baked veggies
OK, so take your pork shoulder of 2 to 4 lbs, and score the skin down to the flesh in a 1 inch criss cross pattern. If you like strong flavors, rub a ground garlic and parsley mash into the cuts, otherwise just dry off with a kitchen towel, and liberally sprinkle salt all over the skin.
For the veggies, take some medium sized potatoes (between a golf ball and and a baseball, wash and cut into segments like an orange (usually 6 per potato), and boil until soft to a pointed knife.
Take the potato wedges and mix them with a little oil, a teaspoon of ground coriander and a teaspoon of hot paprika until they are well coated. Add them to a an oven tray. Next to the potatoes add sliced Zucchini, sliced tomato and sliced onion. Tilting the tray away from the potatoes, sprinkle Balsamico vinegar and Olive oil over the other veggies.
Salt and pepper to taste.
The meat will need around 2 hours medium oven for 2lbs, and maybe 20 minutes for every extra pound. The veggies need 30 to 40 minutes. When cooking the veggies, maintain the tilt so that onions are caramelized in the juice, and the potato wedges become crisp.
Total cost for 4 people - maybe $8, or the price of a Bigmac menu in NYC
For more basic recipes - Spaghetti meatballs (my version) and penne (or steak when you have got overtime) with a simple delicious blue cheese sauce jump over the lopsided orange croissant