The Pauper's Gourmet

This is the first time I've ever tried to make ratatouille. I researched a few recipes, and then just decided to give it a go with my own. This was delicious. Unbelievably delicious. I used: 2 tomatoes, peeled and skinned: $0.60 1 zucchini: $0.35 1 green bell pepper: $0.30 1 medium-sized onion: $0.15 2-3 small cloves of garlic: $0.05 200 grams of skinless, boneless chicken breast: $2.80 (was on special) about 1/4 cup of olive oil (or cooking oil): about $0.50 for olive oil ($0.05 for cooking oil) 1/2 a cup of rice: $0.30 salt to taste black pepper to taste dash of dried basil pinch of dried thyme 1 small bay leaf (optional) TOTAL: $5.05, generously serving 2 Ratatouille is peasant food, best made in summer when ingredients are cheap and fresh. It normally includes eggplant, but I am not the biggest fan of eggplant. There are multiple approaches to cooking ratatouille. Julia Child's famous recipe suggests that you cook all ingredients separately, and then layer them into a casse...

Today it was a sweltering 36˚C, with a humidex of about 42˚C. Holy smokes, who wants to cook under those conditions?! It'll have to be something quick and effortless in the kitchen today. Something light on the tummy, too. I looked through my freezer, and I still have some tilapia leftover from my last recipe. Great. A nice, light fish would be perfect for a day like today, and tilapia is such an easy meal. It can be cooked straight from frozen, in the oven. That means, I spend NO time in front of a hot stove, except to take the rice off, once it has boiled. So tonight, it's fish, rice, and fresh salad. Here's my dinner tonight, with prices: 2 tilapia filets (left over from my pack of $6.99): $2.80 side of rice (1/2 a cup, and I have left-overs for the fridge): $0.30 pack of mixed greens: $1.99 (I added the full price to the total, but I only used $0.40 of it, with lots left-over) an english cucumber: $1.00 (I used about $0.20 of it, with lots left-over) a lemon: $0.33 You ...

I love fish. I love catching fish, cooking fish, and eating fish! Yesterday I made a pan-seared tilapia with roast potatoes and a side of fresh greens. It was incredibly easy, and affordable. The following ingredients serve 2 people, but I bought a pack of tilapia that serves 5. If you buy a pack of tilapia and you are only planning to use part of it, then don't thaw the whole pack! You are not supposed to re-freeze fish (or any meats), so just thaw what you need and leave the rest in the freezer for future use. For dinner with my sister yesterday, I used: 1 pack of frozen tilapia filets: $6.99 for a pack of 5 ($1.40 for each person) a small dollop of oil: let's say $0.05 4 potatoes from my sack: about $0.25 worth mixed greens: about $2.50 for a pack (we have leftovers) salt black pepper paprika cayenne pepper 2 small cloves of garlic TOTAL: $9.79 to serve 5; $1.96 per person. Instructions: Potatoes: I have a million different ways of doing roast potatoes, but this is what I di...

I am so excited to be making this for dinner tonight! My friend Cathy taught me how to make this simple but scrumptious sauce, which is high in protein and very satisfying. It's very simple and very affordable... and it's on the stove right now and it smells like heaven wafting out of a pot. Yay! :-) Importantly, I used olive oil this evening, because I have it in my pantry. If you don't have olive oil, then you can manage with regular cooking oil. But you should absolutely add a big bottle of olive oil to your pantry wish list. It is a bit costly up front, but it will last you for a long time and is well worth the value. Here is what you will need, and what I paid for each required ingredient: 1 lb of extra lean ground beef: $3.95 1 onion: $0.20 (from my sack) 3 small cloves of garlic: $0.05 (from my pack) 1 jar of strained tomatoes (mine was about 660ml, but give or take): $1.99 3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use cooking oil if you don't have it): about $0.30 fo...

After 3.5 weeks of being spoiled rotten at my mother's house, I returned to home and my kitchen, which was as barren as a wasteland. All I had in my pantry was some basmati rice leftover in my 10kg sack, some onions, garlic, a few potatoes, and some cooking oil. What a perfect way to start recipes for this blog! Here's what I picked up from the grocery store for today's recipe: 1 can of crushed tomatoes: $1.10 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs: $4.99 2 fresh garden tomatoes: $0.70 1 cucumber: $1.29 TOTAL: $8.08 for 3 normal sized servings (as pictured above), or two gluttonous portions that will loosen any belt. I also used a cup of rice from my 10lb sack, which is about $0.25, and an onion from a 3lb sack, which is about $0.30. Plus a 1/4 cup of cooking oil and a bit of salt and coriander. With this, I made my mother's simple but sweet chicken karahi with rice, with a tomato-cucumber side salad. That's between $2.5/person for 3 dinners, or $4/person if your idea ...

Back in the 1950s in Peshawar, Pakistan, my grandparents lived in a small home with mud walls, no fridge, and no stove. With limited means, my grandmother made miracles cooking on an open fire. Her culinary abilities were unrivaled in her lifetime. She could make comfort and joy with the most modest of ingredients. Once every month my grandfather would stock the pantry with basic essentials, particularly dry goods such as flour, rice, and lentils. With these essentials on hand, the weekly/daily grocery bill was cut by a fraction in both the short and long-run. Meat and fresh produce were bought on a daily or weekly basis, while the staples were bought in bulk every month. Even in this day and age, I've learned from my family that having an arsenal of staple ingredients in your pantry is a profoundly important part of eating well and saving money. Once we have some core ingredients on hand, the amount we'll need to make meals for the rest of the month will be drastically less. ...

I remember being hungry in my bones. It was Peshawar, Pakistan in 1994, after the Soviets had withdrawn from Afghanistan and just before the Taliban came into power. The civil war was raging across the border, and the Afghan militias used Peshawar as a base to re-load and re-group. Every man had an AK-47 slung over his shoulder and the streets were full of Mujahideen fighters armed to the teeth. I was 13 years old, and I was very, very hungry. Two potatoes between four kids every day. That's all we had. Food shortage coupled with dysentery dropped my weight by 20 pounds in 4 weeks. Though normally a skinny kid, I was now utterly gaunt. I remember eating things that were considered garbage. I remember collapsing, as my body failed. As a girl, I had no freedom of mobility to scrounge for myself, so I found myself a pack of hungry kids to run with. We did crazy, stupid, dangerous things for food... and occasionally for freedom. But mostly, we just wanted something to eat. The only dif...