Page 2 | Cheap recipes involving mostly unprocessed foods

Stumpedasatree · 2022-09-13T21:35:46+00:00

Would anyone like to contribute to a thread for recipes? Don't need to be fancy recipes, just looking for ideas based on mostly whole foods. Vegetarian or non-vegetarian but anything to keep the food budget down. Tonight I did a chicken (thigh fillet) and broccoli stir fry with rice noodles using [[https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-broccoli-stir-fry/ this recipe]]. Yesterday we had tinned sardine and fresh tomato spaghetti with olives. Tomorrow I think sweet potato and bean enchiladas. We also have a lot of curry, dahl and homemade soups. I have 2 DD and a husband who like their meat but aim to have 2 or 3 vegetarian meals a week.

toastofthetown · 16/09/2022 11:56

If you have a well stocked spice cupboard, I find Meera Sodha’s recipes cheap, simple to cook, reliable cooking methods, not filled with obscure ingredients, and very few ingredients that would be 4 on the Nova scale (assuming that’s the food category you want to avoid). She has two vegetarian cookbooks and one which also has meat and as a vegetarian I use all three regularly. She also has Guardian column which I also enjoy for vegan recipes.

Here are some specific recipes which are favourites with me and my meat-eating husband.
Caramelised onion and feta tagliatelle - delicious and simple, though caramelising onions takes a while and I never both with the dill or cayenne butter.
Pasta alla Norma - by Ottolenghi and the best pasta all’s norma I’ve made.
Miso braised aubergine - quick and so tasty with a bowl of rice

Cauliflower korma - Roasting the cauliflower adds so much flavour that I now always roast cauliflower for a curry. Between the yogurt and almonds there’s a lot of protein in this too, so it’s really satisfying.
Palak paneer - light, fresh and delicious.
Miso and peanut butter chickpea salad - another one from Ottolenghi and this is probably my favourite new recipe I’ve tried this year. It’s fresh and crunchy and packed with flavour. The crispy fried shallots are ultra processed, but you could try to make them yourself (or just accept they are delicious and eat them anyway!)

ODFOx · 16/09/2022 12:20

French onion soup, with a big cheesy crouton in the bottom. So delicious and filling but simple and inexpensive.

Plump82 · 16/09/2022 12:25

toastofthetown · 16/09/2022 11:56

If you have a well stocked spice cupboard, I find Meera Sodha’s recipes cheap, simple to cook, reliable cooking methods, not filled with obscure ingredients, and very few ingredients that would be 4 on the Nova scale (assuming that’s the food category you want to avoid). She has two vegetarian cookbooks and one which also has meat and as a vegetarian I use all three regularly. She also has Guardian column which I also enjoy for vegan recipes.

Here are some specific recipes which are favourites with me and my meat-eating husband.
Caramelised onion and feta tagliatelle - delicious and simple, though caramelising onions takes a while and I never both with the dill or cayenne butter.
Pasta alla Norma - by Ottolenghi and the best pasta all’s norma I’ve made.
Miso braised aubergine - quick and so tasty with a bowl of rice

Cauliflower korma - Roasting the cauliflower adds so much flavour that I now always roast cauliflower for a curry. Between the yogurt and almonds there’s a lot of protein in this too, so it’s really satisfying.
Palak paneer - light, fresh and delicious.
Miso and peanut butter chickpea salad - another one from Ottolenghi and this is probably my favourite new recipe I’ve tried this year. It’s fresh and crunchy and packed with flavour. The crispy fried shallots are ultra processed, but you could try to make them yourself (or just accept they are delicious and eat them anyway!)

That chickpea salad sounds delicious.