Jumat, 16 Januari 2009

CHG Favorites of the Week

Food Blog of the Week
Frugal Village
This frugal-minded website looks to be only a few months old, but it came at exactly the right time. The forums, full of real people with real money-saving strategies, are undoubtedly the highlight, but the articles are pretty dang solid, too.

Food Comedy of the Week
"Target Women: Diets"
Sarah Haskins strikes back.



Food Quote of the Week
(Editor’s note: I barely know what this even means, but it’s fun in a tortured metaphor kind of way.)
“When I am faced with a beautiful, well-reared piece of meat, I don't want to stand back and admire it, I want to have full-blown unprotected sex; I didn't even get to first base with the pork.” – Toby Young, Top Chef

Food Video of the Week
“I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye
Man, Marvin could sing, and his a cappella version of “Grapevine” will absolutely knock your socks off. I guarantee you haven’t heard anything cooler this week.



Totally Unrelated Extra Special Bonus of the Week
Kermit Bale
Either Kermit’s been taking notes from Christian Bale, or vice versa. Either way, the genius architect of this Batman/Frog pictoral exploration needs a long, peaceful rest.

Kamis, 15 Januari 2009

65 Cheap, Healthy, One-Dish Meals with Good Leftover Potential

A few weeks ago, we posed a question to CHG readers, asking what kind of posts y’all would like to see more of in 2009. Overwhelmingly, the response was: easy, one-dish meals that make excellent leftovers, posted alongside gratuitously good-looking pictures of George Clooney. (I may have added that last part.)

It was a challenge, but I think we may have come up with a few ideas, thus fulfilling your wildest frugal foodie dreams. (We’re also very modest.)

It’s a big internet out there, and there are several billion interpretations of “one-dish meal,” so our first step was narrowing the field. Here were our initial criteria:
  • The whole meal – vegetables, starch, and meat (if included) – had to come to the table in a single pot, skillet, bowl, or dish. This DOES NOT mean it was entirely prepared in one implement. (Though quite a few meals are, and those have a ** next to them.)
  • The meal shouldn’t require additional side dishes, breads, rice, or other accompaniment.
  • The meal had to be relatively balanced, meaning no all-vegetable, all-meat, or all-starch dishes, a la macaroni and cheese.
  • Preparation and dishes had to be kept to a reasonable minimum. Chopping an onion, salting an eggplant, or sautéing a chicken breast was allowed. Creating a from-scratch, two-hour tomato sauce before adding it to a dish: not so much. (This killed a lot of lasagnas.)
  • No Cream of Mushroom, Chicken, or Whatever soups allowed. Because I hate them.
  • No thin soups, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, or slow cooker dishes were included, mostly because they’re subjects for another post. Stews were okay. (Logic? Not allowed, either.)
  • If a recipe wouldn’t be any good the next day, it was disqualified. (This ruled out a lot of egg dishes.)
  • As always, if the dish came from an aggregate site with ratings (All Recipes, Epicurious, etc.), it must have had at least an 85% approval from reviewers.
  • “Cheap” and “healthy” parameters were determined however we usually do it on this blog. (Meaning: low fat, low calorie, and otherwise subject to our whims. Muahahahahahahaha!)
Needless to say, after hours of searching, we found a LOT of chilis and pasta dishes. They’re all listed below, along with various bakes, casseroles, rice dinners, meaty mains, full-on veggie deals, and quite a few bean-based meals. To reiterate, if a recipe can be prepared using just one heating implement (one pot, one pan, one skillet, etc.) there are two stars (**) next to it.

The list is by no means definitive, but it’s a nice start. Readers, please add your suggestions in the comments section, using the guidelines listed above. When we’re done, this is going to rule.

BAKES & CASSEROLES

CHG/All Recipes: Meatless Shepherd’s Pie

CHG/Cooking Light: Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-Tomato Sauce

CHG/Bon Appetit: Ratatouille

CHG/All Recipes: Cheesy Eggplant Bake

**CHG/Weight Watchers Boards: Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Martha Stewart: Baked Eggplant Parmesan
(This looks GREAT. Use part-skim mozzarella for less fat.)


BEANS & LENTILS

CHG: Garlicky Long Beans and Cannellini Beans

**CHG/Yeah That Vegan S***: Curried Apple and Lentil Dal

**CHG/International Vegetarian Union: Tunisian-Style Greens and Beans

**CHG/Amateur Gourmet: Bodega Beans

**Eating Well: Kale, Sausage, and Lentil Skillet

**Greedy Gourmet: Pork Sausage, Leek, Carrot, and Butter Bean Casserole
(I listed this because you might be able to pull it off with turkey sausage and a minimum of olive oil. Plus, the picture looked REALLY good.)

**Recipe Zaar: Beans and Greens


CHILI

**All Recipes: Pumpkin Chili
(I would substitute ground turkey in here to keep the fat down.)

**CHG: Camp Stove Veggie Chili

**CHG/Cook’s Illustrated: Easy Vegetarian Bean Chili

**CHG: Leftover Turkey Chili

**CHG/Bon Appetit: Turkey Chili with Beans

**Epicurious: Chicken and White Bean Chili

**Recipe Zaar: Santa Fe Chicken Chili


MEATS

Eating Well: Chicken Tagine with Pomegranates

Eating Well: Honey-Mustard Turkey Cutlets and Potatoes

**Recipe Zaar: Pan Roasted Chicken and Veggies

**Chicken Stir-Fry With Yams, Red Cabbage, and Hoisin


PASTA (Meatatarian)

CHG/Jenny Craig: Moroccan Chicken and Orzo

**CHG/Words to Eat By: American Chop Suey

CHG/Giada DeLaurentiis: Orzo with Sausage, Peppers, and Tomatoes

CHG/Cooking Light: Noodle Salad with Shrimp, Chicken, and Mint

CHG: Whole Wheat Penne with Grape Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Navy Beans, and Sausage

CHG/Cook’s Illustrated: Maque Choux with Chicken and Turkey Kielbasa

Serious Eats/All Recipes: Basil Chicken Pasta


PASTA (Vegetarian)

CHG/Weight Watchers: Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce

CHG/Ellie Krieger: Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce

CHG/Sara Moulton: Orecchiette (er, Macaroni) with Broccoli and Chickpeas

CHG/All Recipes: Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms

CHG/Moosewood: Penne with Lemon, Potatoes, and Cannellini

CHG/Reluctant Gourmet: Pasta with Nettles, Sorrel, and Lemon

The Kitchn: Arugula with Orzo and Garden Tomatoes

The Kitchn: Israeli Couscous with Chard

The Kitchn: Velvety Broccoli and Feta Pasta

**Martha Stewart: Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper

**Martha Stewart: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Vegetables and Peanut Sauce

Serious Eats/Cook’s Illustrated: Baked Rotelle Puttanesca


RICE & GRAINS (Carnivore)

CHG/Betty Crocker: Stuffed Peppers

**Cooking Light: Louisiana Goulash

Cooking Light: Shrimp-and-Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Cooking Light: Turkey Jambalaya

**Martha Stewart: Lemon Shrimp with Rice

**Recipe Zaar: Lemon Chicken and Rice


RICE & GRAINS (Vegetarian)

All Recipe: Quinoa Tabbouleh
(I would halve the dressing here to keep the fat down.)

**CHG/Wildman Steve Brill: Sesame Rice with Burdock

CHG: Shredded Zucchini and Chickpeas Over Polenta

DK’s Culinary Bazaar: Grilled Eggplant Moussaka with Brown Rice

Epicurious: Quinoa with Corn, Scallions, and Mint

Recipe Zaar: Bulgur Pilaf with Broccoli and Peppers

Serious Eats/Cooking Light: Couscous with Chickpeas, Tomato, and Edamame

Serious Eats/Epicurious: Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa
(You’re only cooking the quinoa here. Also, it’s FREAKING DELICIOUS.)


STEWS

Cooking Light: Braised Chicken with Potatoes and Tarragon Broth

Ellie Krieger: Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

**The Kitchn: Tomato and White Bean Panade

Martha Stewart: Quick Vegetable and Navy Bean Stew

Serious Eats/Jamie Oliver: Bread and Tomato Soup
(This has much more of a stew consistency, which is why it’s included here)


VEGETABLES

All Recipes: Vegetable Phyllo Pie
(Use low-fat feta crumbles to keep fat down.)

Cooking Light: Butternut-Cheese Pie

Serious Eats/The Kitchn: Spaghetti Squash with Ricotta, Sage, and Pine Nuts

For kicks, these three cookbooks looked helpful, and garnered good ratings on Amazon: Readers, I throw it back to you. Any suggestions?

(Photos courtesy of Live Journal, Bitten and Bound, and Contact Music.)

Selasa, 13 Januari 2009

Tuesday Megalinks

Today, it’s recession-related weight gain, a provocative pet question from The Kitchn, and the premiere of the word “herpes” on CHG. There’s a first time for everything, folks.

Consumerist: Identical Fake Testimonial Diet Sites Spreading Like Herpes
You may have seen a certain ad lately, featuring a non-descript blonde woman alternately named Jenny, Sarah, or Amy. She claims to have lost 25 pounds on an Oprah-approved acai diet. It’s hooey. A scam. A boondoggle. Don’t click on it.

Consumerist: Is Local Food Safer Than Industrial Food?
I’m almost done with Omnivore’s Dilemma, so this is a good question. On a small scale, where you can depend on upstanding individual farmers – sure. Why not? But it’d be awfully tough to keep track of sanitary conditions and standards without some major funding. From somewhere. I’m not sure where.

Consumerist: Money-Conscious Boozers Fight Depression With Happy Hour
“People aren’t cutting back on their drinking, but they are consuming more at home and trying to extract more booze from their buck when they go out.” That … sounds … familiar. I’ll have to have a glass of Trader Joe’s-bought wine and think about where I’ve heard it before.

Frugal Dad: Help, the Recession is Making Me Fat
Since cheap food is often processed, calorie-laden, fat-packed food, some are predicting the obesity problem will get worse during the recession. Here, FD has some ways to combat the spread.

Frugal Upstate: Why Should I Plan a Weekly Menu?
Jen’s explanation is much better than my “‘cause it’s awesome” one.

Get Rich Slowly: 7 Tips for Starting Your Own Vegetable Garden
Seed orders are due soon, and JD and his wife Kris encourage y’all to get on the ball. They have other ideas, too, as well as a plethora of handy resources for getting started.

The Kitchn: Reader Survey – Do you let pets clean your dishes?
54 folks have commented on this already, and … uh … if you do, that’s great. I don’t want to know about it. Ever.

The Kitchn: Eight Ways to Perk Up Steamed Vegetables
I almost didn’t include this one, because the suggestions seemed sort of intuitive (herbs, garlic, olive oil, etc.). Then I remembered that three years ago, this would have been a discovery on par with the Rosetta Stone for me. So here you go.

The Kitchn: How to Stock a Vegetarian (or Vegan) Pantry
Potential Veg-heads! Need help getting a move on? This is the place to be, tempeh in hand.

The Kitchn: Summer CSAs – Sign Up Now!
Lots of freshman CSA-ers had issues with their hauls last year: strange vegetables, too much of one thing, waste at the end of the week. Apparently, though, practice makes perfect, and it's way easier in Year #2. So if you’re interested, get researchin’.

MSNBC: Pass the tofu - 1 in 200 kids is vegetarian
It’s by choice! Go kids!

New York Times: The Minimalist – Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen
Mark Bittman kicks off 2009 by reorganizing your overstocked, under-serving pantry. I agree with almost everything he says, except for the dissing of canned beans and vanilla extract. Have you ever priced vanilla beans at a supermarket? I’ve seen used cars for less.

A Place of Quiet Rest: The Luscious Leftover Buffet
Heather sets out a dinner buffet every night for her family, using leftovers, cut vegetables, and various edibles laying around the fridge. The trick is doin’ it up fancy-like, so it seems like a treat. Cute idea, great execution. (Thanks to Like Merchant Ships for the link.)

Serious Eats: Absentminded Kitchen Disasters
Dozens of horrifying galley injuries for your reading pleasure. My worst: I worked at Wendy’s in high school and was operating the burger station one night, when my manager took a hot potato pan from a 500ºF oven and set it right next to me. Even though I JUST WATCHED HIM DO THIS, I leaned over to pick it up. BAD IDEA. The pan instantly burned six of my ten fingers and melted my rubber gloves to my hands. I spent the rest of the shift up to my elbows in the ice bin, praying for a quick death. (Of special interest: the next day was Easter, and my mom had to put my pants on for me. Mother's Day was very profitable for her that year.)

Serious Eats: Asian Markets Attract Budget-Minded Chefs
Looking to save a few bucks on food? Follow your friend Mr. Chin to his favorite supermarket. You’ll find a vast array of fun stuff you've never seen before, plus discounts on everyday eats.

Serious Eats: Diets Work – Way or No Way
Most commenters are saying, “Nuh-unh,” and they’ve got the personal experiences to back it up. Sometimes, it’s just nice to know that other people are going through the same thing you are.
Serious Eats: How Well Will the Obama Administration Handle Food Issues?
Sure, we were hoping for a Foodie-in-Chief, but it seems Barry has a few more pressing issues on his plate. (Pun intended.) We’ll let it go this term.

Slashfood: Americans Eat Out Despite Rough Times
“According to … a marketing research firm, Americans bought 1% more meals at a restaurant in November of 2008 than November 2007.” What? Huh? But I thought … I know nothing.

Slashfood: Fad Diets Dying out in 2009
Goodbye, Atkins! See you later, Master Cleanse! Don’t let the door hit your totally ineffective butt on the way out, Cabbage Soup Diet!

Treehugger: 9 Ways to Get Your Vegetables
A.k.a. Packing in the Produce the Vegetarian’s Way. The recipe links make it worth the visit. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

Value for Your Life: My 25% Grocery Savings Rule in Action – Part 2, Planning and Resources
Whoa, nelly. Thorough, extensive explanation of VfYL’s shopping plan. You’ve seen it before, but not in this much detail. (Thanks to MSN Smart Spending for the link.)

Wise Bread: How to Avoid Putting on Recession Pounds
You know that post you read from Frugal Dad? There’s more here. It’s a little less practical and a little more behaviorally-based, but useful nonetheless.

(Photos courtesy of Campusi, Unique New Vegetarian Recipes, and Buffalo Rising.)

Chipotle Pork Tenders and Food Blog Mad Libs

Hey folks, we’re trying something a little different today: Food Blog Mad Libs (or, FBML for short). Mad Libs are a secret obsession of mine, and online, they may work wonderfully or fail horribly, but it's worth a shot.

First, grab a piece of paper and write suggestions down for the following down, in this order:

Adjective
Celebrity name
Adjective and noun
Emotion
Household noun
Noun
Adjective
Adjective and noun
Noun
Past tense Verb
Noun
Units of time
Adjective
The first words you see when you look around you
Adjective
Adjective
Your favorite thing
A family member
Adverb

Now, plug them into this text:

Once upon a time, there lived a/an (adjective) young woman named (celebrity name) in a town called (adjective and noun). One day, she was feeling (emotion) and hungry. So, she took a frozen pork loin roast out of her (household noun) and put it down on her kitchen (noun).

Unsure as how to cook the pork, she consulted her favorite cookbook, a/an (adjective) tome called
Cook’s Illustrated Best Light Recipe. In it, there was a recipe for (adjective and noun), but also for Chipotle Chicken Skewers. Since the young woman didn’t have any chicken – or skewers - she decided to use the pork, and defrosted it in her (noun). Then, she (past tense verb) all the ingredients in a small (noun), and got to work.

30 (units of time) later, she put the pork in her broiler, and read a/an (adjective) book called (the first words you see when you look around you) while she waited. Six minutes after that, it was broiled to (adjective) perfection. She fed her (adjective) Boyfriend, and he cried, “Man, this is better than (your favorite thing) with your (family member)!”

And they all lived (adverb) ever after.


Mine came out like this:

Once upon a time, there lived a/an free young woman named Kate Winslet in a town called Poofy Tennis Ball. One day, she was feeling elated and hungry. So, she took a frozen pork loin roast out of her ice bucket and put it down on her kitchen chopsticks.

Unsure as how to cook the pork, she consulted her favorite cookbook, a/an blue tome called
Cook’s Illustrated Best Light Recipe. In it, there was a recipe for Proud Coffee, but also for Chipotle Chicken Skewers. Since the young woman didn’t have any chicken – or skewers - she decided to use the pork, and defrosted it in her flashlight. Then, she whittled all the ingredients in a small mom, and got to work.

30 eons later, she put the pork in her broiler, and read a/an flavored book called My Sweetheart the Drunk while she waited. Six minutes after that, it was broiled to slick perfection. She fed her flat Boyfriend, and he cried, “Man, this is better than bacon with your sister!”

And they all lived loopily ever after.

Reveal your results in the comment section! Let me know if this was a terrible idea! And try these pork tenders, because they’re seriously fantastic.

Chipotle Pork Tenders
Serves 4
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Best Light Recipe

1 pound boneless center cut pork loin roast, trimmed of visible fat
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 tablespoon dried cilantro OR 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 chipotle chile in adobo, minced, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
cooking spray

1) Cut the pork into 3x1-inch tenders.

2) In a big bowl, combine everything but the cooking spray, stirring well to coat the pork. Sling some plastic wrap soundly over the bowl and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

3) Preheat your broiler. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

4) Place tenders lying flat, not touching each other, on the pan. Broil 5 to 8 minutes (mine took 6), flipping tenders once about 3 minutes in. Tenders should be browned and totally cooked when finished. Remove from oven. Serve. Dance around in delight.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
296 calories, 11.2 g fat, $0.73

Calculations
1 pound boneless center cut pork loin roast, trimmed of visible fat: 945 calories, 43.5 g fat, $1.99
¼ cup packed light brown sugar: 207 calories, 0 g fat, $0.12
2/3 tablespoon dried cilantro: 3 calories, 0 g fat, $0.40
1 chipotle chile in adobo, minced, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce: 20 calories, 1 g fat, $0.30
1-1/2 teaspoons salt: 0 calories, 0 g fat, $0.02
½ teaspoon chili powder: 5 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.03
¼ teaspoon garlic powder: 2 calories, 0 g fat, $0.01
1/4 teaspoon black pepper: 1 calorie, 0 g fat, $0.01
Cooking spray: negligible calories and fat, $0.03
TOTAL: 1183 calories, 44.7 g fat, $2.91
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 296 calories, 11.2 g fat, $0.73