Five Frugal Dinner Recipes, #1

Yes, you can make dinner--for two!--for less than $10. This ten-part series provides actual recipes for the main dish. For side dishes you can...

* heat up a can of vegetables 

* cook or reheat some brown rice

* bake or fry some cornbread

* eat some fruit for dessert

...while staying inside our $10 limit. The best way to have good, cheap, clean fruit and vegetables is to use the ones that grow on your property. You may be able to raise and freeze corn and beans; you may need to learn to use wild plants that tolerate less sun or less rain than corn and beans require. It's good to learn the nutrient properties of your local wild plants. Some are similar to supermarket produce; some are much richer in certain nutrients, and some may contain a different balance of nutrients. When you know what is safe to eat and where it fits into your overall diet plan, you can save a lot of money by eating the "weeds" as well as the "crops" from your garden.

However, wild plants are usually seasonal, so this series will not rely on them in main dish recipes. This series will imagine that you eat wild plants as side dishes when they're available.

For maximum accessibility, these recipes use foods sold at Wal-Mart because that's the biggest US chain where most people will be able to get the same things for the same prices. Substituting alternatives you can get from locally owned stores, including convenience stores, is recommended but will probably raise the cost of the main dish. 

These are the quicker and easier recipes that came to mind. Some frugal recipes take time and labor; not these. At most you have to keep things simmering for an hour or less.

Main Dish #1: Chili Bean Stew 

* Heat 1 can Southgate chili beef (usually under $2) in a saucepan. 

* Stir in 1 can Great Value Spicy Chili Beans (under $1).

* Stir in 1 can Great Value tomatoes (also about $1).

* Let it boil for about 1 minute, stirring to prevent scorching, and serve on about 1/3 of a bag of Great Value corn chips (the bag costs about $2).

* Top with sliced green onion (or wild garlic) and/or chopped fresh herb leaves to taste. 

Main Dish #2: Basic Chicken and Rice 

* Drain liquid from 1 can Great Value chicken chunks (about $2.50) and add water to make 2 cups. Bring this liquid to the boil. You can add salt, pepper, or spices as available.

* Add 1 cup Great Value brown rice. (under $1.50). Cook as directed. "Instant" rice is more expensive but, once boiled and cooled, it's done. "Unconverted" rice needs to come to a full boil and then simmer for most of an hour, so it's a good deal if you have steady heat and want to heat the kitchen. 

* Optional: Chop in 1/2 to 1 mature onion now, or wait and add sliced green onion, wild garlic, and/or herbs later. A mature onion costs about 50 cents, in season, alone or in a bag. 

* During the last five or ten minutes of cooking time, pick over and add the chicken meat. You can also add raw, or drained thawed, or drained canned vegetables if you can get clean ones. 

* When clean, raw green vegetables like lettuce are available, line plates with them and top with rice and chicken. 

* Top with sliced green onion and/or herbs, or other raw vegetables like tomato, cucumber, or celery as available. 

Main Dish #3: Fish Cakes 

* Pick out inner skin, if any, and flake 1 can fish (tuna, mackerel, salmon) ($2-3) in its liquid.

* Add 1-2 eggs (under $0.50) and mix in with a fork. 

* If you can squeeze in the juice of a lemon and sprinkle in some tarragon, the house won't smell like fish the next day. 

* You can also mince in 1/2 to 1 onion (about 50 cents) if you like.

* Add self-rising corn meal (about 50 cents worth out of a $4-5 bag) and/or corn chip crumbs ($1-2 worth out of a $2 bag) to make a thick stiff dough.

* Oil a skillet, heat until it sizzles, shape the dough into patties, and fry until both sides are brown and crisp. This usually takes ten or fifteen minutes.

* These go well with warmed-up green beans, or with just about any raw vegetables, or both.

Main Dish #4: Turkeyburgers 

* Oil a skillet and heat until it sizzles.

* Shape a 1-pound package ground turkey (less than $5) into patties the size of hamburgers. You can season them at this point if you like, or wait and add seasonings later.

* Pan-fry the burgers slowly on medium heat until they are done all the way through. This usually takes about fifteen minutes, depending on how thick you made your burgers. Be sure they're done; some people like rare beef but I never heard of anyone liking rare turkey.

* Slice a supermarket tomato or cut up a home-grown one (less than $1), mince an onion (about $0.50 but most people use less than half an onion on a burger), and mince some other herbs if you like.

* Serve the burgers in burger buns if you really like that tradition, or go gluten-free and eat them between a couple of green leaves on either side. 

Main Dish #5: Vegan Lentil Pottage 

* Cook 2 cups lentils as directed. They usually need to be simmered in an equal volume of water for 20 to 40 minutes after they boil. Cost of lentils is below $2.

* Cook  1 cup brown rice as directed. They usually need to be simmered in the same way the lentils do, and you can usually cook them together in one pot if you don't want to bother cooking them separately. Cost of rice is also below $2.

* While they hold their shape, but have become tender, combine rice and lentils. Taste. Most people add salt, which is adequate (I think) to bring out the flavor of the main ingredients, but you can add other spices if you have them. Oregano and rosemary are traditional.

* You can cook a chopped onion with rice and lentils, or mince in green onions or wild garlic shoots after cooking. Many people also like to cook a chopped carrot and/or celery stick with lentils, which will add flavor and nutrition if you can get clean carrots and celery. You can also add a tomato before or after cooking lentils, and top them with any fresh minced herbs available.