shesus

I am very frugal when it comes to food shopping. With the recent job situations I feel that I'm back in college again trying to eat healthy on a small budget. Luckily, I have years of cooking experience now so I'm not relying on ramen noodles and eggs.

Anyway, I've made a couple of good bean dishes and was wondering if anyone else had ideas for canned beans with other cheap ingredients to throw in.

Tonight, I made a red beans and rice dish. I took a can of kidney beans (drained) and a small can of tomato sauce and mixed them in a pot with some chili power, hot sauce, crushed red pepper, cumin, and a bay leaf and let it simmer for abotu 30 minutes. I mixed in cooked rice and stirred in a bit of sour cream to curb the heat a bit.
It was pretty tasty with some left over homemade bread that I made yesterday.

Another dish I've made is with black beans. I put the beans in a food processor and pulsed them a couple times. then I put them in the bottom of a casserole dish. On top of that I put diced tomatoes and onions with some various spices (I just open the drawer and throw whatever seems to fit). Then I topped it off with cornbread and come cheddar cheese and baked it for about 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees. It was very tasty.

As mentioned, I'm pretty good at creating dishes. I typically just need an idea to get me started. It doesn't necesarrily have to have beans in it, but that's always a good starting point I find. I've been doing a lot with stir-fry vegetables and rice too so ideas for that are welcomed also. Thanks

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shakran

Cheap dishes that I really like:

Chicken breasts in sour cream.

lightly brown 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts in a little olive oil in a large skillet. Whisk together 1 can of mushroom soup, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 pint sour cream, and a dash of ground sage. Pour over chicken, cover and simmer for 30mins to 1 hour. Serve over white or brown rice. Serves 4

Arizona Mountain Soup

Rinse 1.25 cups of dry pinto beans, place in dutch oven with 3 cups water, cover, and let stand overnight. do not drain. Simmer covered for 2 hours or until tender. Drain, but keep 2 cups of the liquid bean juice. In a dutch oven cook 3 chopped bacon slices till crisp. Add 2 chopped onions and 2-4 cloves of minced garlic. Stir in the cooked beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1.5 cups cooked brown rice, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp pepper. Add the bean juice and 2 cups water. Add 1 package smoked sausage (hillshire farms) cut into bite sized pieces. Bring to boil, cover, and simmer 1 hour, stirring from time to time. Add water if it's too thick for you. Serves 8.

Shakran's Insane Jambalaya-ish MAN pasta!
(so named because it has lots of meat )

Slice an entire smoked sausage (the kind that comes in rings) and saute 1/2 chopped onion and 2-3 cloves chopped garlic in 1-2T olive oil till soft.

Add large can of chopped tomatoes (preferably Dei Fratelli chopped italian with herbs and olive oil). Stir.

Add 1/2 tsp each of oregano and basil, and 2 bay leaves.

Add 1/4 cup strong coffee (preferably french market or community)

Add 1/8 cup or so of red wine

Here's the good part: Add red pepper flakes to taste. I personally like it HOT.

Stir all of this and simmer for 30-45 minutes. It should reduce to a very dark red color.

Toss with hot pasta - make it shells, elbow pasta, or some sort of pasta that is a tube or has a pocket like the shells - this'll get the sauce nice and mixed in.

Grate parmesean (tried doing this with a microplane yet? Very nice!) on top.
Serves about 190.

Seriously, this makes a LOT. the wife and I can eat lunch and dinner for 3, sometimes 4 days off of this.

Willravel

I pop an apple in the microwave for like a minute and then cut it in to pieces and put some cinnamon on it. Cheap as hell, absolutely delicous, and it supresses apetite which makes it a perfect snack. It's not fancy or flashy, but boy is it one of my favorites.

noodle

I buy bulk organic couscous and add anything I have in the cabinet... from garlic, oregano and parmesan cheese to chicken broth and chili spices. It's great. I also (insert southern stereotype here ) get grits in bulk and add garlic, green onions, cheese and sometimes frozen shrimp if they were on sale. I subsist on soup most of the winter and bulk it up with cans of organic pintos, black, or kidney beans, or more noodles and tons of spices. I can stretch a can of Healthy Choice low sodium soup for three meals.

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maleficent

My black beans are one of my favorite things - and i use the dry to save on sodium and some money too

1 bag of black beans - (drop in a bowl and then add 4 cups of boiling water and let soak overnight)

In a crock pot or a heavy pot add
1 chopped onion
2 -3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (chopped)
(more or less peppers according to taste)

Add the drained beans to the peppers and onions and cover with water.

Let simmer for hours - in the last hour of cooking add in a handful of cumin, some ground coriander and whatever else strikes your fancy.

Serve over rice (if desired) w/ some sour creamand fresh cilantro (if desired)

I will water this down and have it as a soup for lunch for the week - later in the week it gets even spicier.

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shesus

Thanks everyone. Shakran, those sound great, but meat is something we generally can't afford unless it is on sale. Then I buy it and freeze them individually to make more meals than 1 or 2. But I will definitely keep the jumbalaya in mind.

Will: Sounds yummy, but I generally munch on apples, bananas, and fresh veggies as a snack already. I need meals that will fill me up and stretch a long way.

Fred: I love grits too and I'm a northerner. Well, born southerner and pulled away at age 5. So I grew up on grits, fried chicken, sweet tea, biscuits and gracy and all those other tasty foods. However, JJ hates grits so I eat them for breakfast generally. But I hadn't thought of checking organic stores for bulk couscous. I had some from when we lived in Ohio and just ran out last week. I'm on the hunt again.

Mal, sounds delicious. I always thought it was harder to make the dry beans, but sodium is something we need to watch in our diets so I might try that. Make a big pot on Sunday and feed us through Thursday.

Keep them coming, just remember that meat generally isn't an option with prices which is why I use beans as protein. I'm being forced into vegetarianism

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maleficent

for years i avoided the dried beans and then decided to give them a shot... if you let them cook long enough - they are delicious...


Lentils are also a really good beef alternative -- there's recipes all over the web for things like lentil loaf or lentil patties...

Chana Masala is an indian dish that's made with chic peas (garbonzos, cece beans)

2 tbs olive oil (or any oil i suppose)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbs curry (hot or sweet, depending on your preference, if you use hot curry - use 1 tbs)
1 tbs tomato paste (ketchup could work too - I tend to get the tomato paste that comes in the squeeze tube so it keeps forever in the fridge)
15 oz can of chick peas drained
1 tbs butter
Juice of 1 lemon
fresh black pepper
crushed red pepper, optional to taste

Saute onions until slightly caramelized over high heat, lower heat to medium and add garlic, curry, and tomato paste. Add chick peas, 1/4 cup water or chicken stock, lemon juice, and black pepper.
Simmer 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add red pepper to taste.
Add butter, stirring through to melt it. (i'm told that the butter or ghee makes it more authentic -i've left it out many times)
Stir and simmer for 5 minutes more or until peas are softened and dish is hot.
Serve over rice or w/ pita bread

I googled more indian type recipes (that is if you like curry - there's a curry that's potato, red lentils and peas that's really good0
http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicio...ntil_curry.htm
Lentils, peas and bite-size cubes of potato in a richly-spiced tomato and coconut milk gravy.


2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions—finely chopped
2 cloves garlic—minced (crushed)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 large potato—peeled and cut into bite-size cubes
½ cup red lentils
14 oz (420g) canned tomatoes—chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup green peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
1 tablespoon lemon juice


HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the potato and lentils and stir to coat with the spice mixture. ADD the tomatoes, coconut milk, stock, garam masala, salt and sugar, bring to the boil and cover with a lid. REDUCE the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. WHILE the curry simmers, cook the rice. ADD the peas to the curry and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. REMOVE from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lemon juice. SERVE on a bed of rice.
Variations: Replace the cilantro with fresh mint. Serve with naan bread instead of rice.

Indian vegetarian food (other than the spices involved) tend to use pretty inexpensive ingredients - lots of lentils, potatoes, sweet potatoes or chic peas) if you can get the spices cheaply (World Market up by where I live (not far from the zoo) has an aisle devoted to spices that are pretty cheap.

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Grasshopper Green

My mom used to make this when we were growing up and I loved it; it doesn't have beans in it but I've had this and salad as a meal many times and it's delicious. I don't know the exact recipe...I just kind of make it...

Broccoli with noodles

3/4 package noodle of choice (spaghetti, linguine, or fettucine all work great, and this is the smaller size, not a family size)
3/4 can chicken broth
1 package frozen broccoli
mushrooms or any other veggie you may have on hand...I've also used olives and cooked carrots
Garlic powder (or fresh) to taste
Salt and pepper to taste, I also add pepper flakes sometimes
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta to preference. Place mushrooms and chicken broth in a saucepan to heat, season with spices to taste. Cook broccoli until almost done, then drain and add to chicken broth mixture; heat until cooked thoroughly. Toss pasta with veggie/broth mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

I think the actual recipe calls for a full package of noodles, but it seems too bland with that many...so I usually cut back.

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snowy

Shesus, here are links to some of the recipes I've posted up here:

Green Chili: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...13#post2173713
Mexican Lasagna and Vegetarian Chili:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...39&postcount=3

A lot of my recipes come from modifying existing recipes to be vegetarian. I've found in a lot of things you can substitute beans for meat. Mm, beans.

When we can't decide what to eat we usually throw some rice in the rice cooker, then add a can of black beans, a can of tomatoes, and several dashes of cumin and cayenne, kind of similar to what you did with the red beans.

Most places that sell bulk foods will sell bulk beans and bulk couscous, as well as bulk rice. Just make sure you have proper storage for your bulk foods before buying

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Ch'i

4 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Salsa
2 tspn. Cumin Powder
1 tbs. Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced

Cut the chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch cubes and place on a frying pan with the olive oil. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with the cumin powder and cook until the outside of the chicken is no longer pink. Add the onion and red bell pepper, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the salsa, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serves 4.

Goes really well with Green Fried Rice.

Here's another from Alton Brown that's amazingly healthy, delicious, and cheap.

Granola Bars

8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

shesus

Yum, thanks. I was wondering what I was going to do with the extra head of brocolli this week. This is cheap using items I already have and different from tomato sauce based dishes.

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Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

Ayashe

2 c Dry brown lentils, rinsed
1 Bay leaf
1 c Uncooked fine bulgur wheat
1 c Soft whole-wheat bread crumbs
1 Egg substitute, beaten
1 tb Ketchup
1 md Onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 ts Dried thyme
2 ts Dried oregano
1 ts Dried tarragon
x Salt and pepper to taste
3 tb Tomato paste or tomato sauce

Cook lentils and bay leaf in pot with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are soft and water has been absorbed, about 45 min.

Combine bulgur and 2 cups water in a med. saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 min.

Preheat oven to 350F. Transfer lentils to a large mixing bowl. Add bulgur, and remaining ingredients except tomato paste or sauce. Mix well with your hands until thoroughly combined. Pat mixture into a 9" loaf pan. Bake for 40 min. until firm but not dry. During last minutes of baking, brush top with tomato paste or sauce. Let cool for 15 min. Cut into slices and serve warm.

I tried this a few nights ago and enjoyed it. I used the recipe from Just Bean Recipes - 4,507 unique recipes in 18 categories for you to browse. I did make some adjustments from my own spice cabinet though, and just like shesus I am not one to always write down what exactly I did. I can never cook the same thing exactly the same twice.

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guyy

Notes on beans:

Really cheap cooking means no oil. I used to cook pea soup with no meat and no oil. I'd put celery (try to get stalks with leaves), carrots, onions and herbs into water. I used yellow and green peas. I usually added parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, bay leaves -- whatever i had. It helps to have a garden. The herbs stand out.

If you do have oil, start by cooking onions in the oil over low heat. Once the onions have softened up, add vegetables in order of hardness (e.g. carrots first). Then add beans and water. Don't add salt until the very end. I boil the beans separately if i'm making a tomato-based sauce.

I almost always use dried beans. Even chick peas will be done in about an hour. (Don't add salt until the beans are done!) Canned beans have crap like corn syrup, too much salt, and are mushy.

You can substitute mushrooms for meat and mushroom stock for meat stock in a lot of bean dishes, e.g., lentil soup. If you collect your own mushrooms (2008 was a great year for them), they're pretty cheap. Don't eat any that you're not absolutely sure about. Even if you have to buy your own dried mushrooms, you'll still come out ahead. The water from soaking is your stock. Don't throw it away!

Baraka_Guru

I wanted to add textured vegetable protein (TVP) to this. It's cheap for what it's used for (a meat substitute). You can use it in chili, sloppy joes, stir fries, etc. You can make it into hamburger patties, meat balls, or sausages. It's pretty versatile. I recently bought around a half a pound of it for around $0.60 or so.

For the uninitiated, TVP is essentially defatted soy flour that's been shaped into various forms, including chunks, "slices," and granules ("minced"). It comes dried, so it has a high level absorbency, which is good in terms of adding flavour to it using sauces, herbs, stock, etc. It's high in protein and low in fat. It's quick (no more than 10 min.), portable, and cheap.

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snowy

I've been meaning to pick up some bulk TVP for tacos. It's really good for that. Got any recipes involving TVP to share?

Last night I made white bean soup for dinner:

2 cups white beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked (you don't need to soak them overnight, just put them in water in the morning and they'll be plenty soaked by dinner time, thanks to Mark Bittman for that bit of info)
1 yellow or sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
pepper
1-2 carrots
1-2 ribs of celery
fresh herbs, if desired (thyme is really good here)
1 box of vegetable stock, or water (I use Imagine No-Chicken)
salt

This is a chop-and-drop recipe, meaning that by the time you've chopped the new addition, it should be time to drop it in the pot.

Cook the onion in a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven (regular or enameled). Add the bay leaf and fresh herbs, stir, add the garlic. Stir and add the carrot, stir and add the celery. Drain the beans and add them, stir. Then add enough stock or water to cover everything by about 2 inches. Bring up to an almost-boil, then turn down to a good simmer. Let it simmer for at least an hour. Check the beans for tenderness. Once the beans are tender, season to taste and serve.

This is a modification of Mark Bittman's recipe for White Bean Soup from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. And it's vegan!

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dimbulb

Plain white steamed rice goes great with everything...I eat it for almost every meal. Or it could be that I'm of East Asian origins....hmmm

Asian-style stir fries (really just random Asian vegetable of the day, mushrooms (optional), shrimp (optional), minced garlic and oyster sauce)
Goes well with most western-style dishes too (roasts, braises, stews)

The short-grained varieties like Calrose can be used to make a reasonably good risotto too..

tcm_eternal

i was gonna suggest navy bean soup, but it looks like onesnowyowl has it covered, only thing i do different is i like to add a little bit of ham or bacon

BadNick

glad you mentioned that, tcm. Just yesterday I got three large ham hocks at the market...which are pretty cheap...and a 16 bean soup package, and a couple carrots, a stalk of celery, an onion, a couple of those white root vegies, some parsley; we had dinner last Sunday at my sister's and she gave me a large ham bone that was left over. All that amounted to one damn good soup.

boognishd

I just made a pot of white beans (great northerns) with a leftover ham bone and boy they were good! Soaked a pound of dry beans overnight, then in the morning I put them into the crock pot with the ham bone, a chopped onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. Left it on low all day while I was at work, and all I had to do when I got home was season the beans and cook some rice.

Another one of my favorites is a rice and lentil dish called mujadrah (I think there's a few different ways to spell it). I always get it at a small Greek restaurant near my house. They use brown rice and brown lentils, and must pan fry both before cooking them down because everything has a dark delicious coating on it. It has a wonderful flavor, almost like there's beef in it, and it's vegan.

I've been meaning to find a recipe for it, because it has to be simple to make. Anyone ever tried it or have a good recipe for it?

genuinegirly

It's pretty easy to make your own veggie patties if you have beans, rice, and a food processor. Even better if you add chopped veggies and an egg. Add flour if you want to make it a more workable consistency, then form them into patties, place them on sheets of aluminum foil or waxed paper, and toss them in the freezer, They're good to grill anytime you're ready.

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