Penny Pinch Tuesday

In another attempt at being creative in the kitchen, here’s another pasta recipe! (I can only do so much, I’m a beginner here*)

Penne with Peppers and Onions (in a tomato chili sauce)

a single serving of penne
1/4 of an onion (sliced in half length-wise, with just a basic thin chop)
1/4 of a sweet pepper, sliced
1 clove of garlic, diced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp chili paste
a few leaves of fresh basil, julienned
pepper to taste

1. Set your pot of salted water to boil, then chop your ingredients.
2. put some extra virgin olive oil in a deep sided frying pan, allow to heat and loosen (set to medium heat)
3. Add the peppers, toss around a bit, then the onions. Allow the onions to soften slightly, then add the garlic. Allow to saute, stirring slightly.
4. Add your tomato paste and chili paste, stir until it coats the onions and peppers mix. Check your pasta, it’s probably done.
5. Drain your pasta, reserving a little bit of the water, and add the pasta and water to the frying pan. Toss to coat (this should create a bit of a sauce).
6. Serve up the pasta, add pepper to taste and your basil to garnish.

*disclaimer: any resemblance to a previously published recipe, either in a cook book or a food blog, is honestly purely coincidental.

Penny Pinch Tuesday (Wednesday)

I’m trying, for various reasons and with various levels of success, to be more creative in the kitchen. By this, I mean that I’m trying to think more about what I have and create recipes, off the cuff, with what I’ve got.

So! Last week I made spaghetti with lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper. Now, this is not of my own inspiration entirely. I got the idea from a Pin on Pinterest, from the blog I Nom Things. However, I didn’t follow the link, I just looked at the picture said to myself, “This looks yummy” and pinned it to my board.

So when I was in my kitchen, scavenging for something to eat, I pulled out my spaghetti noodles, my last lemon, my olive oil, my salt and pepper, and did what I felt in my heart was right. Unfortunately it was so damn tasty I never got around to taking a picture Update: Lies! I totally did, see below.

Spaghetti with lemon, garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil (my way)

fistful of spaghetti (how my mom taught me to measure a portion of spaghetti)
the juice of one lemon
1 glove of garlic, diced
a glug of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Put a pot of water on to boil, with a good pinch of salt (I use Maldon’s). When boiling, put in spaghetti and allow to boil until it reaches your preferred level of “done” (I like al dente).
2. Strain your cooked pasta, a set aside.
3. In the same dish (because having less dishes to clean is ALWAYS a bonus), put in your glug of olive oil and allow it to heat until it moves around the pan easily.
4. Add your diced garlic and saute (note: Obviously you don’t want deep-fried garlic, so adjust your levels accordingly)
5. Add the juice of the lemon, which should be the largest component of your dish (the ratio should be 1:1:2 for oil:garlic:lemon juice, if that makes sense?)
6. Allow the lemon juice to boil down a bit, making a more concentrated sauce. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding in salt and pepper to taste.

Again, hopefully this makes sense. I’ve never totally made something up before (although I’m sure this recipe exists somewhere, I’ve just never seen it . . .). Either way, it’s tasty and pretty damn cheap and cheerful. Enjoy!

Penny Pinch Tuesday

Last week was a good week for me, food wise. On Wednesday night I came home from a productive day at the British Library, picked up a bag of potatoes and made Vegetable Biriyani. I made it quite frequently when I lived at home, but this is the first time I made it here. My very good friend taught me how to make it after we studied abroad together, and it’s pretty amazingly foolproof. It makes a good amount of leftovers but is easily adjustable to smaller portions (bonus).

J’s Vegetable Biriyani

½ cup basmati rice
1 medium size red potato
½ cup yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup frozen mixed veggies
½ tsp. coriander powder
½ tsp. cumin seeds
½ tsp. cumin powder
½ tsp. turmeric powder
½ tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. chilli powder
salt to taste
raisins

heat about 2 Tbsp. of oil in a deep nonstick saucepan/dutch oven. Once oil is hot add the cumin seeds and after one minutes add the onions and garlic to the pan and a little salt to sweat the onions.


Peel and dice the potato into cubes and add to the onions and garlic after the onions are translucent (3-5 mintues) and cook the potatoes for 3-5 minutes. Add the spices, and after a minute add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add the frozen veggies and cook another 3-5 minutes.

Add the rice and 2 cups water in the pan and let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until there is only a little water in the pan.

Take off the heat and add the raisins.

Enjoy!

Penny Pinch Tuesday

Yesterday, a friend of mine hosted a Latin study group/dinner party at her flat just outside Finchley. She made up a tasty dinner for us, but being raised right I felt like I couldn’t come over empty handed.

But of course I didn’t want to break the bank, either. So after sussing through my huge (HUGE) list of bookmarked recipes, I went with the kitchn blog’s Quick and Homey Oatmeal Raisin muffins because, frankly, all I needed for the recipe was baking powder. Also, I’m going to get every penny back from that muffin pan I bought!

The recipe is actually pretty healthy, with olive oil instead of butter and just a 1/4 cup of brown sugar plus two tablespoons in the crumble topping. In the comments on the site it mentions substituting apple sauce for the olive oil, but apple sauce isn’t something I keep ready in the cupboard (and that was the whole point of this recipe).

Another thing I love about muffins is that, like cookies, you can taste one without ruining the look of your baked good.

But beyond this recipe, I feel a little compelled to mention something. Recent events have renewed my attentions to the importance of being healthy. I’m all about pinching pennies these days, but not when it sacrifices health and well-being. I’ve always joked that between food and books/music/the cinema, food loses every time. But honestly that’s not true in the slightest.

I try very hard to make sure that the things I buy are healthful AND inexpensive, and perhaps do with a little less than I’d like, but I’m still healthy. I keep a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard for peanut butter on toast or just a spoonful on the go. I eat eggs and whole wheat bread. The pre-made soups I buy have lentils, crushed tomatoes, chorizo, or leeks, or something. I also suggested keeping a really tasty box of biscuits in the cupboard for a little treat of dark chocolate every now and again. Anti-oxidents, you know how it is . . .

It sounds so simple, but can be so difficult to remember that existing on crisps and toast and water or whatever, while cheap and cheerful, isn’t HEALTHY and you’ll ultimate pay for it in the long run.

I increasingly discover that part of pinching pennies is being savvy. So buy in season, like apples (clementines coming up!) or fruits that are always not too dear, like bananas. Buy a smaller loaf of bread every other week, eat granola and yoghurt for protein and probiotics, or do whatever you need to. Just be aware of what you put in your body. You kinda want it (your body) to stick around awhile, I’d imagine.

Penny Pinch Tuesday

I’m going to try to make at least one post every Tuesday about a meal you can make at home that is a) inexpensive b) doesn’t require even a food processor c) is made of ingredients easily found/relatively inexpensive d) can be adapted to one/makes a suitable amount of leftovers.

The pictures will be sort of crap, because it gets dark very early here so everything will be reflected in the harsh glare of overhead lighting. Just warning you now.

This weekend it was Maccheroni ai Peperoni

or as I like to call it, Ziti with Bell Peppers.
or as I also like to call it, Grown-up Hillview pasta*

I’ve adapted the recipe to serve one person with left-overs, and to the fact that I can’t be arsed to measure out 4 tablespoons of olive oil. So, please, reference the source recipe (linked above) for family dining.

ingredients:

olive oil
1 segment of a garlic clove
3 bell peppers (well, I only used half of each color, so 1 1/2, sliced lengthwise)
1/3-1/2 packet of dried ziti
salt and pepper

1. Pour a few glugs of olive oil into a deep-sided saute pan. Take the skin off your garlic segment, give it a whack with the flat of your knife to crush/release the juices. Once the oil has heated up in the pan a little bit (I usually take this opportunity to slice my peppers), pop the garlic in.

2. Put your pasta water on to boil and cover it with a lid. As it’s getting bubbly, keep an eye on your garlic segment. I like to flip it over in the pan so that it browns evenly and doesn’t give the oil a burned garlic flavor. Also, gently swirl the pan so the oil moves around with the clove. It will distribute the garlic flavor in the oil (and it makes me feel like I’m on the Cooking Channel). When the garlic has browned, discard it (though I put it off to the side for awhile before I totally throw it away because it would be my luck that the residual hot oil on the segment would light the contents of my rubbish bin on fire).

3. Generously salt your pasta water, then add your peppers to the saute pan of now-garlic-y oil. You want them to sort of spit at you a little bit. Keep them moving around every once and awhile, but I like to let the peppers brown in certain places, get a touch of color. Essentially, every once and awhile give them a Food Network-style swirly toss. If you’re like me (electric hob) you’re still waiting for the water to boil. Keep playing with your peppers (and if you’re like me, eat dessert first)

4. Water is boiling, put in your pasta and cook until it’s al dente. I usually take the peppers off the heat at this point to prevent them from over-cooking while the pasta is percolating (in the figurative sense of the definition). Drain your pasta and pour it in with your peppers and oil. Toss to coat. Add your pepper, to taste.

penny pinch note: why buy tupperware when you can just use that washed out container your pre-made soup came in?

That’s a good three dinners if you space out your leftovers well!

*when I studied abroad at Oxford all the girls in my flat made this thing we called Hillview pasta, which was pretty much diced onions, peppers, and garlic sauteed in entirely too much olive oil and poured over penne pasta.