Five recipes, one grocery list, and an essential cooking technique shown step by step. You're going to use this constantly.
Here are five dinners, each serving two people, that you can make for under $50 from a single grocery list.
A few notes:
1. The first thing you're going to do is break down a whole raw chicken. You'll roast the breasts on Day 1 and then you'll roast the legs and thighs on Day 2. Buying the chicken whole helps keep costs down and is generally a good thing to know how to do. Use our video (below) and a sharp knife and you'll be all set.
2. The salad on Day 3 might benefit from leftover chickpeas (Day 1) if you have them, and you can use something other than a peach if that's not in season in your neck of the woods.
3. On Day 3 you'll be asked to caramelize onions. This is one of those, "throw them on the burner right when you get home from work and let them sit there for 45 minutes as you unwind" kind of things. You can rush it, and the recipe will show you how. But caramelizing a big batch of onions to use in multiple meals throughout the week is a great work-week cooking hack.
4. Store your sourdough loaf at room temperature — it's okay if it's not super fresh by Day 3 and 4, because you'll be toasting it by then.
Image by Emily Fleischaker/Buzzfeed
Day 1: Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, and Paprika with Sauteed Spinach and Greek Yogurt
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit
Serves 2
ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 50 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced and divided into two piles
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
⅓ cup Greek yogurt
2 bone-in chicken breast halves
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans
14 (or so) grape tomatoes
6 packed cups of spinach (use about ¾ of your 9-oz bag)
Kosher salt
A hunk of sourdough bread
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 450°. Measure and set out all of your ingredients. Mix 1/4 cup olive oil, half the garlic (one of the minced cloves), paprika, and cumin in medium bowl (you want the bowl to be big-ish because you will add stuff to it later). Pour 1 teaspoon of that spiced oil mixture into a small bowl; whisk in yogurt and set aside to use as a sauce. Place chicken on large rimmed baking sheet. Rub 2 tablespoons spiced oil mixture over chicken. Add beans and tomatoes to remaining spiced oil mixture; toss to coat. Pour bean mixture around chicken. Sprinkle everything generously with salt and pepper.
Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
When the chicken has been in the oven about 15 minutes, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add spinach and sauté until just beginning to wilt (about 3 minutes). Push the spinach to one side, add a little more olive oil and then add garlic. Stir together garlic and spinach and season with salt. Transfer chicken and spinach to plates. Spoon bean mixture over. Serve with yogurt sauce.
Image by Emily Fleischaker/Buzzfeed
Day 2: Mixed Greens with Shredded Chicken, Peaches, Tomatoes, and Lemon-Yogurt Dressing
Serves 2
ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Chicken
2 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and legs
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salad
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 5-ounce package mixed greens
4-6 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 large peach, halved, pitted, sliced
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
PREPARATION
Chicken
Preheat oven to 475°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12" cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Nestle chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue cooking the thighs skin side down, occasionally flipping the legs to brown all the sides. Occasionally rearrange the legs and thighs and rotate the pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.
Transfer skillet to oven and cook 13 more minutes, rotating the legs half way through. Flip the thighs and rotate the legs; continue cooking until skin crisps and meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate; let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Salad
Whisk first 2 ingredients and a little (1 teaspoon) water in small bowl to blend. Add more water by teaspoonfuls if dressing is too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place greens in large bowl. Add half of dressing and toss to coat.
Divide greens among plates. Scatter chicken, sliced tomatoes and peach slices over both servings. Drizzle with remaining dressing.
Image by Emily Fleischaker/Buzzfeed
Day 3: Bacon and Brussels Sprout “Pizzas”
Serves 2
ACTIVE TIME: 45 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
4 slices of bacon cut into 1/2" pieces
1 loaf of sourdough bread
4 Brussels sprouts, halved and sliced thinly crosswise
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
Kosher salt
(See an explanation of crosswise vs. lengthwise in pictures)
PREPARATION
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté over low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 45 minutes. (You don't necessarily have to go that long. You can crank up the heat and stir more often. But the longer / lower the heat, the more flavor they will develop.)
Slice off four pieces of bread about 1" thick. Set bread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with most of the cheese (reserving some cheese to sprinkle on top later). Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook bacon in a separate small medium-sized skillet over medium heat until it's crisp and looks flavorful — about 7 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel and pour off all but 1 tablespoon grease. Sauté Brussels sprouts in bacon grease — as they're cooking, season them with a little salt. Cook until they are bright green and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Pile caramelized onions, bacon and Brussels sprouts onto the cheese on the bread, then top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle on a little salt and bake 8-10 minutes.
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