kale & pasta salad

The moment I saw this recipe over at Kalyn's Kitchen, I knew I had to make it and share it with all of you. It fits the Budget Bytes formula to a "T". Take a few expensive/flavorful ingredients (olives, tomatoes & feta) and bulk them out with inexpensive ingredients (kale & pasta) to bring the cost per serving down. It works every time!

I made a few changes to the original (check the original recipe out too, because it looks awesome) to fit my budget and what I had on hand. I made a basic red wine vinaigrette instead of a pesto dressing, used sun dried tomatoes instead of fresh, and left the kale pretty much raw. Oh, and I didn't use whole wheat pasta, but only because I wanted these little "flower" shaped ones that reminded me of the curly kale leaves :)

If you don't want the kale to be raw, you can simply pour the boiling water and pasta right on top of the kale in the colander when you drain it. The hot water will wilt the kale in the process. Two birds with one stone!

Or, say you don't like kale. You can totally do this salad with regular green leaf lettuce, but you won't want that to wilt at all, so make sure your pasta is sufficiently drained and cooled before you combine the two.

Anyway, this salad was a hit in my book. Loved it so much that I almost choked to death on a kale leaf while scarfing it down. True story.

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mediterranean quesadillas

I LOVE quesadillas. Crispy on the outside, all warm and melty on the inside... Oh so good. While I don't think I can top my favorite black bean quesadillas, these mediterranean quesadillas are an excellent alternative when I have Tex-mex burnout. ...because when you eat as much chili powder and cumin as I do, burnout does happen.

The trick to making these quesadillas affordable is to choose the filling ingredients based on what is priced good in your local stores. For instance, I really, really wanted those little tangy roasted tomatoes packed in oil, but I couldn't find them for any less than $5. Instead, I was able to find a large jar of roasted red peppers for just $1.89. You can and should play around with the filling components. Some other ideas include: roasted garlic, garbanzo beans, roasted or sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, fresh basil, zucchini, or eggplant.

When I buy an ingredient for a recipe, I prefer to use the whole container to prevent odds and ends that get wasted. With this recipe, I've used small amounts of very flavorful ingredients that also happen to be pricy (feta, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers). Luckily, these ingredients also stay fresh in the refrigerator for greater lengths of time than most fresh ingredients, giving me more time to use them up. Use the extras for salads, frittatas, or sandwiches.

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quinoa tabbouleh

That's "keen-wah tab-ooh-lay". Don't let the name scare you away from this simple salad.

I'm obsessed with tabbouleh and have been since the first time I had it. It's full of texture and tons of super fresh, vibrant flavors. I like to eat it plain or stuff it into a pita with some tzatziki. I really can't get enough of it! There are a million ways to make tabbouleh, and this is just one (my favorite way, of course).

I decided to replace the traditional bulgur wheat in this tabbouleh recipe with quinoa because lately I've wanted to experiment with quinoa. Let me just tell you, I think I'm in love with quinoa. Not only is quinoa a nutritional powerhouse, but it has the most amazing texture! It's like tasty little beads that burst when you bite them. Fun!

Bulgur is a less expensive option, or you can even use couscous. All three items cook quickly and are usually available in bulk bins so you can buy just the amount you need. Hint: bulk bin scoops are usually pretty close to one cup in volume! ;D

The amount of salad that this recipe makes will vary quite a bit depending on the size of your tomato, cucumber, and parsley bunch. Also, make sure to use curly leaf parsley as it has more volume and will give the salad body. My salad yielded about 8 cups, but you could even add a second bunch of parsley if you want to stretch it out more. It will "shrink" as it refrigerates. The salt will slowly wilt the vegetables causing it all to collapse a little, but the flavor will get better as it does!


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(not) meatballs & marinara

I didn't set out to make (not) meatballs, in fact, I just wanted to make one of my favorite recipes again with a slightly different twist. What is this favorite recipe of mine? FALAFEL! Say it with me now - FALAFEL! yum.

Anyway, since I wanted to pair the falafel with a marinara sauce, I decided to switch up some of the ingredients to make them a little more Italian. I added parmesan, nixed the cumin and cilantro, and added some bread crumbs and egg for binding purposes. Then I thought, "Wait, what? These are just meatballs minus the meat..."

Well, let me just tell you - any meatball would be jealous of all of the flavor packed into these special little chickpea (not) meatballs. Seriously, this stuff is so good that I kept eating the chickpea mixture straight out of the food processor (before I added the raw egg, btw).

One word of warning, though. They are quite soft in texture. And the longer they sit in the sauce, the softer they get. So, I suggest topping the (not) meatballs with sauce just prior to serving. If you're keeping them for leftovers, keep the sauce in a separate container. Sure, I doused mine in sauce and they're in the fridge right now mingling and getting softer by the moment... but they tasted so good at lunch today that I didn't give a second thought to the texture. But, I know some people have texture issues, so a fair warning is in order.

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mediterranean tuna pasta

This dish is a little more fancy and expensive than the usual Budget Bytes fare, but when you compare it to the cost of a restaurant meal, it still can't be beat.

I get a lot of inspiration from the freezer aisle. There are rows and rows and rows of "freezer meals" with pretty pictures of beautiful food that promises to be easy, quick, and filling. The only problem is that they are never as pretty or delicious as they look on the package. I got sucked in by one a couple weeks ago and was throughly disappointed. It was cod poached in a mediterranean red sauce with pasta, olives, and vegetables. What ended up on my plate was a bland red sauce, a piece of fish the size of my thumb and some soggy squash. Nary an olive in sight. I instantly thought, "I CAN DO THIS BETTER!" So, today I did.

I ended up buying tuna steaks because there was no cod and it was far less expensive than the rest of the fish at the store. Also, tuna goes great with Italian and mediterranean flavors. You want to go with a fish "steak" rather than a "filet" here because you need the thickness so that it doesn't fall to pieces when poached in the sauce.

I expected this to make four servings but after it was all said and done, it was a lot of food and I felt like it was more like six servings. Either way, the tuna steaks came three to a package and needed to be split up because they were way too big for one serving. Of course, I did this *after* the photos so keep that in mind. Also, I took some of the photos after I already plated and ate a bunch because I wasn't happy with my first set of pics. So, if you see only two tuna steaks in there, that's why! ;P


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marinated white beans

I'm always trying to work beans into my diet because they're just so good for you... and I happen to think they're delicious. This quick marinated bean recipe is one of my favorites because it's so quick, simple, and insanely good. I could probably eat the whole lot of them at once but realistically, it's more like four side dish servings.

I made this recipe with canned butter beans but you can use any white bean or beans cooked from dry if you prefer. I chose the canned beans because I was short on time and I chose the large butter beans because I think they're pretty and kind of whimsical.


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chicken shawarma

This has to be the very best chicken marinade that I've ever made. The marinade was so good that I might even use it as a sauce in the future. The flavor is an interesting mix of savory garlic, sweet spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and tangy yogurt and lemon. It's pure magic. Next time I'll probably cut the chicken into strips before marinating to increase the surface area and magnify the flavor saturation.

I made this chicken with the intention of eating it in these sandwich wraps but then I started topping salads with it and eventually just snacked on it plain. It's just that good. You could really use this flavorful chicken for anything. I divided the ingredient list to show just the chicken & marinade in case you want to use it for something other than the sandwich, because even if you don't want the sandwich, you NEED to at least try the chicken.

If you've had chicken shawarma in a restaurant, this is a bit different. Real chicken shawarma is cooked slowly on a rotisserie with fattier bits of chicken. The result is an uber-moist, somewhat greasy delight. Also, when you buy a chicken shawarma sandwich, the lettuce is usually tossed in an oregano vinaigrette, feta and red onion. Well, I had some feta and red onion but forgot both when building my sandwich. A total tragedy... but it was still magically delicious.


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greek turkey burgers

I had never really cooked with ground turkey before (okay, maybe once and it wasn't good) but I think I discovered the key. You gotta season it up really really good. I added so many goodies to these turkey burgers that they're almost half way between a veggie burger and turkey burger. Tons of flavor, tons of color, tons of goodness.

I also made a really quick garlic & dill yogurt sauce to go along with the burgers. The sauce was so good that I kept eating it straight with a spoon... I might be making this sauce more often! I'm sure it's delish on all sorts of stuff. Plus, it's super quick and easy. You definitely want to use greek yogurt so that the sauce stays nice and thick. If you have regular yogurt, you can strain it over a coffee filter in the refrigerator for a day to remove some of the liquid leaving you with a nice, thick, greek yogurt substitute.

Oh yeah, I used preminced garlic (in a jar) for this recipe because it has a deep, mellow, flavor that I think goes well in uncooked sauces. Fresh garlic is sharp and spicy and can be a bit overwhelming in some recipes.


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falafel

I was so excited, so drawn in, so salivating when I saw this recipe for falafel over on Making Life Delicious a few weeks ago. The only problem was that I didn't have a food processor. But somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice was telling me, "you WILL get a food processor for Christmas... just be patient, Beth." Sure enough, my parents bought me this food processor as an early Christmas and graduation gift. I've been using it non-stop ever since.

Any-whooo. If you've never had falafel before, they are a little cake made up of mashed beans (fava or sometimes garbanzo) along with tons of fresh herbs and spices. Traditionally (actually, ALWAYS) they are fried which gives them a wonderful crispy exterior with a soft warm center. I broke the rules and gave them a quick pan fry in non-stick spray. You can send me hate mail now. Actually, I might even send myself some hate mail on that one. Admittingly, my dry cooked falafel are not nearly as good as fried but the flavor of the fresh garlic, herbs and spices definitely carried the little falafel through. I froze most of my falafel uncooked and will probably shallow fry the rest of them.

Falafel can be eaten as an appetizer dipped in tzatziki sauce, placed on top of a greek salad or stuffed into a pita with fresh vegetables, tzatziki or feta. Any way you dish them out, falafel are little power packed cakes of flavor. If you love fresh garlic, you'll LOVE these babies!



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pita bread

Oh the fascinating world of flat breads... Although the ingredients for this pita are different from naan, the execution is almost exactly the same. The only difference here is that you bake them in a super hot oven instead of in a skillet on the stove top.

The extra hot oven (500 degrees) creates a pocket of steam inside the bread that leaves a very convenient cavity once cooled. Stuff the bread full of your favorite sandwich fillings and you've got a quick lunch that's good to go.

I used a little bit of whole wheat flour in my recipe but feel free to use all regular if you wish. The only change I'd make if making these again is to divide the dough into 6 rounds rather than 8 to yield a thicker pocket. But, hey, who needs all that thick bread anyway. What you stuff inside of it is the real prize.


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easy greek salad

Today's post isn't so much a recipe as it is me proving a point... to myself.

Eating delicious salads every day doesn't have to mean breaking the bank.

I often shy away from buying lots of salad stuff because if I buy all of the really delicious ingredients, the cost can pile up. And by "good ingredients" I mean things like nuts, fancy cheeses, dried fruit... you know, the GOOD stuff. But then I remembered Budget Bytes Principle #2: adding a just little bit of really flavorful ingredients makes a huge flavor impact without hugely impacting the wallet.

So, instead of making a huge greek salad with tons of vegetables, feta, fancy olives, sun dried tomatoes, pickled peppers and all the rest, I scaled it back a bit. I was still able to accomplish the pungent greek flavor without going crazy with the ingredients and spending tons of money.

I used simple vegetables (romaine lettuce, cucumber and tomato) and added a little feta cheese (portion control is key) and some plain jane green (manzanilla) olives. Yeah, I would have loved Kalamata but the green olives were super inexpensive and still gave me that briny, salty, olive flavor that I was craving. The Kalamatas can wait for a special occasion!


Cost for salad dressing varies considerably... for a 1/4 cup of store-bought I estimate about $0.25. Yes, I KNOW, I should be making my own... I will soon, promise.
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pasta puttanesca

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that the first time I ever heard of Pasta Puttanesca was in the movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm pretty sure that outs me as a food amateur and not a real foodie but, oh well. Anyway, in the movie, the orphan kids make a batch of Pasta Puttanesca out of random things they find in the kitchen, including loose pieces of pasta that were floating around in an old, dirty, cluttered kitchen drawer. Somehow it still looked delicious and I instantly wanted to make some.

The name Pasta Puttanesca loosely translates to "whore's pasta." Why? Because it's delicious and cheap... no, I'm kidding (kinda). The theory is that this simple dish was a favorite of people who were so dirt poor that they had to live in (and work) the streets. It uses ingredients that were inexpensive and abundant in Italy back in the day like olives, anchovies, pasta, tomatoes and capers. In true Budget Bytes fashion, the recipe uses super potent ingredients sparingly to pack a flavor punch.

If you fear the anchovy, as many do, please don't toss this recipe aside. Many Italian recipes use anchovies sparingly to add just a hint of flavor. They are cooked down until they literally disintegrate and all that is left is a nice, nondescript, umami base note in the flavor profile. I promise.


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tuscan white bean pasta

This is definitely my type of recipe. It's quick, uses a lot of fresh ingredients, is filling and flavorful! This pasta packs protein (white beans and parmesan), veggies (tomatoes and spinach) and carbohydrates (pasta), making it a great one-dish meal. You can serve it up as is (vegetarian) or add some sliced grilled chicken for the carnivores.

If you can't find fresh tomatoes and spinach for a good price, you can substitute one can of diced tomatoes and use frozen chopped spinach. If you use frozen spinach, be sure to use the "loose" kind (usually in a bag), not the stuff that's packed into a box. The loose frozen spinach has larger pieces and will more closely resemble fresh once cooked. Add the frozen spinach as is to the hot skillet and let it thaw as it cooks. Any juices that come off the spinach will just add flavor to the sauce.



Total Recipe cost: $5.67
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Cost per serving: $0.95
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 20 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
8 oz.	linguine	$0.61
1 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.05
1 Tbsp	butter	$0.05
3 cloves	garlic, minced	$0.07
1 pint	grape or cherry tomatoes	$1.49
10 cranks	freshly ground pepper	$0.05
1/2 tsp	salt	$0.05
1/2 tsp	basil	$0.05
1 can (15 oz.)	white beans	$0.78
1 bunch (6 cups)	baby spinach	$1.00
3 oz.	shredded parmesan	$1.47
TOTAL		$5.67

STEP 1: Fill a large pot about half way with water and place on the stove to boil. Once it reaches a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions (boil for 7-10 minutes). Drain the pasta in a colander once it is cooked al dente (slightly firm).

STEP 2: While you're waiting for the water to boil, mince the garlic. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it simmer for about a minute (it should be all bubbly in the oil and butter).

STEP 3: While the garlic is simmering, rinse the tomatoes and cut each one in half. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil to the skillet. Stir and let simmer for one to two minutes more. Do not let the skillet get dry and begin to brown. If it starts to, move on to the next step.

STEP 4: Open the can of beans and drain about half of the liquid off. Pour the beans into the skillet with the garlic and tomatoes. Let the mixture simmer for about 7-10 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened. Stir occasionally.

STEP 5: Add the spinach to the skillet, reduce the heat to low and stir until the spinach has wilted. By this time the pasta should be finished cooking and drained. Add the pasta to the skillet and stir everything together.

STEP 6: Plate up the portions of pasta and top each with about 1 oz. of shredded parmesan.

Stirring the pasta into the bean and tomato mixture can be difficult. Alternatively, you can plate up the plain pasta and spoon the tomato/bean/spinach mixture over top, finishing with a sprinkle of parmesan.

Step By Step Photos

Begin to boil the water for the pasta. As the water is heating, mince the garlic and simmer it in a large skillet with butter and olive oil.


Once the garlic has sauteed and softened, add the washed and halved tomatoes. Also add salt, pepper and basil. Let the mixture saute for one to two minutes more.


Add the canned beans with half their liquid. Let this mixture simmer for 7-10 minutes more or until the tomatoes have softened.


Add the fresh spinach, stir and cook on low until it is wilted.


Once the spinach is wilted, it is ready for the pasta.


Stir in the cooked and drained pasta or serve the tomato/spinach/bean mixture over the top of the pasta. Top with a little parmesan cheese.



I served my pasta with some grilled chicken seasoned with lemon pepper, garlic bread and lemon butter green beans. Look for the complete menu with costing and grocery lists later this week!

greek chicken stew

I guess I have a little bit more of this Mediterranean-ness left in me, so bear with me! This stew is decidedly less Greek tasting than some of the other recipes this week so if you're not that into Greek food, you should still give it a try. Really the only reason that I'm calling it Greek is because it has some chickpeas and I topped it with parsley and feta. Otherwise, it's just a delicious, tomatoey, chicken stew!

I used chicken thighs for this recipe because they are inexpensive, fairly uniform in size and because they are simmered slowly in the stew. Meat on the bone (read meat with connective tissue) is excellent for cooking long and slow because the connective tissue gelatinizes and you end up with an ultra tender, moist piece of meat. This is the concept behind roast, ribs and other "fall off the bone" tender meats. You can also purchase a whole cut up chicken if you prefer a variety of pieces (thighs, breasts, drumsticks).

If you want to make this recipe more lean, you can either purchase skinless thighs or just use boneless, skinless breasts. Keep in mind, the boneless, skinless breasts are always more expensive and will not give as much flavor to the stew.


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meze lunchbox

This is my first attempt at breaking the "turkey sandwich and carrot sticks" brown-bag lunch mold. I went on a Mediterranean food cooking spree this week so I thought it would be really easy to put it all together in a Meze lunchbox. Meze is basically just a collection of appetizers or small dishes... the Greek version of Tapas.

It's scientifically proven that having a variety of foods is more stimulating to our appetite (this was my big research project in college) so if you're sick of having the same sandwich with chips every day, a "variety box" like this might do the trick.


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hummus (four flavors)

In case you haven't noticed, this is Mediterranean week here at Budget Bytes (not really, I just started with the yogurt and it snow-balled). Readers have been asking for hummus and I used to make it a lot but haven't in quite some time so I figured now was good.

If you're unfamiliar with hummus, it is a spread/dip made from chickpeas (garbanzo beans), olive oil, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon and garlic. There are a million different things you can add into hummus and I have posted three variations here (Jalapeno Cilantro, Roasted Red Pepper and Parsley Scallion). I also added a little cumin to my "original flavor" for some smokey depth and I garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of paprika and a few whole chickpeas. All of that is completely optional.

Hummus is great to keep in your fridge to eat as a snack with some pita, vegetables or chips but it also makes a great spread for sandwiches and wraps. It has a really great richness and adds moisture so I find that it makes a great substitute for mayo or cheese if you're trying to watch your saturated fat. This recipe comes together in about 10 minutes, requires no cooking and all you need is a blender or food processor. EASY!


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dolmas (stuffed grape leaves)

One of my favorite things to order when I go to Mediterranean restaurants is Stuffed Grape Leaves or Dolmas. I've always shied away from making them at home because they seemed like they would be complicated and a jar of grape leaves is pretty pricey. Since I have a nice week long break between semesters, I decided to challenge myself with making them and to see if they really were all that expensive. The verdict? Very inexpensive and pretty easy to make! The hardest part was unraveling the "cigar" of rolled up grape leaves from the jar. The taste was spot on. They were exactly the tangy, herby little bundles of joy that I get from the restaurant. Sure, my rolling technique leaves a bit to be desired but once they're in your mouth who cares what they look like!

There are many versions of Dolmas out there, some with meat, some without. I usually order the vegetarian kind when I'm out so that's what I went for here. After looking at a ton of recipes, I decided to work off of this recipe by Emeril Lagasse because it seemed closest to what I've eaten before. There were a few changes, of course, to meet my budgetary needs. First, I nixed the pine nuts and golden raisins because they're both fairly pricey. Some day when I have some disposable income, I'll definitely give them a shot, but not today. Also, I decreased the amount of olive oil because, again, it's pricey. The end result was still fairly oily (as they should be) so decreasing the olive oil didn't seem to hurt. I still used fresh mint because that is absolutely essential to this recipe. I only used about 1/4 of the pack which cost $1.99 and will be freezing the rest. Mint is excellent in iced tea or even just water... or maybe I'll make some mint juleps!

Oh, BTW, you can eat these alone but they are AMAZING when dipped in some cool, creamy Tzatziki.


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tzatziki (greek yogurt sauce)

I have a whole menu of Mediterranean food planned for this week so I decided to start with the Tzatziki, since it goes with just about everything. Tzatziki is a delicious sauce made with a Greek Yogurt base, seasoned with garlic, cucumber and dill. This cool, creamy sauce is great for dipping vegetables, bread and dolmas or as a spread for sandwiches. This tzatziki was so easy to make and so good that I couldn't stop from eating it right off the spoon. The sauce should stay good in your refrigerator for 5-7 days and the flavor will intensify as it refrigerates. For that reason, I used minced garlic from a jar rather than fresh. I find that fresh garlic leaves me with the most unbearable breath for a good 24 hrs... no matter how many times I brush and gargle with mouthwash. Garlic from a jar is more subtle.


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greek style yogurt

Just in case you haven't heard, I'll give you the scoop. Greek style yogurt is all the rage. What is Greek yogurt? Basically, it's just yogurt that has had some of the moisture drained off so that it has a thicker, creamier consistency. Some people also love it because it has more protein per ounce than traditional yogurt (everything concentrates as the moisture is removed). Greek yogurt is great for making dips (like the tzadziki I'll be making later this week), topped with honey, nuts and fruit as a snack or as part of big bowl of Yoatgurt.

The problem with Greek yogurt is that it's insanely expensive. I've seen little 4 or 6 oz. cups retailing for over a dollar when regular yogurt cups usually sell for about $0.50. Sure, it takes more regular yogurt to make the same volume of Greek yogurt but I really believe that some of that extra cost is a "fad fee". People are lovin' the Greek yogurt right now and are so willing to pay for it.

So, promise me this: If you're a lover of Greek yogurt, don't pay over $1 for a tiny portion. Buy some regular yogurt and magically transform it into Greek yogurt in your refrigerator and save yourself some money. K? Good.


Pictured here with honey and almonds. YUM.

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mediterranean white bean salad

After eating the cooked down, well melded flavors and textures of my pot roast all week, my palate desperately needed something fresh and bright. I wanted green, I wanted tang, I wanted fresh. I had a couple of cans of butter beans in my cabinet that I had bought with the intention of making a quick Italian garlic and parsley dish with but I soon had a much, MUCH better use for them. This Mediterranean style bean dish is very similar to tabbouleh (one of my all-time favorite salads) but uses white beans instead of bulgar wheat and the herbs and spices have been simplified. I used large butter beans for this recipe but any white bean will work (cannellini or even garbanzo). The salad turned out so freaking good that I ate almost half of it immediately after taking the pictures (I made a half batch). If you're looking for a main dish, this salad would also make an excellent bed for a piece of grilled chicken or fish!


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