Cooking on a budget with Lucy Andrews from Gracious Grub…

Written by Lucy Andrews – Gracious Grub

At my visit to the Evermoor community shop ahead of the summer edition of About the Town, I looked for flavours that reflect warmer climates. Here we have a trip to Spain and the Middle East for a grand total of £1.01 per person!

If you’d like me to meet you at the community shop and see what culinary fun we can create, just get in touch!

Easy Spanish Tea

Total Cost: £2.60 – Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 x Tin lentils

1 x Tin chickpeas

1 x Jar Spanish Chicken Tonight

1 x Tin potatoes

Oil (I used light olive, supplied from home)
Salt – use flavoured if you like

Green veg

Method:

1. Heat air fryer to 180c. Drain and rinse the potatoes. Drizzle with oil and any seasoning you like.

2. Place potatoes in the air fryer and set the timer for 20 minutes (shake halfway through).

3. Add lentils, chickpeas and sauce to a pan and heat through. Reduce to a simmer until potatoes are cooked.

4. I trimmed the green beans and broccoli veg pack and then steamed them, but you could boil or microwave them. Check your potatoes just before you cook your veg. If you like them crispier, put them on for longer and time with the veg.

5. All done! Sprinkle with fresh parsley if you like.

Middle Eastern Showstopper

Total Cost £5.50 – Serves 4

This sort of meal is very versatile as you can change your bread base to different cuisines (e.g. naan for Indian, tortilla for Mexican). I started with an interesting Iranian stew spices kit and went from there. Whilst it seems there are some mad flavours, they all work well together as it demonstrates the 5 flavour profiles:

Sweet = dried fruit, parsnips

Sour = vinegar on the pickled onions

Salty / Umami = mushroom stock in spice pack, flatbread

Spice = chilli mayo

Bitter = mint

Ingredients:

One flatbread per person

Salad leaves

Iranian Stew spice kit

One celeriac

One pack of parsnips

Dried fruit; this was raisins and apricots

Oil (supplied from home)

Jar sweet pickled red onions

Chilli mayo

Herbs; I used mint this time but parsley or coriander would also have worked well

Method:

1. Peel and chop veg into cubes and parboil the veg with stock and dried fruit for 8 minutes.

2. Drain and rest for a few minutes to dry the veg.

3. Heat a little oil with spices and cook the veg for a few minutes, until softer.

4. Grill flatbread.

5. To serve, I laid the bread at the bottom, coated it with the mayo, then layered the leaves, veg, and onions and sprinkled with the herbs.

It tasted even better in the Spring sunshine!