Cheap, Easy And Vegetarian

Many of us lead pretty busy lives these days and, especially those of us with families, are always trying to get dinner on the table as quickly and easily as possible. Occasionally we fall back on using prepackaged meals from the grocery store or calling for takeout. Those meals have more fat, salt and sugar than we need in our diet, they produce a lot of garbage from the packaging and they are more expensive than cooking from scratch.

In these uncertain economic times we really need to look at our food costs and start to spend more wisely. Here are a few recipes that will cover your dinners for a week, with some leftovers for your lunch. They are as quick as takeout, as easy as many processed dinners, and more economical and nutritious than both.

Chickpea Curry

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seed
1 dried chili, or 1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tbsp salt, or to taste
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 ripe tomatoes, diced or 1 cup canned tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large pot and add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. If you are an exacting cook, prepare the chili as above, adding the mustard seeds to the mortar and pestle as well. If you are a lazy cook like me add all the spices to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Serve with bread or rice. Add cilantro garnish if using.

Beans with Tomatoes and Swiss Chard

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 medium tomato, cubed
1/2 bunch of swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese
basil or thyme for garnish

1. Heat oil in pan and add onions, cooking until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened and golden.

2. Add tomato and cook, stirring occasionally until the pieces are soft and have thrown off some liquid. Add the beans and cook until they are warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cheese and herbs and serve.

Tex-Mex Chili

2 tbsp olive oil
6 bay leaves
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2-1 tsp crushed dried red chilies
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp vinegar
1 5 1/2 oz can of tomato paste
1 cup canned tomatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 can kidney beans, drained

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and sauté for 2 minutes. Add bay leaves, cinnamon, allspice, dried chilies, salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

2. Stir in vinegar, tomato paste and 3-4 cups of water, depending on how thick you want the chili. Add tomato, green pepper, zucchini and corn and cook, uncovered, for an hour. Add the kidney beans and mushrooms and cook for 1/2 hour longer. If the chili is too think, add a bit more water.

Oriecchiette with Lentils, Onions and Spinach

1/3 cup olive oil
3 large onions (2 lb total), thinly sliced (7 cups)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 Turkish or 1/2California bay leaf
1 cup French green lentils
1 lb orecchiette, fusilli, or penne
2 (5-oz) bags baby spinach
1 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

1. Add oil and increase heat to moderate until hot but not smoking, then stir in onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Reduce heat to moderately low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until onions are very tender and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

2. While onions cook, cover lentils with water by 1 inch in a 1 1/2-2-quart saucepan and boil over moderate heat, covered, until lentils are just tender and most of water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and let stand, covered, until ready to use.

3. Cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander and return pasta to pot.

4. Add onions, lentils, and spinach to pasta, then toss with just enough reserved cooking water to wilt spinach and moisten pasta. Add cheese and salt and pepper to taste, tossing to combine.

Dal and Pumpkin Soup

1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
A walnut-sized knob of ginger
225 grams (8 oz.) split red lentils
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground chili
250 grams (9 oz.) pumpkin
small bunch coriander, roughly chopped

For the onion topping:
2 medium onions
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small hot chillies (I used chili flakes, not having any fresh chilies on hand)
2 cloves garlic

1. Peel the onion and chop it roughly. Peel and crush the garlic and put it with the onion into a medium-sized, heavy saucepan. Peel the ginger, cut it into thin shreds and stir that in too. Add the lentils and pour in 1 1/2 litres (6 cups) of water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to an enthusiastic simmer. Stir in the ground turmeric and chili, season and leave to simmer, covered, for twenty minutes.

2. While the soup is cooking, bring a medium-size pan of water to the boil. Peel the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and fibre, then cut the flesh into fat chunks. Boil the pumpkin pieces for ten minutes, until they are tender enough to take a skewer without much pressure. Drain them and set aside.

3. To make the onion topping, peel the onions and cut them into thin rings. Cook them in the oil in a shallow pan until they start to colour. Cut the chilies in half, scrape out the seeds and slice the flesh finely. Peel and finely slice the garlic and add it with the chilies to the onions. Continue cooking until the onions are a deep golden brown. Set aside.

4. Remove the lid from the lentils and turn up the heat, boiling hard for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, then add the drained pumpkin. Put the soup through the blender until smooth, then pour it into a bowl. Stir in the roughly chopped coriander and check the seasoning. I find this soup likes a more generous than usual amount of salt.

Mushroom Tofu Stew

1 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into pieces
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 oz dried mushrooms, plus soaking liquid (optional)
1 1/2 cups white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 dried chili, chopped, plus soaking liquid or 1 fresh chili chopped
1/4- 1/2 soy sauce
1 star anise
1 small stick cinnamon
2 lbs tofu, drained and cut into cubes

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the potatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms, the re-hydrated mushrooms, if using, the chili, star anise, cinnamon and soy sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Add the tofu and continue to cook, covered for at least a half an hour to allow the flavours to blend. You can make this earlier in the day or the day before serving.

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