I’ve pined for this dish for years. Years.

I fell in love with it at a little place in Tallahassee, Florida, called the Charcoal Grill (which is incidentally next to – and owned by – a great little pita place called the Pitaria), and ever since we moved to the DC area, I’ve never been able to quite make the recipe work. In fact, over the last year or so, I’d pretty much given up on it altogether – a sad fact, if you’ve ever tasted kousheri.

But then, while flipping through the offerings over at $5 Dinners, there it was, calling out to me from the page, featured in the top nav. Kusherie. Koshery. Kushari.

Kousherie!

Oh, how my heart sang with joy to see the recipe and the accompanying picture. And how my taste buds perked up with delight when I tasted the finished product this evening! It was almost exactly like my favorite dish at the Charcoal Grill. And though it took a little time to make, that’s OK. The final result was worth it.

The tofu sandwiches were no slouch, either. But, just like at that little restaurant in Tallahassee, the kousherie was the main event.

And, of course, I’ll be making it again. Heck, I’ll be having it again for lunch tomorrow!

The stats:

Sub rolls: $3.39 ($1.70/person)
Tofu: $1.99 ($1.00/person)
Marinade: $3.99 ($2.00/person)
Lentils: $0.68 ($0.34/person)
Elbow macaroni: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Tomato sauce: $0.79 ($0.40/person)
Onion: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Green bell pepper: $2.00 ($1.00/person)
Rice: $1.75 ($0.88/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $16.59 … or $6.44 per person.
BUT WAIT! This meal makes plenty of leftovers for both the tofu and the kousherie (hooray!). So the per-person price goes down even more!

:)

I’ve eyed ramps with curiosity for a few seasons now, but it wasn’t until I read about what to do with them over at The Garden Apartment that I summoned the nerve to give them a shot. Now that I’ve cooked with them – twice in two days, I might add! – I have no idea why I waited so long to buy them in the first place.

Ramps are funny little creatures. They’re a member of the leek family and taste like a cross between an onion and a head of garlic – with a little leekiness in there for good measure. They’re strong, sure, but oh, so good.

I cooked them two different ways over the weekend –sautéing them with my scrambled tofu on Saturday (the results of which you can see in the picture above), and on Sunday baking them into some biscuits, inspired by a recipe I found at the aforementioned Garden Apartment. Both ways were so tasty, if I do say so myself! And I can’t wait to use ‘em again. We saved a few ramps from this weekend’s market purchase at the Bigg Riggs stand, and I have Big Plans to use them straightaway. Stay tuned!

And in the meantime, get thee to the ramps!

:)

Tonight’s dinner was a last-minute type of thing. In fact, I had another meal – sautéed tofu sandwiches with kousheri – on the menu for tonight, but a last-minute meeting on LeeLee’s behalf and blatant laziness on my behalf sent that plan right down the drain. So pizza it is!

Not that we were complaining, of course. Vegetarian pepperoni is always a big hit in our household, and the salsa-style salad that I bought on sale last week made a perfect complement to the main course. If LeeLee hadn’t had a meeting to dash off to, we would’ve probably had a beer to go along with the meal, but as it stands now, I’ll just have to have one for dessert! Tee-hee.

The stats:

Pizza crust: $3.29 ($1.65/person)
Pizza sauce: $1.85 ($0.93/person)
“Pepperoni” slices: $4.29 ($2.15/person)
Mozzarella cheese: $2.99 ($1.50/person)
Salsa salad kit: $2.79 ($1.40/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $15.21 … or $7.63 per person.
BUT WAIT! This recipe makes enough for lunch the next day. So the per-person price goes down even more!

:)

Well, now, that was a surprise!

I had no idea what this recipe would taste like when I found it online a few weeks ago, but we’re adventurous here at Chez Recessionista, and so we decided to give it a try. I’m glad we did – it turned out great!

One of the problems I have with ramen meals at times is their lack of heartiness. By themselves, or mixed with just a few veggies, they don’t really stand the test of time and instead leave me feeling hungry again an hour later. But this recipe, with its serving of cream cheese and its chik’n patty on the side, hit the spot and proved to be a full-fledged dinner!

Next time, I think I’ll add a little more salsa, but we’ll definitely give it another try!

The stats:

Ramen: $0.29 ($0.15/person)
Tofutti cream cheese: $2.99 ($0.37/person)
Salsa: $3.39 ($0.85/person)
Frozen vegetables: $1.67 ($0.84/person)
Chik’n patty: $3.50/four ($0.88/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $11.84 … or $3.09 per person.

:)

Welcome to the second installment of Other Things That Grace Our Table. Just to break up the monotony a little bit, you know?

Anyway, weekend brunch is another specialty at Chez Recessionista. Usually, I’ll make a few biscuits, a pot of grits, some soy sausage links, and, LeeLee’s favorite, scrambled tofu. Most of the time we drink coffee along with it, but occasionally we’ll have orange juice – or mimosas! – instead. It’s the perfect reward after a morning at the gym or on the bike, which, usually, is how we start our Saturdays. (On Sundays, brunch is also a good reward for behaving ourselves at church like good little boys and girls.)

I’ve found that a box of Bisquick and a carton of grits go a very long way for brunch. All we have to do is restock the soy sausage links and tofu, and we’re good to go!

No official stats, but the typical menu, for posterity:

Biscuits
Grits
Scrambled tofu
Morningstar Farms sausage links
Coffee

:)

Tonight may have been my very quickest cooking adventure yet – since I started this blog, anyway. LeeLee had to be at a 7 p.m. meeting. I returned home from work at 6:30. He called me at 6:45 to tell me he was 10 minutes out, and I got to work.

I know I’ve said it before, and I know I’ll say it again: Black beans and rice is one of those meals that you know you can rely on! I threw a can of beans in a pot to simmer, cooked some rice in the microwave, the subbed it out for some Boca chik’n patties. The timer had just gone off when LeeLee arrived home at 6:55, and dinner was served!

He didn’t make the very start of his meeting, but as it was just a block away, he wasn’t too late. And because of my faithful quick-cooking dish – in fact, I think from now on I’m going to call it Old Faithful – neither of us had to eat fast food or spend an additional dime on dinner. You can’t beat that!

The stats:

Black beans: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice: $1.75 ($0.88/person)
Boca chik’n patty: $3.50/four ($0.88/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $6.25 … or $2.26 per person.

:)

I’m always up for a new recipe, and when I found this one over at $5 Dinners, I knew I had to give it a try right away!

That right away was tonight, and I’m very pleased with how these lentil burritos turned out. I was relieved by how little prep work was involved – while this dish doesn’t cook quite as quickly as some of the others I make, most of the time was spent with ingredients cooking, rather than in preparation. And, in fact, I was glad for the additional down time to get some other things done. While the lentils cooked, I prepared my salad, and while the burritos warmed in the oven, I was able to set the table.

But my biggest test was, of course, LeeLee, who is always my favorite test diner. He loved the mixture of lentils, rice, and tomatoes with green chiles. In fact, twice I caught him sneaking back into the kitchen to swipe another bite of burrito filling from the saucepan! And after dinner, he claimed the last two burritos for lunch tomorrow.

So, lentil burritos have been deemed a winner. They were easy to make, inexpensive to supply, and tasty to boot. I can’t ask for a better combination. And I’ll be making them again soon!

The stats:

Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice: $1.75 ($0.88/person)
Lentils: $0.68 ($0.34/person)
Rotel: $1.69 ($0.85/person)
Tortillas: $2.49 ($1.25/person)
Lettuce: $1.75 ($0.88/person)
Tomatoes: $2.50 ($1.25/person)
Garbanzo beans: $0.50 ($0.25/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $11.36 … or $5.70 per person.
BUT WAIT! This meal makes enough for a two-burrito leftover lunch. So the per-person price goes down even more.

:)

So, by now, you’ve seen a lot of our dinners, from ramen specialties to Easter feasts. But we’ve been known to eat breakfast and lunch, too, and I thought I’d share a couple of our recent concoctions with you, just to keep things lively. Here’s the first.

Last Friday, LeeLee and I took a picnic to a nearby park (Jones Point Park, for you Alexandrians) and enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the 75-degree weather. I made us each a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which is what I’d been taking to work all week) and we stopped by the Safeway for a carton each of macaroni salad and potato salad. Throw in a couple of granola bars and pour some water in a couple of bottles, and we were ready to roll!

(The sandwich-holders-turned-placemats are made by Wrap-n-Mats, a great company that produces a reusable alternative to plastic bags. I heartily recommend them!)

No stats, but the ingredients are:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Macaroni salad
Potato salad
Nature Valley Sweet and Salty bars
Water

:)

This pasta dish, one of LeeLee’s specialties, is one of our favorite spring and summertime meals. Tonight’s weather didn’t quite get the memo, but we still looked forward to dinner despite the rain and chill outdoors.

The nice thing about this pasta is that it looks harder to make than it is, which makes it a great possibility for entertaining guests. Tonight we had only ourselves to entertain, but that’s OK, too; it’s always nice to treat yourself as well as you treat company. Along with it I made a salad from some of last weekend’s Eastern Market finds, which are always a dinnertime treat. Paired with some leftover Easter wine, this made a great Wednesday night meal!

The stats:

Lemons: $1.50 ($0.75/person)
Basil: $1.99 ($1.00/person)
Penne: $1.50 ($0.75/person)
Cherry tomatoes: $1.50 ($0.75/person)
Garlic bread: $1.99 ($0.50/person)
Lettuce: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Carrots: $0.50 ($0.25/person)
Croutons: $1.50 ($0.75/person)

GRAND TOTAL: $11.48 … or $5.25 per person.

:)