The Five Dollar Challenge

The Five Dollar Challenge

The five dollar challenge is to create a meal for $5 or less.

Beans and Rice.

1 cup (225gms) Jasmine Rice @$3.95/kg = $1

300gms dried fava beans         @$2.95/kg=$0.90

The resultant meal provided enough for dinner for two, and four other servings which provided lunches and another dinner!

Here’s how:

A picture paints a thousand words or so they say so lets go.

Beans, fava beans, 300gms. Soaked overnight in water. There is a quick soak method where they say to boil for two minutes and then soak for a couple of hours in the hot water, I have tried this method and it did not work for me. Beans were still too hard after final cook. Oh well, they say to taste your food but it was serve or go to bed hungry!

Bring to the boil, do not add salt as it toughens the bean, gently boil for 45 minutes or so.

One cup of jasmine rice to two cups of water, bring to the boil then turn down as low as you can with the lid on. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes but check after 10 minutes or so to ensure it is not going to dry out. Add a touch more water if needed.

Cut some vegetables. I had on hand green onion, brown onion, red onion and leek. You can add what you want and please note, the cost of the vegetables were not added into the overall cost of the $5 challenge meal.

 As well as sow thistle, celery leaves, and a turmeric leaf.

With a little oil in a saucepan, the onions were given a bit of brown and then the greens were sweated down. A teaspoon each of cumin, cardamon and dry ginger were tossed in.

The beans and rice were added to the vegetables and some chopped green beans added. Taste and season as required. I added a handful of raisins at this stage too to add some sweetness. The whole lot  should then be turned and stirred and a little more water added as required and cooked a little more too your own personal taste of "doneness."

The side vegetables were sweetcorn, kale and cabbage with grilled tomato with a wasabi pea crust. The tomatoes were grilled nearly to the end then the crust added. Wasabi peas were ground, placed on top of the tomato with a spray of oil and finished under the grill.

Yummo!

 Variations:

The variations should suit your taste and budget. I used vegetables that were available free or were from our garden which we had grown. This dish works well though for when you see a vegetable that is on special and you can then employ it.

Beans; I used dried beans as they are cheapest. You could use any dried bean but the fava beans were the cheapest too. Chickpeas would work. 

Rice; Jasmine rice was, guess what, yep the cheapest. I bought these from a shop where you could get as much as you wanted from the self serve bins. Way cheaper than the supermarket and you only take what you want not a whole bag load. Brown rice, wild rice, black rice, white rice, red rice would all work beautifully and add different flavours too. Just check the recommended cook time. I cooked the ingredients separately to make sure all items were cooked adequately before bringing together. You could then also cook some of it in advance.

Vegetables to add; This part is wide open as to what you have available, what you are growing, what is cheap and in season. Wild and free greens like sow thistle, nettles, fat hen, plantain, chickweed would be good but anything can be added for colour, nutrients and flavour. 

Herbs and spices; Curry powder, cumin, cardamon, a pinch of nutmeg a little cinnamon would be great. Mixed herbs, thyme and sage would work. Coriander, lime zest, a splash of soya sauce, a slurp of sesame oil sounds good. Don't hesitate to add a spoon of sugar or use a dried fruit like raisins, currants, dates or prunes even.