Author Emily Wight has long practised frugality, developing cost-effective and easy dishes over time which she shares in Well Fed, Flat Broke: Recipes for Modest Budgets and Messy Kitchens.
Many of her recipes are Asian-inspired, a reflection of the diverse inhabitants of east Vancouver, where she lives.
“I’m just well served by Asian markets. There’s a Korean grocer down the street where I buy great tofu, I get kimchee, I get condiments,” she says. “If you can avoid buying the grocery store version of those ingredients then you can save a lot of money.”
Here are some recipes from the book to try at home:
LENTIL SLOPPY JOES
This recipe can feed four or you can have four separate meals for yourself, Wight says.
1 cup dried green, brown or French lentils
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 small onion
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb mushrooms, finely minced (or whizzed until almost puréed in a food processor or blender)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ancho or other chili powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 can (156 ml/5 1/2 oz) tomato paste
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
• salt, to taste
In a pot on medium heat, simmer lentils and bay leaf in two cups lightly salted water until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, then set aside. Discard bay leaf.
Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven, on high heat, sauté celery, carrots and onion in olive oil until glistening, then cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove lid, add garlic and cook until mixture is caramelized and reduced by two-thirds, 15 to 20 minutes. The longer you cook this, the sweeter it will get.
Add mushrooms and cook until moisture has mostly dissipated and bottom of pan is dry.
Add spices, thyme and tomato paste, stir until combined, then add cooked lentils. Stir in one cup water with apple cider vinegar and honey. Cook until mix begins to bubble.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve open-faced over toasted hamburger buns.
Makes 4 servings
TOAD IN THE HOLE
Wight grew up eating this dish, usually for dinner, which she describes as “basically Yorkshire pudding baked over sausages.” It also makes a hearty brunch.
For best results, start with eggs and milk at room temperature, so take them out of the refrigerator 20 minutes or so before you start cooking.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk or buttermilk, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp grainy Dijon mustard
• pinch each salt and pepper
2 strips bacon, chopped
2 tsp butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1 lb pork sausages, such as English bangers or bratwurst
Preheat oven to 425 F.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, milk, eggs, mustard, salt and pepper until smooth. Set aside.
In a cast-iron pan on medium-high heat, fry bacon. When cooked, remove from pan and drain on a plate lined with a paper towel.
Add butter to pan and let it melt. Add onion and sauté until translucent with brown bits around their edges, about three minutes.
Add sausages and brown (it doesn’t matter if they are cooked through, but brown on all sides). Remove from pan and slice into bite-sized pieces.
Return bacon and sausages to pan. Pour batter over and bake for 25 minutes, until batter has puffed and turned golden. Slice and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
NASI GORENG
Wight says this dish is a favourite of her husband, Nick.
Serve hot, topped with a sprinkle of cilantro, some scallions and an egg fried over easy so that the edges of the white are crisp but the yolk is still runny. It’s great with cucumber salad and a spicy red wine.
6 to 9 garlic cloves, sliced
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp sambal oelek
2 Tbsp ketjap manis (or 2 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp brown sugar)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp lime juice
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 lb lean ground beef
6 cups cooked rice
2 cups grated carrots
1 kohlrabi or 2 to 3 broccoli stalks, peeled and grated
• salt, to taste
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
ACCOMPANIMENTS
1 fried egg per serving
1 sliced avocado, for garnish
• cilantro, for garnish
• chopped scallions, for garnish
• additional sambal oelek
In a large pan on medium-high heat, sauté garlic in oil until golden and crispy but not burned (one to two minutes — any longer and it will become too bitter). Remove garlic from pan with a slotted spoon, and drain garlic on a plate lined with a paper towel. Set aside.
In a blender or food processor, puree shallot with sambal oelek, ketjap manis, fish sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and cumin. Set aside.
Add ground beef to garlic-infused cooking oil in hot pan. Continue cooking on medium-high heat until meat has browned and is cooked through. Add rice, carrots and kohlrabi.
Pour shallot mixture over pan contents and stir to coat. Cook for three to five minutes longer. If rice appears dry, add 1/2 cup warm tap water to pan and stir. Stir crispy garlic into rice mixture. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
