Why is it that we think better always means expensive? Healthy meals require fancy, exotic spices with enough flavor to keep you spooning the next bite into your mouth. My new favorite cookbook is Radically Simple, precisely because the recipes are so basic and cheap, and take advantage of so many vegetables, in such a simple way. Radical? Yes. I grew up in a rural area, just like so many other rural areas, where fresh,vegetables appeared for 6 weeks as sliced cucumbers with onions and sliced beefsteak tomatoes. The rest of the vegetables that sprang up from the soil were boiled and pressure-cooked to save for winter.
I’m being too hard on my mom. She was simply preserving food to get us through…. and boiling kept us safe from nasty bacteria.
Still, I think my mom would have loved and welcomed Rozeanne Gold’s simple and cheap approach to food. Like this recipe that uses caramelized onions — a dish she calls her $2 meal.
In my cookbook, her recipe adds frozen peas– but really the possibilities are endless. Just throw in whatever veggies you have on hand…. because the elegant flavor of the caramelized onions will keep you believing you’re eating in a 5- Star restaurant, rather than your own humble kitchen.
So… this is my first post done entirely with my smart phone! Including the photo…