Art Of The Meal Part Three – by Rob Taylor

pic courtesy Let the Baking Begin

I just got back from shopping and the prices are getting crazy. So as usual I want to show you recipes I make that are cheap, easy and cheap. My aim for all of these is to get at least 8-10 servings and keep it under a $1 a serving. That means some of these recipes are familiar to you but altered to make the meals stretch further.

I’m also going to include sauces that are high calorie but made mostly from things you should have in the house so to limit new ingredients you need to buy.

Baked Feta and Tomatoes with Pasta

This recipe went viral on TikTok because it’s easy. It’s also surprisingly cheap with the most expensive ingredient being the feta. The amount of olive oil it needs will hardly make a dent in a bottle of it. Otherwise you can use the cheapest ingredients. Gardener may want to use their fresh tomatoes but the recipe works just as well with canned tomatoes. I often mix the two to save money if I can’t get a good price on fresh.

You’ll need:

20 ozs of cherry tomatoes (I’ve done this with cans of whole tomatoes and it worked find though)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

One 8-ounce block feta cheese but it can work with crumbles if that’s all you can find, they are often cheaper)

Maybe some garlic if you like.

10 or so ozs of pasta. Most people use rigatoni, I’ve used other types.

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Toss the cherry tomatoes and olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and several grinds of black pepper in a medium bowl until combined. Transfer to a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish, place the feta in the center of the tomatoes and season with a pinch of black pepper. Bake until the tomatoes have burst and the feta has softened, about 30 minutes. Raise the heat to 450 degrees F and continue to cook until the tomatoes and feta are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes more.

3. While all this is going on cook the pasta until tender. 10-15 minutes

4. When the feta mixture is ready, pull it out the oven and using a spoon smash and mix the who thing into a sauce. Careful it’s hot.

5. Stir in the pasta, portion it out and you’re done. Makes about 8 servings and I’ve never spent more than $7

I’ve also added ricotta to this which gives it a more Italian flavor. I once replaced the feta with ricotta and while it was runny it made a fantastic sauce.

Baba ghanoush

This is a great way to turn one medium eggplant into 10-12 servings. On it’s own it’s not calorie dense enough to be considered a meal but I pair it with small amounts of meat on a flat bread or platter as a way to make meat go further. Good with sausage, chicken, beef etc. Also good with rice especially with a nice hot sauce.

You’ll need:

1 eggplant

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup tahini

2 tablespoons sesame seeds (very optional0

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, then Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, until it gets soft. Remove from oven, and place into a large bowl of cold water. Remove from water, and peel skin off. Mix eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic until it’s a puree consistency. Electric blenders work best for this but in the olden days a spoon and elbow grease did just fine.. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil. Refrigerate a few hours hours before serving.

Tahini will be you’re biggest outlay here but it should run you about $5 or less if you shop around and will make a lot of this dish.

Cowboy Kent Rollins “Big Mac” Sauce:

I’m a fan of old timey cook Cowboy Kent Rollins and his YouTube channel. I have been making his hamburger sauce for a while and it’s good on almost anything. Fries, salad, burgers of course – you name it. If you don’t use low calorie mayo for the base it also adds a good amount of calories to meals so nowadays that’s something to think about. You’ll need:

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sweet relish

1 ½ tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon adobo sauce

1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ white onion diced

Note my wife didn’t think the adobo sauce added much. You can find it in the Latino section of the supermarket. This is super easy – I just mix all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir until it turns into what looks like McDonald’s “secret sauce” then I put it in the fridge a few hours. I pull it out and spoon it over whatever. Delicious.

Here’s the video I got the recipe from. He makes a whole burger meal that looks incredible:

Got a favorite recipe? Tell me about it on my Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/oldtimeypistolero/