Delicious Frugal Foodie Dinner: Spicy Two-Bit Black-Eyed Peas with Coriander and Ginger Recipe

Finally. It’s hip to be cheap.

Good news if you’re a Frugal Foodie—a thrifty gourmand, serious scratch cook or other food lover with an eye on budget.

Have you noticed the hush among your foodie friends? Today no one wants to brag about shaved truffles and tasting menus.

$140 cheese platters are out. Hummus is in. Barola is out. Rioja is in. Bottled water: Out. Tap water—you get the picture.

Still hesitating to openly embrace culinary thriftiness?

Here’s how you benefit from being a Frugal Foodie

• Frugal Foodies enjoy food more. Why? Because Frugal Foodies’ discerning palates and quest for taste leads them to the best—not priciest—restaurants.  And because Frugal Foodies are usually great scratch cooks: They not only know how to eat fabulous food, they know how to cook it.
• Frugal Foodies are leaders, not followers. The bull market saw a lot of pseudo-foodies packed shoulder-to-Prada-clad-shoulder in wine bars du jour. Now they stay home. Yay!
  
  You don’t have to worry about being elbowed out of the charming little eatery you discovered. Your dinner party won’t be dominated by yammering about kitchen renovations.
  
  Frugal Foodies are food savants. They don’t follow silly, wallet-gouging trends. They pick, choose, experiment, create and experience their own taste sensations.

• Frugal Foodies nourish body and soul. Thrifty gourmands and serious scratch cooks know that delicious, carefully prepared food does more than please the palate and fill the belly.

It strengthens family ties and cements friendship. It creates powerful memories—Proust’s madeleine, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s sensorial food descriptions, your own childhood remembrances of foods past.

It supports old traditions and integrates new. It connects you to seasons, holidays, nature. It allows you to experience other cultures. It encourages gratitude: to farmers, food purveyors, animals, the earth.

• Frugal Foodies thrive in recession: Great home cooks can prepare and enjoy delicious meals no matter how badly the economy tanks. A recession will never stop you from sharing satisfying meals with your family, creating memorable holiday fare or entertaining friends.

• Frugal Foodies develop resourcefulness and creativity. Let me tell you a true story.
  
  It happened more than 15 years ago on a summer day like many others at Copywriters’ Kitchen. After working in the morning I packed the kids into the Caravan and unloaded them at the local pool in my New York suburban rivertown.
  
  As the day inched to an end, the smell of chlorine and Water Babies sunblock hung in the humid air. “I’m gonna count to five,” I yelled at my son. His blond bowl-cut bobbed in the distant center of the aqua pool.

  He knew it was time to go. My son grinned and continued splashing up and down.

  I shifted the baby on my hip and turned to the row of women dangling their tanned legs at the pool’s edge. It was four o’clock, time to consider end-of-day routines.

  “So what are you making for dinner?” I asked. A long pause.

  Laura cocked her head, squinted at me, “I was just gonna do take out at the Thai place.”

  “Me, too,” said Jennifer.

  Jo’s eye took my measure. “I don’t, you know. Cook.”

  No, I didn’t know. Because I did cook. Every single day. That morning I had made salads: Curried egg, chick pea, tuna. I intended to stop at the deli on the way home for a loaf of Arthur Avenue Italian bread. The bread and salads made a cool dinner that pleased everyone. And it didn’t heat up the kitchen.

  The next day and the day after that, in fall, in winter, in spring, my first thought of the day was, “What will I make for dinner?”

  Deciding early simplified things. I cooked because it saved us hassle. Because it saved us time. But mostly because it saved us money.

  My thriftiness—and the resourcefulness and creativity it demanded—allowed our family to bring up three children on two modest incomes. It let me raise my children working part-time from home. It gave them happy childhoods filled with simple joys, everything they needed and many things they didn’t.

  Being a Frugal Foodie will help you save hassle, time and money while you cultivate creativity and resourcefulness.

If you don’t already, you’ll soon be inventing your own recipes. Like I did with Spicy Black-Eyed Peas.

Spicy Two-Bit Black-Eyed Peas with Coriander and Ginger

Like many, our family eats black-eyed peas on New Years Day. This version is my favorite. It’s slow-simmered with onions, tomatoes, coriander and fresh grated ginger. Pan-fried cubed potatoes are stirred in just before serving.

Even people who hate black-eyed peas gobble up this recipe.

And yep, it costs about $.25 a bowl.

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, thickly cut—about 1” pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups cooked black-eyed peas
1 can Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon dried ginger
2 tablespoons fresh peeled roughly grated ginger
½ Knorr vegetable bouillon cube
1 cup boiling water
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash black-eyed peas in water; pick out bad beans or pebbles.

1. In a large heavy stockpot or Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, celery and 2 cloves minced garlic, stirring to sauté vegetables for a few minutes.
3. Add carrots, stir to incorporate. Adjust flame under vegetables to cook without browning for 5-6 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, coriander, cumin, red pepper, dried ginger, fresh grated ginger, ½ bouillon cube, water, salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer, then adjust flame as needed to keep at low simmer until carrots are almost tender—about ½ hour.
6. While vegetables simmer, pan-fry potatoes:

   Put peas in Crock Pot, cover with water and add 1 teaspoon salt. Cover with lid and cook for two hours.

   In large frying pan, heat remaining 3 tablespoons
   olive oil on medium-high flame.
7. Add potatoes and one clove minced garlic, tossing to sauté. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Sauté, stirring to cook evenly until potatoes are golden brown on the edges.
9. Cover the pan and turn flame low. Cook until potatoes are almost done—5-10 minutes.
10. Remove cover and continue to fry potatoes until crisp. Set aside.
11. When carrots are almost firm, stir in black-eyed peas. (Note: If possible, use legumes you’ve cooked yourself until just firm, rather than the overcooked and often slimy canned variety. Follow directions on peas package and see photos, right. I cook a pound of black-eyed peas, use what I need and freeze the rest.)
12. For thicker mix, scoop one cup of black-eyed peas into blender or food processor and purée.

Stir fried cubed potaotes into black-eyed peas just before serving.

13. Return puréed peas back to pot and stir to incorporate.
14. Stir in potatoes and adjust seasoning.
15. Serve black-eyed peas with boiled rice and From-Scratch Quick Corn Bread.