How I learned to stop worrying and love the recession

"Lately I've been buying beans. Not canned beans, mind you: Dry beans. Bags of dry beans that only cost 65 cents, beans that have to be soaked overnight, beans that you have to sort very carefully to make sure there aren't any chunks of gravel in there."
Click here to read the article.

Read the comments too, there are some great sounding recipes and ideas in there.

This is from the first comment and it sounds great, I think i'll try it out, it sounds very similar to a black bean soup that I already make.

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH CUMIN AND CILANTRO

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

8 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup chopped jalapeños with seeds

2 cups dried black beans (about 13 ounces)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

8 cups (or more) vegetable stock or canned vegetable broth

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeños; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in beans and spices. Add 8 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until beans are tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours 15 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup with cilantro in blender. Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate.)

Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock if necessary. Ladle into bowls. Serve, passing lime wedges separately.

I add a small can of tomato sauce for a little more depth of flavor. I also only puree half, and keep half chunky. Enjoy!
-- Kristina

Here are a couple more:

here is a super simple recipe, you will love.

Chop, 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic.

Wash 1/2 cup rice (parboiled is healithier) and 1/2 cup red lentil, and keep soaked.

Heat oil in a pan and add 1 tsp cumin seeds. Hot enough so the seeds POP. Add onin , garlic, fry, and brown, add 1/2 can tomato, or one whole chopped. Fry together. Add turmeric powder - optional.

Then add rice and lentil.

Chopped or frozen mixed veggies - optional.

Put in the microwave in a safe container, and cook for 30 minutes to 50. Check for softness, after 25 minutes. . water should be added as needed. at least 6 times the volume of rice and lentils.

Serve with potato chps and scrambled eggs with onions.

If using white rice, microwave lentils for 25 mnutes and then add to the fried stuff with rice. Microwave thenall together for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy! Even if you have money for takeaway.
-- pandora_mtl

find my whole culinary world opening up to me. Instead of eating the same 20 things over and over again, my frugal-ness has forced me to try new things.

Black Bean Soup

1 lb black beans (soaked and drained),1 med onion minced,2 medium carrots grated,1 med green pepper,1T Each:Cumin,Chili Powder,Adobo Chili sauce,1 bay leaf Salt and Pepper

In a big pot, covered with water or stock for a long time,

dash of dijon mustard at the end

Blend

Garnish

Cilantro

Lime

Sour Cream

Enjoy!
-- Notwhoyouthinkitis

Cheap and convenient
I can well afford to shop at Whole Foods and do, but I grew up in a family with not a lot of money, with a mother who could make wonderful meals out of not much. We baked bread, canned in the summer, grew a few vegetables. There were many meat-free meals, but I never thought much of it. The food was well-prepared and presented. I still relish fried cabbage and noodle dinners and fried pepper sandwiches. Now I refuse to pay for a "can of beans" when I can make my own more cheaply. I also have my mother's old cookbooks from the 30's which have traditional, Depression-economy recipes.

Here's one tip: cook a big pot of beans or lentils, put them in freezer storage bags and press the bags relatively flat, then lay stack of bags flat in freezer. After freezing, bags can be easily stored book-shelf fashion in the freezer. At any given time I have five or six kinds of beans in the freezer. The flattened bags thaw quickly. (Be sure to wash and reuse the bags.)

Here's a recipe for a satisfying, easy white bean soup.

Use a quart of your favorite (chicken, vegetable) broth

Use a blender to liquify 1 cup of cooked white beans

Add this to the broth along with a cup of unblended white beans

Heat this mixture to a slow simmer and then add chopped greens (kale, spinach, chard, etc.)

Simmer until the greens are wilted, but don't cooked them to death

Serve with fresh baked southern corn bread.
-- CyclingFool