Friday, March 21, 2008

Frugal Food: Edamame and Feta Salad

Knowing I was going out for drinks with K and some of his friends tonight and yet tired and not inclined to cook, I whipped up this little salad last night with what I had in the house. I cooked up some frozen edamame quickly (three to five minutes in boiling water is all it takes), crumbled in some feta cheese, and grilled a chicken sausage to slice in, too. If I'd had some leftover grilled chicken handy, that would have been perfect, as would some thin slices of red onion, but I used what I had. I topped the salad off with a tablespoon of vinaigrette from the container I keep in the fridge, and hey, presto: a tasty, nutritious afternoon snack that will keep me from having to buy (and eat) greasy bar food.

Process: Mix ingredients together. Eat.

Ingredients:
About a cup and a half of frozen edamame, blanched. I get the shelled kind--they're much cheaper, $1.29 for a bag at Whole Foods (Trader Joe's is always sold out). This is about a third to half the bag, so let's say $.60.
About an ounce of feta cheese. We'd just picked up a pound of feta at Kalustyan's: it was $7, so 1 oz would cost $.44.
One chicken sausage. This came from a pack of five that cost me $4 at Trader Joe's. Again, you could certainly do leftover grilled chicken here (I think it would be better, actually), but my version cost me $.80.
A tablespoon of vinaigrette. The price is too negligible to calculate, so I'll give a guesstimate of $.10. I make my own, and just keep it in the fridge for times like these.

So the grand total is $1.94. Pretty frugal, wouldn't you say? Again, in a perfect world, this salad would have thin slices of red onion, but even so, you're not exactly breaking the bank--especially because in a perfect world, it would have grilled chicken rather than chicken sausage, and that would be cheap enough to make up for the onion.

4 comments:

Ms. M&P said...

Thanks for the recipe! I'm always looking for frugal recipes. Edamame is one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

If you have endocrine problems, you may want to look into the effects of unfermented soy on the body. I cut out all soy several months ago (which made me SO sad) and have been feeling better and having better test results.

I don't know what your specific issue is, and you may have already looked into this. Just wanted to share my experience.

English Major said...

I doubt I'm eating enough soy to make a substantial difference--I love me some edamame and miso soup, but I don't eat them every day (a couple of times a week, usually) and rarely substitute soy products for meat and dairy products. No soy veggie burgers, no soy cheese & yogurt, etc. Soy milk occasionally, and the odd soy breakfast patty, but that's it.

Nevertheless, I'd be interested to hear a little more about your experience. I've heard whisperings about men not eating soy because it raises estrogen levels, but my estrogen is low, not high, so I've never been worried, and I've never heard anything about avoiding soy from my endocrinologist (though that could be because she's very hospital-y and not so holistic).

If you'd rather discuss in a more private venue, please do feel free to email me: englishmajormoney@gmail.com.

Thanks!

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