HOW TO GO
What: Author Leanne Brown will introduce ‘Good & Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day’ and give tips for saving money on meals.
When: Tuesday, July 21,
at 7 p.m.
Where: Books & Co. at The Greene Shopping Center, 4453 Walnut St., Beavercreek
More info: Booksandco.com or (937) 429-2169.
When I was in graduate school, I had to make my dollars stretch. For more than a year, I lived solely on my paycheck as a teaching assistant and after I paid rent, utilities and gasoline, had about $30 to spend on groceries and miscellaneous needs for the next 30 days. It was difficult back then in the late 1980s to eat on less than $1 a day. If my friends invited me over for dinner, I was there. If book reps visited campus and dropped off doughnuts, I wrapped up a few and saved them for breakfast the following day.
So I was very interested a couple weeks ago when a copy of Leanne Brown’s “Good & Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day” arrived in the newsroom. Why $4 a day? Because that’s the average benefit per person receiving assistance through SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. According to my colleague Josh Sweigart, an investigative reporter who has researched food insecurity in the area, the current allotment in Ohio is $4.09 per person.
About 1.7M Ohioans received benefits through SNAP, but according to a report released last year by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, nearly half the households receiving those benefits deplete their monthly allotment within the first two weeks. The foodbanks’ report also reveals that food insecurity drives more than 2 million Ohioans (that’s more than 1 in 6) to stand in emergency food lines.
Whether you receive benefits through SNAP, live on a fixed income or want to put back money for your children’s college funds or your own retirement, “Good & Cheap” offers a variety of recipes as well as tips for getting the most out of your grocery shopping.
You’ll have an opportunity to see Leanne Brown on Tuesday, July 21, at Books & Co. at The Greene Shopping Center in Beavercreek. In preparation for her visit, I asked her a few questions:
Q. What are a few of your favorite recipes in the book?
A. I love so many of them. I make the Kale Caesar Salad pretty much every week, and the Chana Masala is a classic that I go back to over and over. I like that one particularly because so many of my close friends make it for themselves regularly, and they tell me every time. It warms my heart.
At this time of year, when the summer vegetables are coming in, I make the Savory Summer Cobbler a lot and can’t wait to be able to make the Mexican Street Corn. The Melon Smoothie is very popular, too: you cube and then freeze your leftover watermelon, then whiz it up in the blender with a splash of vanilla for an ultra-refreshing drink that has the consistency of a slushy or granita. Wonderful for kids!
But if I had to choose my weird personal favorite, it’s probably the Broccoli on Toast. With a little anchovy, chili and garlic, and Parmesan on top for extra salty richness, I LOVE it.
Q. What's your No. 1 tip for saving money on groceries?
A. I have a big list at the beginning of the book (Pages ix-xv) that work really well together. So it's a complex thought, but the best tip is to buy items that you will use for multiple meals. Foods that are flexible that you know you'll use a bunch of ways throughout the week. Eggs are super flexible, for example.
Q. What's your favorite tip for preparing food?
A. Be patient and kind with yourself. If you're just starting out cooking, don't expect everything to be perfect, and don't beat yourself up if something isn't so good. The next thing will be! The other tip that goes right along with this is not to be afraid of simple foods. Instead of buying a jar of spaghetti sauce that has a long list of ingredients, try making sauce from just a can of good tomatoes, a little garlic, and maybe some fresh basil, if you're lucky. You'll feel so powerful knowing you can get simple meals on the table, and you'll love them just as much as something you more complicated.
Q. What else would you like people to know?
A. For every copy of Good and Cheap sold, we donate a copy to someone who can't afford one (it says so right on the cover of the new edition). Access Wireless is our distribution partner. They're a service provider for Lifeline, offering a free phone and a monthly allotment of airtime to eligible, low-income consumers. Each day, Access Wireless interacts with people who are looking for tools to help improve their circumstances. Their customers are just the people we want to reach, so they'll help us get the books into the hands of people who need it most.
What we made:
SAVORY SUMMER COBBLER (Page 94)
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the pan
3 or 4 medium-size zucchini or summer squash, chopped into bite-site pieces
3 or 4 large tomatoes, canned or fresh, chopped into bite-size pieces *
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 scallions, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup fresh basil (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Topping
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1½ cups all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup milk
sprinkling of fresh chopped herbs or scallions
1. Put the butter for the topping in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Lightly oil an 8- by 10-inch baking dish (or any baking dish that will accommodate the vegetables) and pile in the zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, lemon zest and basil, if using. Pour the olive oil over the top, scatter a generous amount of salt and pepper over everything, and mix it up with your hands. Bake the vegetables for 25 minutes while you prepare the biscuit topping.
3. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika and cheese in a bowl.
4. Once the butter is frozen, use a box grated to flake it into the flour mixture. Gently massage the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly but still clumpy. Add the milk and quickly bring the dough together. Don’t knead it. Lumpiness is fine and results in a flaky topping. Put it in the fridge until the vegetables come out of the oven.
5. Once the vegetable mixture has cooked for 25 minutes, remove it from the oven and quickly top it with small clumps of biscuit dough. The vegetables should still be visible in some areas.
6. Bake until the vegetables are bubbly and the topping is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with some more Cheddar and some chopped herbs or scallions.
* If you have very large and juicy tomatoes, you might want to remove some of the seeds and juice so that the final dish is less watery. If a little juice doesn’t bother you, just leave them as is.
Our assessment: This cobbler is delicious and satisfying. If you want to add meat, consider leftover chicken or roast.
From the book: "Good & Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day" by Leanne Brown; 190 pages, $16.95. Published by Workman, 2015. For every sale, a free copy of the book will be donated to people in need.
What you get: Accompanying this brilliant collection of recipes covering breakfast, dinner, snacks and small meals, drinks and desserts are tips for setting up a basic pantry and strategies for saving money. We want to try Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars ($0.30 per bar/$3.60 for a dozen) and Half-Veggie Burgers ($0.90 per serving;/$7.20 for 8).
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