Summer is such a wonderful time of year in regards to food. So much good stuff. So many choices. For me, it's hard to decide what's for supper some nights. My mom has a huge garden (and ours isn't too shabby), so I get lots of vegetables and herbs all season long. Yesterday, I was over there, and I was thinking, "hey, this is like the farmers' market, only better, cause I don't pay." Now that's what I'm talking about.
This week's meal is a beautiful summer meal. We had it last week. I was reading Frank Stitt's Bottega Favorita, and was inspired. If you've never heard of Frank Stitt, well, you are missing out! I have his original cookbook, Frank Stitt's Southern Table, and every single page is beautiful and inspirational. Frank Stitt is one of the first folks that made a really big deal (in the fancy foodie world) of eating what grows around us. If you are from Alabama, it's Chilton County peaches. When we lived in Tennessee, it was Granger County tomatoes. And, in Georgia, it's watermelons from Cordele. Some things are just better grown in specific places, you know?
But, off my soapbox. The inspiration hit, and then, to make this a $5 dinner, I had to do a bit of tweaking. It was worth it. Definitely.
Corn, pasta, and tomato salad
1 pound short pasta, cooked--on sale--$0.90
4 ears of corn, cooked, taken off the cob--on sale 12/$3--$1
1 onion, chopped fine--$0.40
Basil. No measuring here. A big handful--grow your own! You can't afford it otherwise.
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half--$2.00
Vinagrette
1/3 cup red wine vinegar--$0.43
2 T water
1/2 cup oil--$0.19
Garlic to taste (I used 1 clove; sometimes I use dry)
1.5 tsp Italian seasoning (dry)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Pepper
Combine cooked pasta, corn kernels, onion, basil, and tomatoes with vinagrette. Allow to sit 1-2 hours for flavors to mingle.
Total cost for this pasta salad--$4.92
We ate this as a meal, but I also ate leftovers with leftover cubed London broil in it (tasty!). It'd be good with chicken or shrimp, too. Whatever you have. To round out the meal, you could serve watermelon--on sale $0.49/lb--so maybe an additional $1.50?
Total cost for salad and watermelon--$6.42
As always, check out more meal ideas at $5 dinners and the bargain meal of the week.
1 comment:
I love putting fresh corn in pasta salad and I make the version you posted, a lot, in the summer!! The only thing I do differently is use whole wheat pasta....I make a whole bowl of this and then use the leftovers during the week in various ways...
PS
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