Magnificent News: Eat Voraciously | Budget Week Day 1: A can and a plan

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Here's what's for dinner tonight.

By G. Daniela Galarza

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Budget Week Day 1: A can and a plan

Good day to you, and welcome to Budget Week! The latest jobs report shows that unemployment in the United States remains near its lowest point since before the start of the pandemic. Job growth is strong, and, as my friend Jonathan likes to remind me, wages are rising at their fastest pace in more than a decade. Still, they're not keeping up with today's rampant inflation, which is causing sticker shock across the globe. Almost everything costs more, including food.

What to do? Well, necessity is the mother of invention, and we all need to eat. This week, I'm sharing recipes that serve 4 to 6 people and cost less than $2 per serving*. Tonight's meal, for Carrot, Cumin and Kidney Bean Burgers, set me back just 56 cents per serving.

But when the British cookbook author and activist Jack Monroe first developed the recipe back in 2012, broke and reliant on food banks, its total cost per serving (based on 6) was the equivalent of about 10 cents. That's an eye-widening, gasp-worthy 460 percent increase in only 10 years.

Monroe made a name for herself when she began writing about the recipes she developed when she was living in poverty in her teens and 20s. After the publication of her first cookbook in 2014, "A Girl Called Jack: 100 Delicious Budget Recipes," she started to use her fresh fame to raise awareness of the British government's harmful austerity measures, which disproportionately affect the poor.

There's a whole lot to learn from Monroe, because her recipes are more than formulas for pinching pennies. They're a glimpse at her cooking theory, which maximizes nutrition and flavor using the cheapest items on the shelf. This recipe calls for 11 ingredients, including cooking oil, salt and pepper, but each of them serves a purpose, adding texture, sweetness, tang and chew. The end result is a remarkable and adaptable dinner guaranteed to satisfy.

A can of beans is the backbone of this recipe, and according to my anecdotal research, beans have gone up in price, but not drastically. It's still possible to get a can of beans for under a dollar, and if you stretch it right, as this recipe does, it can feed four to six people fairly well.

The most expensive ingredient here, by far, is cumin. And, unless you live in Southeast Asia or have your own spice garden, there's a good chance that spices are the priciest items on your shopping list. One way to manage this is to look for sales — on and offline. Another is to buy in bulk when you can, because most spices will last at least a year. In some cases, you can skip a spice, but I wouldn't do it here. The cumin adds a savory quality that enhances these bean burgers, transforming them from so-so to surprising.

💸 Tonight's recipe cost me a total of $3.37, or 56 cents per person for 6 servings. 💸

*The majority of Americans purchase the majority of their food at their nearest grocery store. All of the shopping for this week's Eat Voraciously recipes was done the week of Sept. 5, 2022, at a Safeway grocery store in downtown Washington, D.C. Store discounts and coupons were used when applicable and available. Safeway is a subsidiary of Albertsons, which is the second-largest grocery chain in North America.

Cooking oil, salt, pepper and optional ingredients were omitted from the cost of these recipes.

Today's recipe

Photos by Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post; food styling by Bonnie S. Benwick/The Washington Post

Carrot, Cumin and Kidney Bean Burgers

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

For easy printing and scaling, view this recipe in our Recipe Finder.

Servings: 4 to 6
Total time: 25 mins

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sunflower or other neutral oil, plus more as needed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, scrubbed well and finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Leaves from 4 stems cilantro or 2 stems curly parsley, finely chopped
14 ounces no-salt-added canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon flour, or more as needed
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Hamburger or other soft buns, for serving

Steps

1. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, stir in the onion, carrot, cumin and cilantro or parsley. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, then transfer to a mixing bowl. Wipe out the skillet.

2. Add the kidney beans to the bowl, mashing them to form a burger mix that looks almost pureed. Stir in the flour, which should stiffen the mix, adding more by the teaspoon as needed. Taste, and season with salt, pepper and/or crushed red pepper flakes. Form 4 to 6 patties (the size you like), making them about 1/2-inch thick.

3. Pour in just enough oil to coat the bottom of the same skillet; heat it over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add as many patties as will fit in a single, uncrowded layer. Cook until warmed through and browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, flipping as needed so they cook evenly. Serve warm, on buns.

Adapted from a recipe originally published in "A Girl Called Jack: 100 Delicious Budget Recipes," by Jack Monroe (Michael Joseph, 2014). Tested by Bonnie S. Benwick.

Nutrition information per serving (based on 6): Calories: 201; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 259 mg; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 3 g; Protein: 8 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

If you don't have kidney beans >> pinto or black beans will work fairly well.
Dress these burgers up with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and any condiments you like.
Instead of serving them in buns >> consider using them as a topping for a salad, or serving the patties next to a crunchy slaw.
Not into red pepper flakes? >> Omit them.
If you have any extra onion or herbs, save them — we'll put them to use on Wednesday!

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