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Recipe Roundup: Cooking on a Budget

It's no longer summer over here and I can say with certainty that we've finally had our fill of fresh sweet corn. And zucchini. What about you?

This week was much more organized in terms of my cooking more regularly. Nick and I are trying to do better with budgeting and that means less splurging on expensive produce and going out to eat.

At the same time, I've been trying to buy fewer vegetables at the market. This is good because then it reduces the chance of wasted food. And I feel less anxious during the week that something will go bad before I can cook with it.

Plus, we're lucky enough to live near a good number of grocery stores so we're not at risk of running out of food.

I'm looking forward to fall foods and all the new recipes I'll have a chance to try this season. Tell me in the comments what you're interested in seeing and I'll whip something up 😛

Here's what I've been cooking recently:

Roasted Sweet Corn

Farmers Market ingredients used: corn

Other ingredients used: butter, harissa

Notes:

  • A go-to from this summer season. Will make again and again. So easy!

Recipe inspiration: Food Network (Tyler Florence)

Radicchio Salad with Roasted Concord Grape Dressing

Farmers Market ingredients used: radicchio, concord grapes

Other ingredients used: dried cranberries, cashews, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

Notes:

  • My end recipe was much different than the inspo because I didn't have the same ingredients. I wanted to try roasting grapes and the result was a richer, sweeter grape flavor but still tart. This salad was eaten leftover for a couple lunches and I added dried cranberries to the mix. Worked really well with the sweet yet tangy grape vinaigrette and the bitter crunchy radichio.

Recipe inspiration: Epicurious

Roasted Sweet Corn and Leek Chowder

Farmers Market ingredients used: corn, leeks, new potatoes

Other ingredients used: garlic, turmeric, cashew milk, lemon

Notes:

  • My soup strayed quite far from the recipe inspo but it still came out great. Simple, comforting flavors that worked great in these cooler temps. Used turmeric to bring out the color in the already-beautiful roasted sweet yellow corn. I highly recommend using fresh corn for this dish.

Recipe inspiration: LittleBroken.com

Zucchini Gratin

Farmers Market ingredients used: zucchini, corn

Other ingredients used: cashew parm, onion

Notes:

  • This was delicious as is, or on top of brown rice. I will definitely be using this technique (specifically the cashew parm topping) for future vegetable gratins. Loved that it cooks all in one pan.

Recipe inspiration: Minimalist Baker

Recipe Roundup: Cooking on a Budget
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