Curry Dinner

Ah, curry.

There's something very comforting about a ladle full of soupy Japanese curry poured over fragrant freshly steamed rice. The pot I made today turned out to be plenty for the two of us to eat for dinner, plus three servings leftover. Those will be for lunches. Here's a cost breakdown for anyone who's interested:

• 2 carrots (3 pounds for $1.80)
• 1/2 a bundle asparagus (1 bundle for $2)
• 3 small potatoes (10 lbs for $3)
• 1 onion (6 for $1)
• 3 ribs celery (1 head for $1)
• 1/2 bell pepper (1 for $1)
• two squares of curry powder from the depths of my drawer. I don't remember what it cost
• 1/2 pound skirt steak, cut into small cubes ($3?)
• whatever two cups of rice costs

So if you needed to go out and buy every single ingredient I put into this curry, you'd spend about $15 at the market. But I still have most of my celery, carrots, onions, and potatoes so I'm thinking it was closer to $8. That's for five meals. A few more cubes of curry and the rest of the vegetables could have fed a family of 20 for under $20. Tips?

• shop at Asian markets and farmers' markets that are known for good prices.
• buy only seasonal fruits and vegetables
• have a few dishes in mind that you'd like to make, but be flexible if you notice that what you wanted to buy costs a lot more than what's sitting next to it
• don't overbuy. I usually think about four dinners that I'd like to make and make sure they'll either make decent leftovers or that I have sandwich materials for lunch. If you plan four meals for the week, by the time you eat leftovers, find creative uses for the odds and ends you end up with, and have a spur of the moment dinner out, it's time to shop again
• try to empty your fridge each week. If you're always shopping for food when your fridge is still half full, you need to get more creative with your cooking. It's tempting to think you need to buy new ingredients because you've suddenly acquired bits and pieces of things that need to be used up. But don't go out and buy ten things because you want to use up that last potato in a shepherd's pie. Just bake it, eat it, and be done with it!