Dinner on a Budget
Broccoli and chicken drumsticks were on sale again!
I did not have a plan before cooking this meal, so I am quite proud of the results! Yay for improvisation!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of whole wheat pasta = £1 >>>>> 1/2 pound whole wheat pasta = £0.50
- 1 bottle of vegetable oil = £1.58 >>>>> 2 TB of oil = £0.10
- 1 parmesan cheese (3 for £2 deal) >>>>> £0.66
- 8 small onions = £1 >>>>> 2 small onions £0.20
- 3 heads of garlic = £1 >>>>> 3 cloves of garlic £0.30
- 5 chicken drumsticks = £1 >>>>> 1 drumstick £0.20
- 1 head of broccoli = £1
My dinner cost £2.93 (once spread over 6 meals, more like £0.50 per serving) and I made enough to last me at least the entire week.
Preparation
Garlic Broccoli Pasta
Brown chopped garlic in a little olive oil, then drizzle it over strained pasta. With the leftover garlic-infused oil, saute the broccoli stems. Once they turn bright green, add the broccoli heads on top and cover the mixture with a lid to steam until cooked. Once they are done, pour the broccoli and garlic oil mix over the strained pasta. Salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: sprinkle some parmesan cheese and red chili flakes. You can also cook red chili flakes with the garlic for more flavor.
Onion Glazed Chicken
First, rinse the chicken drumsticks thoroughly under cold water then pat them dry with paper towels. With a little oil, massage salt and pepper onto the drumstick and then set them aside. In a pan (with a lid), heat some oil on med-high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the drumsticks and cook them until they are a golden, crispy brown. Cover with a lid since the oil tends to splatter. Once browned, remove the chicken from the pan. At this point, the chicken is still raw inside since they were cooked on high heat. Don’t worry, we are not done yet!
Next, add 2 small onions to the smoldering pan. Use the onions to scrape away the browned bottom of the pan. Onions magically removes the most stubborn of cooking residue and become super tasty as a result!
Turn the heat to low. Return the browned chicken drumsticks to the pan on top of the raw onions. Replace the lid. Once the onions wilt a little, add a ladle full of pasta water or some wine to make a glaze (and deglaze the pan). Replace the lid and keep an eye on the pan until the chicken is fully cooked. You might need to stir once in a while to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. I would leave it on low heat for at least 15 minutes to ensure it is cooked all the way through.
I used pasta water instead of wine for the chicken and it mixed wonderfully with the onions to make a naturally sweet glaze. The flavorful chicken paired very well with the simple garlic broccoli pasta! Extra seasoning is not necessary since we seasoned the chicken beforehand. Cooking meat is a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it beats eating eggs any day.
For someone without a clear plan before cooking, this meal turned out very good!
Selene + Abroad 