Poor Man’s Chef – Dinner for Two
You don’t need to spend a ton of money at a restaurant to have a sumptuous dinner for two – you just need to be creative!
While cooking, treat yourself by starting with a glass of the bubbly stuff like Freixenet Brut Nature (Approx. $9) from Spain. The Spanish call their bubbly “Cava” not Champagne. It tastes really good and your date or dinner guest will never realize that you paid less than $10 for it.
Next is the salad. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, consider yourself a lucky Poor Man’s Chef because these guys nearly give away lettuce and salad stuff for free. Here’s the salad stuff that you’ll need:
- Sorrento- Fancy bag of lettuce that is a mixture of Baby Arugula, Baby Spinach, and Baby Lettuces. Cost for a bag $1.99
- Butter Lettuce & Radicchio – Cost for a bag $1.99
- Romaine Hearts – 3 hearts for $2.29
Grab a nice salad bowl and mix a little less than a half a bag of each lettuce and cut up 1 Romaine Heart. The rest of the lettuce can be for tomorrow night’s magical creation. Next, grab yourself some fresh asparagus and green beans and chop them up. Fire up a pan, melt some butter in it and add the fresh chopped up asparagus and green beans. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar and soy sauce over the vegetables in the pan. When the vegetables are done cooking, sprinkle them over your salad greens. Season the salad with some salt and pepper. Lastly, top each salad with some Brianna’s Home style Chipotle Cheddar Dressing. One warning: This dressing ain’t cheap at around $4 a bottle. But it’s worth the splurge for this salad and you’ll have lots of dressing leftover for another time. Pair this salad with the 2007 Goats Do Roam White wine from South Africa. At only $7.99, it’s a steal of a white wine and goes really well with this salad creation.
Up next is Supper. I’m pleased to say that no leftovers went to waste in the creation of this tasty chicken dish.
Grab a big skillet. Warm it up and coat it with some olive oil. Next, melt two pieces of butter. Now add some chopped garlic (chopped garlic is typically found in a jar in the produce section). Throw in a handful of grape tomatoes into your skillet. Squash the tomatoes into the garlic butter. Add some chopped up onions – any kind of onions will do. Add a can of chopped tomatoes. Lastly, add the seasonings – salt, pepper, cilantro leaves, paprika, ground cayenne pepper, chipotle chile pepper, and ground coriander seed. A generous sprinkle of each spice based on your liking. It’s now time to add tonight’s meat to our skillet medley. I cut up 2 chicken cutlets and 2 pieces of turkey sausage and added it to the skillet mixture (Add whatever meat you have whether its beef, chicken, or pork). Cook it all up together and add some water as needed so you don’t burn your fancy creation.
On another burner, cook up 1 cup of white rice. After the rice is cooked and you’ve strained the excess water, mix the rice in with the stuff in your skillet. Pair this homemade Jambalaya with the 2007 Lo Tengo Torrontes from Argentina (Price: $7.99). Or if you prefer a red wine, give this “fancy dish” a go with the 2007 Sebeka Cabernet/Pinotage (Price $7.50).
End this meal with a couple of mini cannolis from your local bakery. $1 buck a piece.
Bon Appétit fellow Poor Chefs!
Posted in Food, Poor Man's Chef | 
Tags: Cava, Freixenet, Jambalaya, LoTengo, Poor Mans Chef, Sebeka, Trader Joes
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