Moms Need To Know

Imagine my shock when I was contacted by the people at Rachael Ray Magazine asking if I would be interested in posting some of their inexpensive recipes that appear each month in the “$10 Spot” section.  After looking at the copy of the September magazine that they sent me last week, I said “Sure!”

PREP 15 min COOK 10 min

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound penne rigate pasta
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and coarsely chopped
• ¼ red onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper
• One 6-ounce can solid white tuna in water, drained and broken into chunks
• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, drain and spread onto a baking sheet to cool.
2. Meanwhile, pour the vinegar into a large bowl and whisk in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Stir in the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olives. Add the pasta and parsley and toss; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tuna. Top with feta.

The great thing about this recipe is that it includes so many things that we already have in our pantry and for which we can get great deals. Red Wine Vinegar?  Got that last week at Giant for free!  Olive Oil?  Getting that this week at Giant on the BOGO sale with an additional $1 coupon.  Parsley?  I bought a $.99 plant at the beginning of the summer and I have enough to keep my entire street swimming in free parsley…ditto the tomatoes!  Pasta & tuna?  Do people actually PAY for Pasta & Tuna? 

So here is your challenge:  take this recipe (and try it - we had it last night for dinner and it was great) and tell me how cheap you can make it!

Here are the original numbers, courtesy of Rachael Ray Magazine:

• Pasta:  $1.25
• Red Wine Vinegar:  $.27
• Olive Oil:  $.59
• Tomatoes:  $.96
• Cucumber:  $.50
• Red Onion:  $.30
• Kalamata olives:  $1.20
• Parsley:  $.33
• Tuna:  $1.80
• Feta:  $.96

Total:  $8.16 or $2.04/serving

Let me know how cheaply YOU can make this!

(for more recipes, please visit www.RachaelRayMag.com; photography by Kana Okada)

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