Three Meals, Four People, $10 : Dad for a Day

As a raw bachelor, I found that shopping for a family involved a lot of unfamiliar decisions. For instance, what to serve for breakfast. To me, breakfast is an unvarying menu of oat bran doused with steak sauce, followed by a vitamin pill and a double espresso, but from what I can remember about being a kid, I didn’t think I’d be able to get away with serving that.

It turns out you can blow a surprising amount of money on breakfast, starting with milk and cereal. Steeled as I am to oat bran, I chose plain oatmeal, which seemed to be the best buy, and figured I might be able to reconcile people to it by adding sliced bananas.

As I started shopping for lunch, I realized I was shopping bachelor-fashion--that is, I’d walked blindly into a market without a coupon to my name. A few days earlier I’d noticed five pounds of frozen chicken drumsticks going for $2 at a supermarket, and I’d been figuring on making a spectacular orzo risotto (using a Mexican brand of orzo, 25 cents for a seven-ounce package), but to my amazement those cheap drumsticks had already sold out. The best meat deal I could find was fresh chicken at 55 cents a pound.

Anyway, by roasting the chicken the night before, I could make chicken sandwiches for lunch and accompany them with cabbage and carrot slaw. Then at dinner there would be leftover chicken to improve or accompany the vegetarian main course, which used potatoes and the rest of the cabbage. This Indian potato-and-cabbage dish happens to be not only cheap, nutritious and filling but surprisingly good--I’ve made it voluntarily in the past.

As for my decision to follow a sort of curry with peach crisp,--well, peaches were cheap and I was running out of money.

I adapted this Sukhi Bhaji from a recipe in “Flavors of India” by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff (101 Books: 1972). I dropped the black mustard seeds, which require going to an Indian import shop, made the fresh ginger optional, suggested curry powder instead of the spice mixture Sacharoff gave (for the record, it was 1/4 teaspoon each of cayenne, turmeric, cumin and coriander, all ground), substituted fresh for dried garlic and omitted the tomato because of price.

SUKHI BHAJI (Dry Curry of Cabbage and Potatoes)

1/2 head cabbage, about 1 pound

2 large potatoes, about 1/2 pound

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 head onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon minced ginger root, optional

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Slice cabbage fine and then slice crosswise. Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch dice and wash off starch in 2 changes of water.

Heat oil in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender. Add potatoes and garlic and stir until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add cabbage, curry powder, ginger and salt. Mix well.

Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cabbage and potatoes are thoroughly cooked and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Add lemon juice, stir once and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Perry Menu

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal with bananas, brown sugar and milk

Toast

Milk

Coffee

LUNCH

Chicken sandwiches

Cabbage-and-carrot salad

Milk

DINNER

Bhaji (dry curry of cabbage and potatoes)

Roast chicken

Peach crisp

SHOPPING LIST

Purchased at Alpha Beta, Viva and Vons

1 small ginger root: .24 1 3/4 pounds peaches: $1.52 1 carton (18 servings) Quaker Oats: $1.59 1/2 gallon homogenized whole milk: $1.37 1 brown onion: .23 1 pound head of cabbage: .82 1 lemon: .25 1 2/3 pounds potatoes: .55 3 carrots: .34 1 loaf white bread: .34 1 1/2 pounds bananas (4): .75 3 1/2 pounds chicken at .55 per pound: $1.95 TOTAL: $9.95 Note: Discounting three-quarters of the price of the Quaker Oats (carton makes 18 servings), I could have gotten eggs and even a larger chicken.

Staples: brown sugar, coffee, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, oil, dill