The People's Cookbook is an idea for having easy, simple meals for people to make on a tight budget. People need to eat, but processed food is bad for you and is often more expensive than making your own. These recipes will hope to give comrades the recipes they need to eat well while giving less money to those fuckers at Walmart.

Anyone can post a People's Cookbook recipe, provided it meets these criteria:

  1. The total cost of the meal must be affordable. I won't put an exact cost on this because prices vary all around the world, but try to keep the recipe to ingredients you can easily and cheaply get from the store.

  2. The meal must be simple enough that an untrained person can do it. No fancy Bernaise sauces and dauphinoise. These need to be easy to follow recipes, that anyone can do at home.

  3. The meal doesn't use specialist equipment. Again, not specifying exact equipment, but nobody in real life owns a sous vide. Make sure your recipe can be done with a hand whisk as well as an immersion blender, etc etc

  4. The post is formatted well. This means a clear ingredients list, clear step by step instructions, and preferably a picture of the finished product.

  5. Make sure to offer alternatives if necessary. Can you make your dish with Quorn instead of meat? Can it be done with almond milk? Can you make it halal or kosher? Present options.

To get a recipe into the cookbook, post it with the tag in the title [PEOPLE'S COOKBOOK]. Eventually, we'll get a wiki or something set up so that they're all collated in one place.

Bon appetit!

  • culdrought [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

    Details

    • Prep time: 5 mins
    • Cook time: 15 mins
    • Serves: 4

    Ingredients

    • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
    • 1 28.2-ounce can peeled tomatoes in puree with basil
    • 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, halved, pitted
    • 3 anchovy fillets, chopped
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons drained capers (optional but nice to have)
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional. I never use this)
    • 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (can be substituted with dried chili flakes which should be available in supermarkets)
    • 3/4 pound spaghetti
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional. Can be substituted with coriander/cilantro)
    • Grated Parmesan cheese (for serving — optional)

    Directions

    • Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
    • Add tomatoes with puree, olives, anchovies, capers, oregano, and crushed red pepper.
    • Simmer sauce over medium-low heat until thickened, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
    • Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite.
    • Drain pasta; return to same pot. Add sauce and parsley. Toss over low heat until sauce coats pasta, about 3 minutes. Serve with cheese.

    Chicken Pilau

    One of my favourite things to cook because it's really simple. All you're doing is frying a few things up, adding rice and water, and cooking till its done.

    All of the spices are optional, although I would suggest using at least cumin and dried chili flakes.

    Details

    • Prep time: 7 mins
    • Cook time: 30 mins
    • Serves: 3

    Ingredients

    Spices

    • 1 Bay Leaf (optional)
    • 1 Star Anise (optional)
    • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
    • 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes (adjust to taste)
    • Tumeric (optional — just makes the finished dish look nice and golden)

    Other ingredients

    • Chicken (this is very flexible — it can be any other meat or meat substitute)
    • Oil
    • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
    • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
    • Salt (to taste)
    • 2 tablespoons coriander/cilantro (optional)
    • 1.5 cups rice
    • 1.25 cups water

    Directions

    • Rinse rice at least 3 times, or until the water is clear. Soak for 30 mins (don't stress about the time, just do this right at the start before prepping your other ingredients and it'll be fine).
    • Heat a pan with oil and add the spices.
    • Sauté until the spices begin to smell nice.
    • Add onion and garlic, sauté until they start to brown.
    • Add chicken and sauté until it turns white (approx 3-5 mins).
    • Drain the rice and add it to the pot. Fry for ~1 min.
    • Add 1.25 cups water (I like the rice to be dryer, so I use slightly less than a 1:1 ratio of rice to water. Experiment and adjust to taste.)
    • Add salt to taste at this point — it is very difficult to season rice once it's cooked.
    • Distribute the ingredients so that everything is covered by the water.
    • Bring the water to a boil, then cover and cook on low heat until the rice is cooked (usually when the bubbling sounds get softer/stop. About 15 mins for this quantity).
    • When done, fluff the rice and let it sit for a minute or two before serving.