4 Ingredients for Cheap Summer Meals
Summer is a season full of delicious foods, so get cooking! For dozens of delicious summer meal options that won’t break your budget, keep the following yummy ingredients in your kitchen this season:
Beans
Beans are one of the most versatile and affordable foods out there, and they’re perfect in a huge variety of summer dishes. Whether you mix them together for a bean salad, add them to pasta or quinoa, eat them in tacos and other easy Mexican recipes, or use them to make veggie burgers, beans are a cheap, healthy way to make any meal more delicious and packed with protein.
Tuna
Tuna is another easy way to add flavor and protein to a dish for very little money. Keep canned tuna in your pantry and you’ll always be just minutes away from dozens of easy meals. Tuna salad with mayonnaise and celery is easy to whip up in no time at all, but you can also add tuna to pasta salads or green salads, or even shape them into tuna burgers for the grill.
Lettuce
Aside from being a staple in fresh salads, lettuce is an easy way to lighten up your favorite carb-heavy meals. Instead of using tortillas and bread for tacos, sandwiches and wraps this summer, wrap up your meats, cheeses and veggies in crunchy lettuce leaves! Not only are lettuce wraps great for you, but they won’t weigh you down as much as your average sandwich might.
Pasta
Pasta is one of those ingredients that should be in your cupboard all year round. In the summer, however, pasta is especially nice to have for whenever you’re craving a quick pasta salad! Pasta salads are easy dishes to prepare since they don’t really require a recipe; simply throw in whatever veggies and cheese you have in your fridge and dress your noodles with pesto, olive oil or balsamic. Chill your pasta salads in the fridge for refreshing dinners that will cool you off when it’s hot outside.
Try these tasty Santa Fe Chicken Packets for an easy, frugal summer meal:
Santa Fe Chicken Packets
- 1 15-oz can Rosarita® Premium Whole Black Beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
- 1 10-oz can Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup shredded reduced fat Mexican Cheese blend
Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat according to manufacturer’s directions. Stir together beans, corn, drained tomatoes and cumin in a medium bowl.
Place four 18×12-inch pieces of heavy foil on the counter. Spray each with cooking spray. Place 1 breast in the center on each piece of foil. Spoon 1/4th of the bean mixture over chicken for each packet. Bring up the short sides of each packet and double fold the top. Double fold both ends to seal each packet, leaving space for steam to gather.
Place packets on the grate of a covered grill. Grill 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the centers (a thermometer should read 165°F). Carefully open packets; sprinkle 1/4th cheese on top of each breast. Close foil and let stand for 2 minutes or until cheese melts.
Author Bio: This is a guest post by Meredith K. on behalf of Ro*Tel. Visit www.ro-tel.com for more affordable summer recipes and Ro*Tel’s famous queso dip!
Back to Maggie: If you have a sweet tooth then you have to check out my original s’mores recipes! Other s’more recipes and ideas here. Or follow my s’mores board on Pinterest! And… a big thanks to Meredith K for that awesome recipe and guest post!
Leave a Reply