Smoky black bean burger
Charred at the edges, soft in the middle, with pickled beetroot and a lot of black pepper.
Under a tenth of the land of beef burger.
Dishes
Things worth cooking
No recipes here, and no lectures. Each of these is a dish people cook because it tastes good. Underneath each one is what it costs the world compared with the meal it usually stands in for, so you can take the dinner and leave the argument, or read the argument and skip the dinner.
Looking for methods and quantities? We point at recipe collections we trust rather than writing our own.
Twenty minutes or so
For the evenings when cooking is the last thing you want to do.
Chilli peanut noodles
Twenty minutes, one pan, and a sauce of peanut butter, soy and chilli that clings to everything.
About half of the land of chicken noodles.
Lemongrass tofu with sweetcorn
Tofu simmered in a light lemongrass broth with sweetcorn and okra, until it takes on the whole pan.
About a quarter of the land of chicken stir-fry.
Green spaghetti
Blended herbs, garlic and toasted nuts, loosened with pasta water into a sauce that coats every strand.
About a sixth of the land of creamy carbonara.
Falafel salad bowl
Grains, slaw, pickles and falafel in separate heaps, so every forkful is a different combination.
About 1.5 times the land of chicken salad box.
Slow-roast sweet potato
Roasted until the skin blisters and the inside turns to jam, split open with black pepper and olive oil.
About a sixth of the land of jacket potato with cheese.
Make a lot, eat it twice
These are better the next day, and cheaper by the portion.
Golden dal with fried cumin
Soft split lentils finished with cumin seeds fried in oil until they crackle, poured over the top.
About 1.5 times the land of chicken curry.
Chana masala
Chickpeas in a dark, sour-sweet tomato sauce, sharpened with a squeeze of lemon at the end.
About 1.7 times the land of chicken curry.
Minestrone
Thick with beans and small pasta, better the next day, and it costs almost nothing to make a lot of it.
Under a tenth of the land of beef and vegetable soup.
Ordering out
Dishes worth looking for on a menu, rather than asking what they can do without the chicken.
Falafel with hummus and warm flatbread
Crisp outside, herby inside, on hummus loose enough to scoop with the bread while it is still warm.
About 1.9 times the land of chicken wrap.
Falafel salad bowl
Grains, slaw, pickles and falafel in separate heaps, so every forkful is a different combination.
About 1.5 times the land of chicken salad box.
Three-mushroom curry noodle soup
A deep yellow coconut curry broth, three kinds of mushroom for texture, and herbs thrown in at the table.
About a sixth of the land of chicken noodle soup.
