Super-Healthy Eating, on a Shoestring

Food & Wine Magazine's Gail Simmons Preps Mediterranean Meal Packed with Grains and Power-Proteins, on a Slim, $35 Budget!

(CBS)  A big part of living a long, healthy life comes down to the way we eat, and a Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world.

On "The Early Show Saturday Edition," Food & Wine magazine Special Projects Manager Gail Simmons accepted our "Chef on a Shoestring" challenge of making a super-healthy, three-course, Mediterranean-style meal on a meager budget of $35.

Simmons utilized ingredients and flavors found in that region.

Her menu is full of longevity-aiding, heart-healthy olive oils, protein-packed grains and cholesterol-reducing seafood. It includes: Quinoa and Shaved Vegetable Salad, Shrimp Skewers with a Feta-Dill Sauce, and Honey-Drizzled Panna Cotta Yogurt.

"Early Show" recipes galore!
Read more about Healthy Living

And, as our "Chef on a Shoestring," Gail was automatically entered in our "How Low Can You Go?" competition. The "Shoestring" chefs with the lowest ingredients totals will be invited back to prep our big, year-end holiday bashes.

FOOD FACTS

QUINOA: Although quinoa is new to the American market, it was a staple of the ancient Incas, who called it "the mother grain." To this day it's an important food in South American cuisine. Hailed as the "supergrain of the future," quinoa contains more protein than any other grain. It's considered a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids.Quinoa is also higher in unsaturated fats and lower in carbohydrates that most grains, and it provides a rich and balanced source of vital nutrients. Tiny and bead-shaped, the ivory-colored quinoa cooks like rice (taking half the time of regular rice) and expands to four times its original volume. Its flavor is delicate, almost bland, and has been compared to that of couscous Quinoa is lighter than but can be used in any way suitable for rice. (Source: "Food Lover's Companion")

FETA CHEESE: Traditionally made feta contains only 264 calories in 3.5 ounces, lower than all other whole-milk cheeses except ricotta and mozzarella. The lower calorie count stems from the lower fat content, at 21 grams per 3.5 ounces. Adding protein rich feta to salads and wraps will boost your protein intake while adding a rich, tangy flavor without adding many calories. (Source: LiveStrong.com)

SHRIMP: Shrimp are anything but small in their nutrient density. Our food ranking system qualified shrimp as an excellent source of selenium and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein - a four-ounce serving of shrimp supplies 23.7 grams of protein (that's 47.4 percent of the daily value for protein) for a mere 112 calories and less than a gram of fat. Shrimp also emerged as a very good source of vitamin D and vitamin B12. (Source: WHFoods.com)

GREEK YOGURT: Yogurt promotes intestinal and vaginal health, improves lactose intolerance, builds stronger bones, enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, and may even have anticancer and weight-loss effects. In a recent study in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers found that obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more body fat than those who just cut calories. A plus for Greek yogurt, in particular, is that it doesn't give you the sugar overload of what you usually find in U.S. grocery stores. To save on fat and calories, reach for a low-fat version. (Source: Health.com's Healthy Eating section

RECIPES

Quinoa Salad with Shaved Vegetables

Quinoa is a delicious, hearty grain and can be cooked and eaten hot, or prepared cold in a salad, which we're going to do today. It's originally from South America jam-packed with protein, vitamins and nutrients (which is why it is sometimes called a SUPERFOOD), and can be combined with many different ingredients. Here is a recipe that is a great way to kick off a meal full of delicious flavors.

INGREDIENTS:
8 large red radishes or 1 large watermelon radish
1 medium carrot, peeled
1 medium fennel bulb, cored
1 cup quinoa, preferably red, rinsed
2 1/2 cups water
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

METHOD:

Using a mandoline, thinly slice the radishes, carrot and fennel bulb. Transfer to a large bowl of ice water and refrigerate for about 1 hour, until crisp.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the quinoa and water to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender, 20 minutes. Let cool.

Drain and dry the vegetables. In a bowl, combine the lemon zest and juice with the oil. Add the quinoa and toss; season with salt and pepper. Serve the quinoa in bowls, topped with the vegetables.

For more recipes, go to Page 2.

[weilert]

NO-ONE WILL LOSE WEIGHT UNLESS THEY WANT TO! Stop dieting; keep track of everything that you eat each day. Secret information will help you to get the body that you want. Each day keep your body properly hydrated with plain water and definitely limit your sodium intake. Keep mindless grazing to a minimum. Remember; eat to live, don?t live to eat! A daily regimen is needed by everyone and that regimen includes proper nourishment. Diets and diet aids do not help anyone! The only way to successfully lose weight and get the body that you deserve is by using secret information. This information is in the book Lose Weight Using Four Easy Steps which can be ordered through the website www.bbotw.com Everyone who has gotten a copy of these secrets has lost weight and become healthier.

[weilert]

NO-ONE WILL LOSE WEIGHT UNLESS THEY WANT TO! Stop dieting; keep track of everything that you eat each day. Secret information will help you to get the body that you want. Each day keep your body properly hydrated with plain water and definitely limit your sodium intake. Keep mindless grazing to a minimum. Remember; eat to live, don?t live to eat! A daily regimen is needed by everyone and that regimen includes proper nourishment. Diets and diet aids do not help anyone! The only way to successfully lose weight and get the body that you deserve is by using secret information. This information is in the book Lose Weight Using Four Easy Steps which can be ordered through the website www.bbotw.com Everyone who has gotten a copy of these secrets has lost weight and become healthier.

[leesasteve1436]

We are a family of three, with 3 dogs and spend around 60.00. How stupid to think I would spend 35.00 on one meal unless it was a holiday? Who ever cooks like that has a heck of a lot more money than the rest of us. Out of touch that is what I say with the average American.

[jkt1954]

Okay, readers, pay attention. I didn't see anywhere in the article that this $35 was for a week. It was a single, one day, 3-course meal for $35. In other words, your food budget is $12,000 a year if this is an average "slim" budget! And, if you have to add in breakfast and lunch, I'm guessing were up to $24, 000 a year or more. Doesn't seem too "average" to me.

[bluntfacts]

In a previous post, stevador39 said:

"$35 dollars will feed a family of four for a week"

Okay. Seven days. $35 divided by 7 = $5 a day. I'm sorry, but I just cannot believe that.

[toldyouso21]

You can get 2 packs of Ramen noodles for 1.00 at Aldis.
Add to that a package of bologna or a can of spam for about 2.98
Get a box of oatmeal and a loaf of bread--3.98 and 1.89 respectively then buy canned goods: bake beans, green beans and rice and a bag of pinto beans--get the canned goods at aldis for 3 for a 1.00, buy a jar of peanut butter, jar of jelly, and a jar of marshmallow creme, package of smoke sausage for 2.50

for lunches--give the kids bologna and ramen noodle soup, or PB & J sandwich or PB and marshmallow sandwich

Breakfast oatmeal--buy the multiflavor pack or buy the offbrand cereal like cheerios at Aldis

Dinner--hotdogs and bakebeans, or smoked sausage and beans or beans and bread or beans and cornbread or sausage and sauerkraut--lots of cheap meals

All week long? Yep. People do this and more. When we were young, we often had ketchup or mayo sandwiches or a boiled egg on toast--funny, how we grew up, got degrees and forgot what it was like to scrimp. I remember sandwiches which were just bread, broken apart, then squeezed into little balls and eaten. Anyone remember a breakfast of toast and jelly with milk? Or an egg sandwich? How about egg on toast with mayo for lunch? Beans and rice for dinner? (meatless days) or hotdots and bakebeans for dinner or lunch. 35.00 is a stretch but it can be done--you will have to get away from the designer grocery stores like super target, henhouse, albertsons and krogers and hyvee if you want to go uber cheap though--and go more towards aldis and the dollar store...but yes, it can be and IS being done. If you want, you can buy 2 jugs of meat, a pound of cheese, 2 loaves of bread and Ramen noodles in all flavors, 2 package of hot dogs and feed a family for a week for LESS than 35.00--if you want too--and if you are really stretching and are a college student, then just buy the Ramen noodles, and just go into the malls and grocery stores especially the organic food stores...there are always people giving away samples--the trick is to just take one or two things from each vendor but to not be picky and accept something from all of them--you can get full that way....try to rotate where you go so they won't figure out you are getting your meals from samples. LOL

[toldyouso21]

CORRECTION: If you want, you can buy 2 jugs of milk, a pound of cheese, 2 loaves of bread and Ramen noodles in all flavors, 2 package of hot dogs and feed a family for a week for LESS than 35.00--if you want too--and if you are really stretching and are a college student, then just buy the Ramen noodles, and just go into the malls and grocery stores especially the organic food stores...there are always people giving away samples--the trick is to just take one or two things from each vendor but to not be picky and accept something from all of them--you can get full that way....try to rotate where you go so they won't figure out you are getting your meals from samples. LOL

[zuser-2009]

True, they do not have a clue. I wonder if they even read any of the comments and know how out of whack they are with the real world.

[unibarbie]

You have to be a real insensitive ****** bag to call $35 for one meal meager. That's over $1000 a month just for dinner alone.

[mswolfestock]

Yeah, really. This series is a huge crock. If they wanted a REAL challenge they would create a meal out of the box of stuff they give you at the Food Pantry.

[toldyouso21]

The food described is not healthy when the shrimp come from mercury and lead laden china..(if you buy at walmart or even whole foods and do not ask for wild shrimp--there you go) If the shrimp is farmed chances are it still is filled with pesticides as are the veggies--nice cancer causing foods..face it, if we really wanted to eat healthy we'd all eat organic--and if we all tried to eat the above organically, the cost for that one meal would be about 83.00 if all the ingredients had to be bought organically and that is just ONE meal. REad fast food nation--with all the chemicals that are in most of our food and all the fake products and ingredients we eat daily--we are all walking time bombs--the meal above is a joke, it cost too much and depending on where the ingredients came from--it is not healthy at all. And just where do they think we can get quinoa--ah yes at the health food store where a bag of quinoa will cost you about 8.99 and if you buy enough shrimp to feed four there, it would cost about 26.00 for the shrimp. but we digress--it is not just WHAT you eat that determines if a dinner is healthy, but where that food was grown, how it was grown and what the ingredients were exposed to (growth hormones, preservatives, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, antibiotics, other chemicals, pollutants, etc. They must really think we are stupid. There is no uber, healthy food in America--not that is affordable--unless people grow their own, including the animals if they are inclined to use eggs, milk or flesh in their diets.

[FauxNews]

You're right about that. It's hard to find healthy food in America. The phrase "Organic" will probably become a chemical company trademark and everything will be made out of Brown-25.

[toldyouso21]

HELLOOOOOOO people. Many in this country feed a family of four on about 12 to 15.00 a day. That is for ALL meals. They buy at places like Aldis, grow a lot of their own food and make cassaroles that can do triple duty as the next days lunch, as well as perhaps another dinner.

Try this--2 lbs of ground beef--7.49, 2 jars of Ragu--1.49 ea, spaghetti--1.29, 1 green pepper .64, bit of salt .42. Fry pepper, add meat, season with salt and pepper and garlic powder--brown the meat, drain. throw in the ragu sauce and boil the spaghetti in a separate pot--in about 20 minutes dinner is ready, will serve about 12 or 4 people twice for dinner and once for lunch, OR use some of the meat sauce left over to make sloppy joes or top smoked sausage sandwiches, or make open face french bread pizza with the meat sauce and top with melted cheese--if 35.00 is a shoe string budget what planet do these people live on, many people would LOVE to spend 35.00 for food in ONE DAY, let alone one meal.

Maybe hollywood and the chefs and those on the east and west coast need a sensitivity day. Spend it with the majority of Americans who do not command salaries in the upper 5%--show them all ordinary people get buy, and get full on LESS than 35.00 per meal. If that is a shoe string then the meal I just described must be a sandal.

[DawnBroderick40]

It's amazing to me what a joke this "shoestring budget" fantasy is. I can get a roast for $8, a chicken for $9, a large pack of ground beef for $9 and a bag of tilapia for $9 and feed my family for at LEAST a week and make at least 2 meals out of each of those items. There's your $35. UNREAL.

[Steve_Woodward]

Wow, Cool! At $35 bucks a pop, and only two weeks left to go in this month, with my food budget I can have three meals between now and December. I'm not sure that's gonna fill me up.
Get real.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour a tous
Super-manger sainement, on a Shoestring
bonne initiative, une alimentation "saine" rime avec une "bonne santé", et en méditerranée la bonne cuisine "saine" ça nous connait...


Quinoa Salad with Shaved Vegetables
superbe,j'ai adoré.. merci a vous .. de nous faire partager l'art culinaire mondial avec autant de gentillesse et autant de bonne humeur aussi.. passez un bon week ..au revoir

[stevador39]

The media is out of touch. $35 dollars will feed a family of four for a week. When you figure the 'average income' you include the billionaires and millionaires. These guys have huge discretionary amounts of money. You forget the minimum wage worker, the retired and the part time workers. These are people with little ddiscretionary income.

[nolapearl]

Was it a meal for 6 or 8?

[reveal4]

Super healthy, 3 course meal, on a meager budget of....$35.00...Meager budget, my butt. Shows the difference between the real world and the world of the talking heads. $35.00 in groceries can feed an average family a darn sight more than one meal. Meager budget,my hind quarters, these folks don't have a clue.