Marie Antoinette didn’t really say, “Let them eat cake,” however much we enjoy misquoting her. Last week an out-of-touch government official, Brooke Rollins, the US Secretary of Agriculture told us that we could all afford to eat well if we adhere to the new dietary guidelines and food pyramid, and not spend so much money. She suggested that a healthy, tasty and economical meal we, the people, could dine on was a veritable feast with her Spartan meal suggestion. She said, “It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla, and one other thing.” Yumsters. It sounds like a horrifying school lunch, served on a plastic tray, with warm whole milk. According to Forbes magazine, Rollins is worth about $15 million, so I doubt she serves this at home.
Food Friday loves to tilting at windmills as much as any other food writer, so we went out to do a little unscientific research this week. We checked the prices of broccoli (frozen and fresh) and chicken (thighs, boneless breasts, and a whole chicken) at three grocery stores in the area: Food Lion, Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s. A serving size of chicken is 4 ounces, and a serving size of broccoli is 8 ounces, cooked. Broccoli
Food Lion results: A brain-size head of broccoli was $2.19/pound. A smaller clump of broccolini was $2.59, each. Flavorful chicken thigh fillets were $3.79/pound, with a package weighing almost 2 pounds costing $7.35. Boneless chicken thighs were $4.49/pound, with a 3.15 pound package costing $14.14. A whole chicken, weighing 7.52 pounds, at $1.49/pound cost $11.20, $7.44 if you were a Food Lion MVP member. (Note to Brooke: always join the grocery store rewards program to get extra savings.) Frozen chopped broccoli cost 99¢ for a 1-pound package.
I wasn’t quite as thorough when trolling through the aisles at Trader Joe’s, I have to confess, because I got distracted by all the interesting people. I muscled into the produce section and saw that fresh broccoli florets were $2.99 for a 12 ounce bag. All natural, boneless and skinless chicken breasts were $4.99/pound. Chicken thighs
Wegman’s, with its vast array of beautifully arranged fresh produce and many sharp-elbowed-shoppers, had fresh broccoli florets which came in 12 ounce packages for $2.79 each, or $3.72/pound. Frozen florets were $1.75/pound, with a 64 ounce package costing $6.99. A smaller package of broccoli stems and florets were a better price: $1.29/pound, with a 16 ounce package costing $1.29. Wegman’s chicken thighs cost $4.79/pound, the package I grabbed weighed 1.78 pounds. Wegman’s also had a canvas banner dancing over the cash registers advertising their Hot Zone Meals Deal: Sheet Pan Chicken with broccoli and potatoes, “As low as $3 per serving”. It’s catching on, Brooke, with the ineffable “something” now being potatoes, and no tortilla in sight.
In the end, it will probably be best to shop at Food Lion, and forgo the distracting people watching at Trader Joe’s, and the aggressive elbows at Wegman’s. Stick with the frozen broccoli, which you can stash in the freezer when there is a good MVP sale. Sale chicken is always a great bargain, especially when you can expect to be housebound by winter storms.
It is possible, with some time and more determination, to plan an economical meal – and easily make it one that isn’t as grim and institutional as the simulation that Brooke Rollins rolled out. Remember, she tried out thousands of simulations, just for us. We too can prepare the meal for $3 a person, especially if we use frozen broccoli.
Orange Chicken with Broccoli The addition of orange in the winter is exotic and colorful, as well as tasty. ( I always think of Bridget Jones and her unfortunate dinner party with an omelette, blue soup and that orange zest that tasted like a vat of marmalade.) Let’s add some rice* and spices and fill up the plates, and our bellies, with colorful, tasty goodness. Maybe Brooke and her elegant, well-heeled pals would enjoy our inventive and healthy home cooking.
*Rice
Here are some other ideas:
Skillet Orange Chicken and Broccoli
Things to keep in your freezer for those nights when planning hasn’t panned out, and you are in a time bind: individually wrapped chicken parts, leftover rice you carefully saved, a bag o’broccoli florets, and some frozen, unbaked chocolate chip cookies. You have the frugal meal that Brooke and the Agriculture Department believe you deserve, and a sweet because you’re a team player and deserve something special. Especially if there is a snow storm. This is Food Friday’s favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe: Thank you, Dorie! Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
“Elegant Company Chicken-Broccoli Casserole. ‘Which is the inelegant part,’ Olivia had asked over the phone from college, because she was studying ambiguous reference in her Linguistic Description of Modern English class, ‘the company or the casserole?’”
― Susan Gilbert-Collins
But Anne Lamott is wise, as always:
“Listen to your broccoli and it will tell you how to eat it.”
― Anne Lamott
Jean Dixon Sanders has been a painter and graphic designer for the past thirty years. A graduate of Washington College, where she majored in fine art, Jean started her work in design with the Literary House lecture program. The illustrations she contributes to the Spies are done with watercolor, colored pencil and ink.
