It is such a cold and lazy morning today. After what felt like the craziest week, I decided to give my body the detox that it deserves. I am planning on recreating three salmon meals that I had made before. Eating salmon, however for some reason seems a bit of a luxury rather than the type of food that can be associated with living on a budget. Even the concept of eating healthily in itself can be costly, that is to say, in contrast, a ready made frozen fish fingers could cost as cheap as £0.60 but of course, with no true value in terms of nutrition provided.
So for today, my main star for both breakfast and lunch will be the Tesco Smoked Salmon Slices 100G. At the moment, it is on offer at 2 for £6, otherwise it costs £3.50 for each packet (offer is until 16th September). A packet of the smoked salmon is more than enough to serve for two people.
For breakfast, my smoked salmon will be accompanied with scrambled eggs and a grilled brioche. I still have 2 eggs left from last night. So apart from the smoked salmon, the only other ingredients that I had to spend on is the Cafe Continental 10 Milk Brioche Rolls which costs £1.20. I only used 2 brioche rolls per serving. I cut the brioche into two and grilled them (somehow this summer, a lot of grilling has been happening in my kitchen- but also another reason is because I don’t own a bread toaster LOOLLL). The charred taste on a rather buttery brioche is a good mix of a sweet buttery and slight bitter- but crispy. It adds texture to the dish.
The meal ended up costing me £1.74 per serving (£2.04 if I had to purchase eggs).
My recipe for scrambled eggs is simple:
Combine 2 eggs in a bowl, use a fork to mix it, add just-enough milk for taste and season with salt and pepper. Put the bowl on top of a pan full of hot boiling water. This will ensure that the eggs will not be overcooked. Sometimes if I have parmesan cheese around, I would add it to my scramble eggs- but I am really determine to keep it healthy today!
Smoked Salmon with Scrambled Egg and Toasted Brioche
For lunch, this is my version of salad- I will be making Smoked Salmon with Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Chestnut Mushrooms and Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Tesco Asparagus Bundles 250G is also on offer at 3 for £4, otherwise it costs £1.65 per packet. The Tesco nearby my house didn’t sell any sweet potatoes so I had to go to Sainsbury’s. It costs £1.25 for a kg, I only bought three pieces and used one for this meal. So for this meal, it worked out to have cost me approximately £0.41. Tesco Chestnut Mushrooms 250G costs £1 and I probably only used half of it. So in the end, for this meal, it worked out to cost me £3.74.
For both the Asparagus and the Mushroom, I season it with dashes of olive oil and sea salt. I then started by grilling the Mushroom first as it will take more time and at the same time the residue from the juice will add flavour to the asparagus. Meanwhile, for the sweet potatoes- I brush it with some olive oil, season with salt- then put it in a pre-heated oven (220 Degrees) for 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the sweet potatoes when you slice it- I happen to like mine very much crisp like- so they are rather thin and therefore take shorter time to cook).
Smoked Salmon with Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Chestnut Mushroom and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
For dinner, I will be making my Thai Asian Style Grilled Salmon to be accompanied with a bowl of jasmine rice and grilled asparagus.
For Four Servings, the ingredients are:
2 Packets of Tesco 2 Boneless Salmon Fillets 220G – £4.00 per packet (2 for £7.00); Tesco Ginger 125G (only use half and the ginger is to be chopped)- £0.99; 1 Red Chilli, chopped- £0.60; 2 tbsp of chopped fresh Coriander– £0.70, 2 tbsp of Amoy Dark Soy Sauce – £1.19, 2 tbsp of Amoy Light Soy Sauce– £1.19, 2 tbsp of Tesco Everyday Value Clear Honey– £0.99; salt for seasoning.
The Cost per Serving is £3.17.
Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and mix it well. Then add salmon into the bowl and marinate for 30 minutes- 1 hour. Preheat grill pan to high heat, grill salmon skin side down. When salmon is halfway cook, carefully turn it around. It should take only 5-7 minutes for the salmon to cook.
Livin On A Budget 