6 Healthy Budget-Friendly Recipes

As part of our Open Kitchen Conversation Series, we sat down with 18 Reasons, the San Francisco-based organization teaching cooking and nutrition to low-income families through its partnership with Cooking Matters.

In partnership with 18 Reasons, we helped create 6 healthy budget-friendly recipes, featuring an abundance of fruit and vegetables — not to mention flavor — all while being low in added sugar and salt.

1. Spring Greens with Watermelon, Strawberries & Feta

Perfectly balanced, this salad features crisp greens, sweet fruit, salty feta cheese and crunchy almonds. If you or your kids prefer a slightly sweet dressing, whisk in honey, adjusting the quantity according to your taste.

2. Ginger-Cilantro Salmon Cakes with Green Goddess Dip

This recipe calls for economical canned salmon, although you can swap in canned tuna, sardines or shredded cooked chicken instead. For a meatless version, try two cups of mashed beans.

3. Moroccan Style Chicken Stew with Quinoa

Fragrant with spices, this Moroccan stew can easily be varied by using whatever vegetables are freshest at your market. Here, we’ve used sweet potatoes, rutabagas, carrots and cauliflower for color and texture. But the stew can also be made with parsnips and turnips, especially in winter, when these hearty and inexpensive root vegetables reach their peak.

4. Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Parmesan and Walnuts

This recipe includes a smart shortcut for making salad dressing. Just combine the ingredients in a jar and give everything a good shake. Feel free to change this garden-fresh salad up by substituting your favorite cheese and nuts for the Parmesan and walnuts.

5. Black Bean Brownies

Putting black beans in brownies may sound strange, but you would never know that these moist, fudgy treats are full of a healthy dose of legumes. Bonus: they’re naturally gluten-free! 

6. Green Goddess Dip

Redolent of fresh herbs, this dip is inspired by the classic green goddess salad dressing. The chef at San Franciscos Palace Hotel created the dressing in the 1920s to honor actor George Arliss, who was performing locally in a play called Green Goddess.

Learn more about 18 Reasons and Williams Sonoma’s Open Kitchen Conversation series here. And, to get involved in Cooking Matters in your town, visit cookingmatters.org.