We’ve written about what food trends you can expect this year and how they‘ll affect your health. But what we haven’t done is comment on how they might affect your wallet.
A colleague sent me this article published by The Telegraph that talks about ingredients that have become “store cupboard status symbols.” It includes black lava salt, cultured butter, grains like kasha, millet and amaranth as well as raw, organic milk.
Let’s just be clear that there have always been so called store cupboard status symbols; for instance in the middle ages, only the rich used spices to flavour their food. (Can you imagine a life without warming wafts of cinnamon?)
Even though such simple luxuries in today’s world are relatively inexpensive, the fact remains that most (if not all) trending ingredients happen to be super pricey. Why?
There are a number of reasons:
1. Time that it takes to make the item (for example fermented food requires a number of days to make).
2. The place in which is the food is grown/reared (and how far it needs to travel).
3. The quantity produced (smaller amounts will be more expensive)
4. The cost of the raw product (ever tried buying almond milk?!)
5. Supply vs demand (that age old economic state of affairs).
With all that being said, there is NO reason in the world why simple, honest, affordable food cannot be tasty, and who is going to lift an eyebrow if you cannot make the dish in its traditionally “accepted” form? #NoJudgies. It’s 2016 for goodness sake and we’re allowed to shake things up a little!
Here are a few quick and easy cheat meals and food hack ideas that save you time and taste great too!
Tiramsu – done in 10 minutes!
Mushroom risotto – no stirring required.
North African lamb tagine – cut the cooking time down by half.
Apple tart – use store bought puff pastry.
Pasta Puttanesca – use tinned tuna for the seafood
Mediterranean style “pizza” – no carbs in sight. Teehee.
Vegetarian “paella” – makes a great side dish too.
Peppermint Crisp marshmallow squares – these are a total hit.
Have any easy-to-make recipes that you simply love? Tweet us @Food24 !