White beans & cabbage: 71 cents/serving

Aside from the time it takes to cook the beans—and no one’s going to come arrest you if you used canned, although it certainly will no longer cost 71 cents a serving—this dish takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish. There’s something wonderfully illicit and street-food-ish about the combination of crispy potatoes and salty cheese; in fact, the whole dish tastes exponentially less healthy than it actually is. Which is somewhat ironic given that the recipe is adapted from Heidi Swanson’s “Super-Natural Every Day,” a healthier-than-healthy book if ever there was one.

As listed below, it makes 2 large servings.

• 2 shallots (from a 99-cent bag of French shallots), chopped: 12 cents 
• 1/4 large head of cabbage: 32 cents 
• 2 cups cooked and cooled white beans (I used bulk navy beans, $1.08/lb.): 25 cents 
• 4 oz. potato, peeled and cut into small cubes: 10 cents
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese: 50 cents
• 2 T olive oil: 11 cents
• Salt to tate: 1 cent
TOTAL: $1.41/2 = 71 cents/serving 

Very finely slice or shred the cabbage. You want it to be quite thin—I ran it through the small slicing disc on the food processor.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and a very generous pinch of salt, cover and cook until potatoes are cooked through, about 5 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure all the sides get browned.

Add the shallot and the beans, cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are browned and a bit crispy (it’s OK if they get mashed). Stir in the cabbage and cook for another couple of minutes, until the cabbage softens. Serve with the Parmesan mixed in.