Feed 8 for Under $100 with a Green Frugal Feast: Local Pecans

In South Carolina we call them pea-cans. They are an ingredient ingrained in the culture and the harvests of the southern states and that's a good thing because I love them. Likely my favorite in the nut family, these guys make a great addition to a host of recipes. And the idea of having a feast themed after a certain ingredient gives it a touch of refinement, a direction to which the evening will unfold.

1. Nathan Lyon's Asian Pear Salad with Toasted Pecans

1 Asian pear, peeled, medium dice

1/2 head radicchio, sliced thin, core discarded

2 cups baby beet greens, spinach, or arugula

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 tbsp toasted pecans, crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cider vinegar

3/4 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp sugar or honey

Kosher salt and a few good grinds of black pepper

2 shallots, small dice

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the Asian pear, radicchio, beet greens or spinach, blue cheese, and pecans. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, sugar, a pinch of salt, and a few good grinds of pepper.

2. Add the shallots to the vinaigrette then set aside. When serving, dress the greens lightly, season to taste, and serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Cost: $21.00

2. Pack Tons of Protein With A Quinoa and Pecan Dish.

Try Emeril's Quinoa with Toasted Pecans. Minimize your cost and your impact by cutting the meat from the meal. Quinoa is a complete protein and can substitute for less sustainable proteins. Compared to other grains, quinoa is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc. It's great in stews, curries, salads, and pilafs. The pecans also add protein to the dish so in the end your guests will be fully satiated with no need for meat.

Cost: $21.00

3. Make Homemade Brittle.

For dessert consider my gingered nut brittle. Nuts are sort of lethal for me. They're a snack food that I just can't seem to get enough of no matter the occasion. I got this idea from a local health food store named 14 Carrot in Lexington, S.C. Lexington is a small town located outside of Columbia. The store had all of these wonderful varieties of trail mixes that I really hadn't seen before. One of them was a gingered trail mix made up mostly of mixed nuts. It seemed like a great idea for a brittle.

Cost: $12.00

4. Sip on Local Cocktails

I can't think of too many pecan cocktails so we'll just keep it local with these farmers' market cocktails. When I was out in San Francisco this past summer, one thing that was so impressive to me was that not only did a good majority of the high end restaurants serve mostly local fare, their cocktails were equally local. That's not something that has caught on here in South Carolina, so if I'm craving a local cocktail, I best make it myself. Perhaps, that's not entirely a bad thing either considering that the cocktails I so happily partook in my time in the West Coast weren't exactly economically friendly at $11 per drink. I cannot take credit for these fabulously innovative cocktails as I got them from the Cuesa Newsletter and just modified them to what is local to South Carolina.

Cost: $54.00

Total: $99.00