The $10 Family Dinner That's Not Pasta

Everyone needs a pasta dish in their I-don’t-want-to-spend-a-lot-on-dinner repertoire (our standby is filling; and colorful, too). But for evenings when you feel the need to change it up, you may want a fresh new dish that’s similarly cheap, healthy and vibrant—and that offers just as much comfort as a bowl of noodles.

Enter this Thai curry shrimp-and-veggies supper. It doesn’t cost much to make—because when you’ve got a pile of fresh bell peppers and sliced mushrooms and a rich sauce of simmered red-curry paste and coconut milk, you don’t need much protein to round out the meal. This recipe uses just a half-pound of shrimp (which will run you about $4) and serves four people. Served on top of jasmine rice, it’s a hearty and nutritious dinner.

You can easily customize it with any cut vegetable, from zucchini coins to eggplant slices to carrot matchsticks. If you’re not a fan of shrimp, you can use thinly sliced chicken, pork or beef (just add a minute or so to the cooking time to make sure your protein is cooked through). Firm tofu cubes work, too.

The dish can even be turned into a soup; just add two cups of chicken broth and serve with transparent mung-bean noodles—for those nights when you do feel like pasta, after all.

Get the recipe: Thai Shrimp Curry and Rice