Salad Bar Gaming

I recently came across this NYTimes article explaining how best to game the salad bars at your local supermarkets.  It's nothing really groundbreaking.  It's relatively obvious that walking away from the salad bar with a carton full of the most expensive ingredients (sun-dried tomatoes, bacon bits, perhaps some cheeses and fruit) will save you money compared to buying those ingredients elsewhere in the store.  I have evaluated the opportunity at my supermarket, but rejected it for several reasons.

One very clear reason is that my price threshold for nearly all food that I buy is still lower than the salad bar price.  I just don't pay that much for any food.  There are three things (besides spices and teas) I will pay more than $5/lb for: sea scallops, premium cheeses, and premium chocolates, and I do not buy them often.  I get my premium cheeses at Trader Joe's for half the price the supermarket charges.  I am able to feed myself a variety of good foods for less than the price of salad bar food, so I am not motivated to get salad bar food even though there is an opportunity to get a couple items at a discount.

There are reasons for people with higher price thresholds to avoid or minimize gaming their salad bars, too.  Commenters of a blog post on the NYTimes article express real concerns that exploitation of salad bars results in the loss of valuable ingredients or even the whole bars all together.  There is a tragedy of the commons, and morality comes into play.  Salad bars are expensive because of waste, labor, and maintenance, which the stores take on so that customers don't have to.  Customer behavior that throws off the balance of the system can have consequences to other people

Gaming the salad bar as the article describes is primarily about getting your money's worth with your salad, not just walking away with a bowl of sun-dried tomatoes.  Of course, you can make your own great salads for much less money by buying romaine, spinach, etc... and spending a few minutes chopping and slicing.  People with money get salads at salad bars for the convenience, and the rest of us trade inconvenience for cost.

A Simple Dinner with Pork

After an entire week of eating bean and vegetable soup (not complaining!), I went for a change and grabbed a couple pork center loin chops.  I've been happy eating less meat, and I made sure to buy the smallest package of two, which cost $2.09.  They were about a half inch thick and a third of a pound each.  Instead of making my awesome pineapple pork stir-fry, I went an easier and less labor-intensive route.

I put a cup of brown rice and a crushed dried chili pepper into two cups of boiling water in a 1 qt pot, then set to simmer for 45 minutes.  This is generally about six modest portions of rice.

Then, I heavily sauted a sliced medium onion in my steel frying pan.  I didn't fully caramelize it, but it was more brown than yellow.  When it was done, I put the onion on a plate and set it aside.

I patted the pork chops dry with a paper towel, then put them in the hot pan for a few minutes to brown.  I sprinkled rosemary on the tops, then flipped them over, sprinkled with pepper, put a cover on and turned the heat down to low.

Then I made salads from bagged mix, baby spinach, walnuts, habanero cheddar cheese, button mushrooms, and dried cranberries, topped with a little light ranch.  All together the salads cost a little less than $1 each, and we'll eat them daily while we have the components.  The greens and mushrooms were on sale this week, and I've always got walnuts and cheese.

When the chops were done cooking, I plated them, then poured a half cup of Chardonnay (about 1/40 of a $15 box of Almaden) into the skillet to deglaze it.  I turned the heat back up a bit and reduced the sauce down to about two tablespoons, then poured it over the pork chops.

The chops were juicy and delicious!  The rice and onions were a good accompaniment for the pork, and the salads rounded out the meal.  This was a great dinner for two for $5.  Each person's meal cost $2.50 and had about 600 calories.  If the rice is made earlier, this meal takes a half hour to make.

Catfish Dinner

I was pleasantly surprised to find catfish on sale for $2.29/lb.  I never see fish this cheap.  It was in chunks marketed as "nuggets", though each piece was maybe a quarter of a full fillet, many times bigger than a fast food chicken nugget.  There was also a great sale on veggies and bagged salad.  I buy when the sales are on.  Here's the writeup for a substantial dinner for two, $2.45 and 660 calories for each person:

Entree - $2.92 - 630 calories:
catfish, 1 lb - $2.29, 240 calories
flour, 1/2 cup - $0.08, 100 calories (half gets eaten)
eggs, 2 - @ $1.80/dozen = $0.30, 140 calories
breadcrumbs, 1 cup - $1/can = $0.20, 150 calories (half gets eaten)
paper towels, 2 - $0.03
aluminum foil, 16" - <$0.02

Garlic Bread (or Toast) - $0.61 - 400 calories:
bread, "French", 1/4 loaf - @$2/loaf = $0.50, ~300 calories
butter or olive oil, 1 tbsp - $0.06, 100 calories
garlic powder, 1/2 tsp - <$0.05

Salad - $1.38 - 290 calories:
baby spinach, 2.25 oz - @$1/9oz bag = $0.25, 15 calories
salad mix (mostly iceberg), 3 oz - @$1/12oz bag = $0.25, 15 calories
mushrooms, 2 oz - @$1/6oz = $0.33, 10 calories
walnuts, crushed, 2 tbsp - @$4.50/lb =  $0.15, 100 calories
cheese, 1 oz, diced - @$4/lb = $0.25, 90 calories
dressing, 2 tbsp, light - @$3.50/24oz = $0.15 , 60 calories

Stir the two eggs together in a bowl.  Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on a large baking sheet.  Optionally spray oil on top.  Set the oven to 425 F.

Dry the fish between the paper towels, coat in flour, dip in the egg, then coat in bread crumbs.  Place on the aluminum foil with a little space between each. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes.  Season with black pepper, thyme, or cayenne as you like.

The fish is a nice treat that should be a more common part of the American diet.  It is usually expensive, though.  You can use chicken instead, cutting the cost of the meal by at least $1.  Just set the oven to 350 F and increase the baking time a few minutes.  Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 F, and juices should be clear.

This salad is something I make very often, but the price is usually higher.  Even with sales, this salad for two people usually costs me closer to $2.  The difference is in the prices for bagged spinach and salad mix.  If you buy your own greens, you may cut your cost a bit, but do more work.  Mushrooms are often $3/lb, though they've been $3.50/lb lately.