I would simply caution that $4/day is an on-spec ingredient pricing[0] and does not account for actual cost to make these meals. A trained cook in a professional kitchen could do it, given the acess to storage and ability to re-use ingredients via a well-structured menu. But the paid-for overhead would be masking a variety of costs that weigh heavy on the target audience.
> Frequent re-supply and cost-effective quality control of ingredients
> Zero-cost re-application and limited spoilage of non-consumed minium purhcase portions
> Abundant prep space, intermediate storage/refrigeration, and sanitary control
===============
Quickly glancing this book, Kale Salad on p 16
Hidden costs: Most of the nutritional of this salad comes from dried bread (1/2 loaf), leaving (1/2 loaf) in the pantry. Likewise, Fresh parmesean ($10/lb+up), anchovies ($2/tin), and dijon mustard ($3/per) leave most of their value in the pantry as well.
Hidden Nutrition: Most of the calories for the salad come from the bread, not the kale. Meanwhile, a 15% protein diet needs ~70-80g protein a day/person[4]. The only material protein in this "dinner" salad is 1 egg yolk, and 1 anchovie split by 2x people. That is 3-4g of protein per head, when a typical dinner should have ~30g (off by an order of magnitude). Twice as much protein actually hides in the cheese garnish. But to increase the protein to reasonable levels, Its tempting to double or tripple portion the cheese...thus driving up the food cost of the recipe. 4 oz of fresh-grated parmesan is at least $2.50. That would give you 25g protein/head out of the meal, but the cost for the salad would be $8 for 2x portions, blowing the daily budget in just one meal.
In any event, this is an increasingly interesting area for cooks and food authors[3].
> Frequent re-supply and cost-effective quality control of ingredients
> Zero-cost re-application and limited spoilage of non-consumed minium purhcase portions
> Abundant prep space, intermediate storage/refrigeration, and sanitary control
===============
Quickly glancing this book, Kale Salad on p 16
Hidden costs: Most of the nutritional of this salad comes from dried bread (1/2 loaf), leaving (1/2 loaf) in the pantry. Likewise, Fresh parmesean ($10/lb+up), anchovies ($2/tin), and dijon mustard ($3/per) leave most of their value in the pantry as well.
Hidden Nutrition: Most of the calories for the salad come from the bread, not the kale. Meanwhile, a 15% protein diet needs ~70-80g protein a day/person[4]. The only material protein in this "dinner" salad is 1 egg yolk, and 1 anchovie split by 2x people. That is 3-4g of protein per head, when a typical dinner should have ~30g (off by an order of magnitude). Twice as much protein actually hides in the cheese garnish. But to increase the protein to reasonable levels, Its tempting to double or tripple portion the cheese...thus driving up the food cost of the recipe. 4 oz of fresh-grated parmesan is at least $2.50. That would give you 25g protein/head out of the meal, but the cost for the salad would be $8 for 2x portions, blowing the daily budget in just one meal.
In any event, this is an increasingly interesting area for cooks and food authors[3].
[0] http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Yields-Purchasing-Professiona...
[1] Assume 2000 kcal/day, 15%=300kcal. 80g protein is 320kcal, 70g is 280.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Monroe