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I have a theory that there is a impossible trinity (like in economics), where a food cannot be delicious, cheap and healthy at the same time. At maximum 2 of the 3 can be achieved.
Is there any food that breaks this theory?
Edit: I was thinking more about dishes (or something you put in your mouth) than the raw substances
Some popular suggestions include
parsley in the form of tabbouleh salad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabbouleh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley
check out the vitamins and minerals in parsley, it's one of the super foods.
Rice with lentils is a good option, add salt and pepper and salad of choice
Tinned tuna. Inexpensive, high in protein and fish oils, low in fat and calories.
Probably not great in huge quantities because of iodine, but generally very healthy
Extremely easy, you put carrots potatoes peas salt and a few garlic cloves, and a bay leaf to simmer, drain all, mush the garlic in olive oil and use it as dressing you got a surprisingly delicious healthy and cheap dish. Another great combination comes from cauliflower potato a pinch of garlic some strong cheese pepper salt butter and lemon juice, this combo has all the cheesy taste profile of a fondue without all the calories. Last eggplant and pistachio pesto (pistachio oil basil and pecorino or any other strong cheese) is like the most delicious combo and cheap ish too, it makes for an amazing base for sandwiches!
Curiously, peanuts 🥜.
100 gr of peanuts have almost all the fatty acids that you need in a day, with almost half the minimum calorie intake required and half the protein you need. They are satiating, VERY easy to grow, and even used as a way to replenish the soil with nutrients in crop rotation.
If you ask me what was the mana taken through the dessert, I'd say most likely peanuts.
It couldn't be peanuts, because it evaporated or melted when the sun hit it.
Roasted broccoli from the freezer
Herb Chicken on the stovetop
Lemon vinaigrette with garlic (pour it on the chicken and toss the broccoli in it)
Herbed rice, or rice steamed with coriander
Granita (frozen fruit juice and sugar, stirred occasionally for a icy creamy texture, or do coffee and sugar)
All of these work independently, or together they are wonderful.
Most things are unhealthy because we eat too much of it. For example (fresh) bread is delicious, cheap, and healthy, provided you eat it in moderation. Now if you ate nothing but bread all day you would gain by a lot of weight.
Carrots. Same as potatoes. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew. Someone already mentioned onions, same idea.
I know your edit says you were thinking about dishes, and I think carrots can be their own dish with very little preparation. I like to bake mine on a sheet for half hour or so at 425f, and they are wonderful on their own. Also so low-calorie you can eat a practically infinite amount of them without spoiling a diet!
You are baking carrots? Had no idea you can bake a carrot..that sounds illegal! :))
I was looking at similar requirements for my daily lunch during the workday. I live in London so you're paying between £5 and £10 per day even for just a sandwich-based lunch. I needed a packed lunch that was cheap, tasty, healthy and additionally: filling, easy/quick to prepare and low carb. So that's a big ask.
I settled on a kind of custom Greek salad. One cucumber, some red onion, pickled beetroot all diced up, olive oil (or cold-pressed rapeseed oil) and some feta cheese. Sometimes I add chickpeas and coriander.
It's perfect, I've been eating it for years now.
Oh boy I've got one! Bonus, it ticks a 4th box - convenient!
Not sure where you're located and there are different brands, so you'll have to investigate for yourself. But the Tasty Bite brand microwaveable Indian pouches to me manage to hit each of these dimensions. They're cheap (-ish, I wanna say $4 per meal?), healthy (probably high in sodium, but if you look at the ingredients list it's all just food - not weird processed and/or synthetic crap), microwaveable and totally delicious. Granted, it's delicious for a microwaved meal...can't exactly compete with a properly prepared Indian dish. But it's easily the best microwaved food I've ever eaten.
And they're vegetarian and sometimes vegan so a small win on the critter ethics too! Can't recommend em enough unless you mean REAL cheap or you're used to eating home cooked Indian dishes on the regular.
Peanuts and other nuts
Yes, yes there are foods that are cheap, delicious and healthy. Sorry this will be a long post, many things to cover!
First I have to say, what I regard as healthy for me personally is generally Keto friendly foods. This is because, for an unknown, diagnosed (not for the lack of trying) reason I have muscle and joint pains that go away if I get to a very low carb intake such that it has an anti-inflammatory effect. Other than working around the reason I have pain, it also remove redness of Seborrheic dermatitis which I have. For me it also reduces quite a bit, but not stops dandruff. It has other health benifits as well, it is not a cure all, I've never said it has cured any of the symptoms above, just reduce or remove the symptoms. For me the symptoms come back when I eat carbs, even if I stay away from sugar. Well it can cure some things like fatty liver or insulin insensitivity. But its not a cure all, again my symptoms (except I was insulin sensitive which is cured) are not cured, but it does work in a palliative manner.
Keto doesn't work for everyone. Well if losing weight is a goal, and then you actually do a keto diet, it will work. People who say it doesn't work for losing weight are either knowingly (lying to them selves) or more often unknowingly eating carbs they don't count. Also by count I don't mean actually keeping track of, because literally counting carbs, nope, I don't believe in that. Too much work, and doesn't give a benefit over adhering to just what ingredients you can use.
What I actually meant for keto doesn't work for everyone, I mean work as in being healthy. It should work for the vast majority of people. But example my wife, she has Ulcerative Colitis, pre-diabetes, and she is underweight. Ulcerative Colitis in regards to keto mainly makes it so certain types of fiber is not good for her. And being slightly medically underweight, she can't eat enough, she needs the carbs. For Diabetes type 2 keto diet is super effective at palliative helping, especially if it's just pre-diabetes. But alas, she can't hit her calorie needs without carbs.
Before talking about the foods, I wan't to mention that Keto diet goes very well together with intermittent fasting. This is mainly due to how the liver works. Making ketons! Keton's isn't mumbo jumbo, simplified its what your liver makes when breaking down fat. Ketons is a very good fuel source for your body. If break down fat, you get much more energy than if eat carbs. So you want to stay in ketosis for more of the 24 hour day, than is easy without intermittent fasting. Ketosis is just when you produce ketons. So to get there, very grossly simplified, fast, don't eat carbs or eat very low amounts, and eat lots of healthy fats. Again grossly simplified, eat almost any fats, but not trans-satiated fats, those are poison to you anyway. When it comes to proteins, I just try to eat lots, and if I get a tummy ache due to eating too much proteins, then I eat less proteins. I don't worry so much about eating enough proteins if I don't workout. I lied above, by omission. I eat lots of carbs, because there are some carbs I don't count. By count I mean I don't regard them as being calories. What calories do I not count then? Mostly vegetables! Some veggies I do count though, like potatoes.
I need to have a short paragraph about eating fats. Its super important in a keto diet. Fat makes you feel satiated. It is no surprise since fats are much more energy dense than carbs including sugar. Feeling satiated is hormonal. Your body does send out hormones, or inhibit hormones, and Ghrelin hormone makes you feel hungry, and Ghrelin production is suppressed when you are digesting fats. Terms to google in regards to this is "fat adapted" which means that the body can more easily use fat as a fuel source throughout the day. And "insulin resistance", not directly related, but very important.
One more thing, when cutting out sweets, everything else starts tasting much better. Everything that has a hint of sweetness gets amplified. Even cold brew coffee. I often cold brew at home, and then heat it (pour some concentrated cold brew in a cup and add hot water), and its so sweet I almost dream about it.
Lastly, and shortly. What supplements do I recommend? Generally assuming you don't have any deficits due to your diet. If I want to eat as much protein as I can tolerate (like because of working out) then whey protein, without added sugar is great! Creatine is also great I could write 3 paragraphs about creatine, and lastly(assuming you get enough vitamins, minerals, and omega3) I also recommend, psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is a great source of amazing fiber, and it really helps me stabilize my gut. Especially together with a keto diet, I go from having close to IBS to feeling like I got a very healthy gut.
Next the foods: I'll reply to my own comment because there is a character limit
Thanks for the long write-up. Not sure entirely if it is on the topic, but I guess someone might find your tips on keto useful
IMHO, steamed vegetables are right in the middle of the triangle. I've bought a steam cooker and it's a game changer compared to boiling. It's healthier since less nutrients are lost, preserves so much more taste and texture, there's a timer so you can start the steamer and go do something else. Also makes you use less water. I've still got to try steamed fish but I expect it'll taste great.
on a perhaps relevant note air-fried stuff may also fit the category. like air fried sweet potato chips, delicious even without seasonings!
Chickpeas
Cucumbers
I heard that tacos are actually quite good for you, and I assume they could be if you get proper ones with lots of veg and natural ingredients rather than going to Taco Bell or some other fast food place and getting processed defrosted junk.
Source: Dr Karan on Youtube (yes, Youtube doctor, but he's British, so I trust him)
Rice and beans, just be a little creative with preparation. Also you can make lots of soups that are cheap and healthy and its super easy to make too.
Purple asparagus! You can grow it and it grows in incredible quantity quite quickly. Then you can toss it in the air fryer each day for ten minutes with some seasonings and it's phenomenal.