Dining dollars: Family meals on a budget

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add onions and boil until tender, but not falling apart, 25 to 30 minutes.

While onions are cooking, in a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat, add the ground meat and let cook, breaking the meat apart with a spoon until 75% cooked. Remove meat to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoons of the rendered fat and oil.

Return the pan to the heat. Add the garlic and stir until golden, about 3 minutes, add the meat back to the pan. Add the spinach, wilt, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and place in a fine sieve — push as much excess moisture from the spinach as possible. Return the spinach to the pan and raise the heat to medium high; add the cream and thyme sprigs. Reduce the liquid until the pan is almost dry (about 1 tablespoon of liquid). Remove from heat.

Remove onions from pot with a slotted spoon and, when cool enough to handle, cut off top inch of each with a sharp knife and finely chop tops. Trim root end of each onion slightly, if necessary for onions to stand up without rolling. Scoop out about a heaping tablespoon from center of each onion (keeping outside intact) and finely chop, adding to rest of chopped onion. Transfer hollowed onions to an oiled 8-inch-square baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the meat, spinach mixture. Coarsely chop lemon zest, eggs, breadcrumbs, and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture evenly among the scooped-out onions. Drizzle the tops with the remaining olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

In a large skillet over medium heat, gently sweat the onions in the vegetable oil, for about 20 minutes, or till deep golden brown — be careful not to burn. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Using two forks or a bench knife, cut the butter into the flour until butter pieces are about pea-sized. Add the onions and toss in the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and stir just until most of the flour is absorbed by the buttermilk and the dough forms a coarse lump, about 1 minute. It will be a glunky mess.

Dust a clean, flat work surface with flour and gently fold the dough over itself until it comes together — do not overwork or stretch the dough. Press or gently roll the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick square.

Dip a biscuit cutter in flour and start cutting biscuits, dipping the cutter in flour between each biscuit. Press straight down to cut and lift straight up to remove; do not twist — this prevents the biscuit from rising

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes, then serve with plenty of butter.