Duck Confit with Black Mission Figs, Cece Neri and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Yes, this post is filed in the "Under $15" category, we fudged a bit, but for 18 bucks we really did make enough to feed 2 adults and 2 kids; so for two people we could have made this for just under $15. To top that off, we bought prepared Duck Confit from Marczyk's; though if you spread it across a few meals, you could do the preparation yourself for less cost per meal (but you'd still find yourself at Marczyk's for the duck fat unless you did your own rendering).

From gastronomic guesswork

The Black Ceci beans were obtained from St. Killian's in dry form, and were boiled on and off for 3 hours with 3 whole cloves of garlic and some sea salt; the on and off entailed 45 minutes of each hour ON, 15 minutes with the heat OFF, covered the whole time and stirring once or twice an hour. The black mission figs also came from St. Killian's. The dressing was an emulsion of fresh squeezed meyer lemons, salt, pepper, and good olive oil. The greens were bulk spring mix and a head of escarole. The duck confit was crisped for 15-20 minutes in the oven at 400F, cooled, and then shredded with a fork. Very clean flavors, but hearty and very French; would happily eat this 5 times this week.