Here's a recipe for lentil soup that I made over the weekend--about 12 servings is what I got--but I can't quite recall. Anyway, we ate it with cheese garlic bread and it was lovely.
Lentil Soup
1- 1 lb bag lentils (I used the standard green)
1 medium onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce (or canned tomatoes chopped)
6 quarts chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
3 strips cooked bacon, crumbled (optional for garnish)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp ground mustard
salt/pepper to taste
olive oil
Heat oil in large pot, add all the veggies and cook until the onions are translucent. Season veggies with salt/pepper. Add everything else and bring to a boil. Then, cover and simmer about 45 minutes until the lentils are softened. Add salt/pepper to taste again. Garnish with crumbled bacon.
I don't have exact figures, but I'm estimating the following costs:
1 bag lentils is about $1, and a bag of carrots around here is $.80 (you only use 2-3), onions--I bought a bag for $2.00, so a fraction of that, celery again, a bag is about $1.30, but only need 2-3 stalks. The bacon is probably the most expensive item, and I bought the precooked bacon on sale for $2. Tomato sauce is about $.50 can, broth is about $.80 a can and you need about 3. To me, salt/pepper/mustard and oil are freebies, because I always have those on hand.
Here's my guess:
$1+.20+.25+.25+.50+2.40= $4.60 Add a piece of bread or the bacon bits, and the price goes up a tad, but considering this makes a ton of food, it averages about $.38 per serving. Not bad at all. And my bread was a store brand which gave me 8 pieces of texas toast, compared to the name brand which only gave me 5. I came out way ahead!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Sounds yummy! I have never bought lentils but I think I may give it a try.
How much broth? Your recipe says six quarts but then when you are figuring the cost you say 3 cans. I am going to try this so hopefully I will do a best guess but just wondering.
Sounds delicious!
For the broth, I figured 6 quarts is roughly
4 cups = 1 quart
4x6= 24 cups, or 12 cans? This doesn't seem right, does it? That would actually be quite costly. I was able to use the 3 cans I had, plus I had chicken boullion (I use that stuff that's actually a paste, so I threw in about 6 tsps plus 8 cups of water I think). Sorry, I guess I need to be more clear on the recipes.
Post a Comment