Great title, huh? What does the subject of frugality have to do with the concept of Well Done! Chef!? Everything. Any chef worth his weight in salt is by default, frugal. After reading through my RSS reader, I saw a challenge from the BeingFrugal.net site.
Now, there is something that I can taste with relish. How to make a meal by cleaning the fridge, saving money, and actually having your family like it. What’s more to like about this challenge? Well, here is my contribution:
We will start out with the basics of what you should always have in your pantry/fridge. Onions, check. Potatoes, check. Carrots, check. Okay. Now off to left field here: lentils.
It really does not matter what kind of lentils you have, just that you have a good 300 grams. Lentils are dirt cheap, and packed with nutrition and flavor.
Lentil Soup
Makes 2 L of soup, enough to feed 6
Photo courtesy of Justin Cormack
- 2 L cold water
- 2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 carrot, peeled and cubed
- 1 onion, peeled and cubed
- 300 g lentils (I used red)
- salt
- pepper
- Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a medium sauce pan over high heat; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- If desired, puree soup mixture.
- Serve immediately.
There you have it, a very cost effective soup. The good nes is that lentils have a very long shelf life. If you play your cards right, this will be a meal that everyone will like.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks good and I am thinking about making it this week, but I don’t know how to cook lentils! The lentils in your picture look dry .. Do I need to soak them? Or since the lentils are so thin, they just need 20 mins of cooking time. Sorry for the newbie question I have never cooked with lentils before!
Matt – Thank you for your reply to this post. Thing about lentils is that you really want to wash them until they come clean, then soak them for a good hour or two. Drain the water and cook with fresh. The reasoning behind it is you are getting rid of the starch that gives you flatulence, and that is always a good thing! Let me know how it turns out!