Saturday, February 01, 2014

How to cheap some soup

We have been making the Hillbilly Housewife's recipe for Taco Style Lentils and Rice since discovering the site several years ago.  I usually make it in the slow cooker, and use it as a substitute for refried beans at a tortilla meal. There are other versions of the lentil-rice filling out there, some much spicier than that one, but I like Miss Maggie's simple (kid-friendly) combination of seasonings.  One change I do make is to use a cupful of lentils to half a cup of rice, rather than equal amounts.  I don't usually have beef bouillon cubes around, either, so I just leave that out.

The recipe does make quite a bit, and we usually end up eating about half of it and either freezing some or turning it into Creative Leftovers.  This time around I had quite a bit left, so yesterday I made Mexican-Style Soup. Amounts of ingredients depend on what you have:

About half a recipe of lentil-rice taco stuffing
Enough water or broth to make it soupy (I used water plus some chicken broth powder)
1 can pinto beans, drained
Some frozen corn
Half a cup or so of salsa

I brought the water and leftover lentil-rice mixture to a boil, then added the pinto beans and let it simmer a bit.  The corn and salsa were last-minute additions, but they really improved the texture and flavour.  It was even better (as most things are) leftover for lunch today.

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