Lovable Lentil Stew

Let's take a look at the humble lentil, shall we? Forget ramen, THIS should be the iconic food of college students everywhere. Inexpensive, full of protein, and readily compatible with SOOO many different flavors. They're kind of like little flavor sponges...except they're not spongy. And they're ready in a flash. Unlike their beany buddies, lentils require no soaking beforehand (though you do still have to rinse them and check them for rocks). 20-ish minutes of cooking is all these guys need to be eatable. That's why when Hubs asked me "What's for dinner?" and I realized I had no idea...I hugged the little 1-pound bag of lentils that I found in my pantry. I mean, I hugged them in my head. Actually hugging lentils would be weird, right?

Lovable Lentil Stew
$1.16 per serving/$6.94 total cost

1 tablespoon oil, butter, or bacon fat

1 Andouille sausage link, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 pound lentils, picked over and rinsed

6 cups water

1 tablespoon chicken base, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots mix

Seasoning (all measurements are approximate and should be adjusted according to taste):

1-2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2-3/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2-3/4 teaspoon thyme

2-3 dashes crushed red pepper (this gets spicier as the dish cooks, so apply with caution)

Sea salt (several liberal pinches, applied and tasted throughout)

Black pepper (several liberal turns of the pepper grinder...plus more on top of the individual servings)

Garnish

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

1 cup sour cream

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, add sausage and onion until sausage is browned and onion is translucent. (NOTE: I did not have an onion when I made this. But it was sorely missed. There should've been an onion. Also, if you're fortunate enough to have one, the onion powder used to season things later on would be superfluous, so you can skip that.) Add lentils to pot and toast, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes. (NOTE: This is toast the verb, not toast the noun. Do not add actual toast to your lentil stew. Unless you have some yummy garlic toast...in which case, that would actually probably be pretty good on the side. But you knew that already.) Add water and chicken base to pot and bring to a gentle boil. Place a lid on the pot--leaving it slightly ajar to keep the lentils from boiling over--and reduce heat to medium-low. Boil for 20-25 minutes, or until lentils are soft. (NOTE: I like to leave mine on the heat closer to 25 minutes, sometimes longer. I like lentils so soft they could advertise toilet paper on TV. But that's just me.) Add corn, peas, and carrots to the pot and heat through. Season to taste. Serve immediately with cheese and sour cream (and that yummy garlic toast we talked about earlier, if you have it.)

Notes

Watery? Observe the picture below. This is what the stew looked like when I put the veggies in. It was pretty watery the first night. You can solve this problem by reducing the amount of liquid you use, letting it simmer for awhile longer than indicated in the recipe (which is also good for letting the flavors develop), or--what I did--let a little of the excess liquid run off when you ladle it up to serve. The next day it was *perfect*.

Veggies: I added 1/2 cup each of frozen corn and peas/carrots because that's what I had in my freezer. Improvise. Wilted spinach or kale would be insane and delicious. I think some fresh tomatoes thrown in to simmer for a few minutes before serving would be lovely.

If you wanna be REALLY veggie: This dish can be vegetarian if you omit the chicken base and sausage. Maybe try some smoked paprika to fill in that smoky note that the Andouille would add. Vegan? Omit the cheese and sour cream! Sub your favorite soup-toppers instead. These changes would also cut the price of the dish down, since dairy and meat are kind of cash-suckers (which is why we follow Rule #1!).

Servings: This recipe makes a pretty big pot. At least 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry your people are (I used a 6-serving cost estimate, but that was on the conservative side.). I was just cooking for Hubs and me, but I love leftovers, so I cooked a lot on purpose. It's even better the next day! And oh-so-freezable!

Seriously, guys...this is way better than ramen. And I actually kinda like ramen. We're old friends. But if ramen noodles are my old friends, this Lovable Lentil Stew is that cute, somewhat nerdy guy who just moved in to the building next door...and ramen and I both talk about him a lot, and ramen would TOTALLY understand if I wanted to bail on our plans later, y'know, if he asked me out to dinner or something. (Which he totally will.)

(Non-Alcoholic) Ginger-Basil Tea Sangria

This is a new favorite of mine. Absolutely lovely. My only regret in creating this gorgeous sip of sparkling freedom is that I didn't think of it until summer was pretty much over. (If you're up north, this sentence will not make sense. But if you're here in the south, you understand that "summer" is a period lasting from April to October.) But I think you could play around with the current fall-ish flavors and come up with something equally beautiful (remember rule number 6? Shop in season!).

Ginger-Basil Tea Sangria
$0.36 per serving/$2.86 total cost

8 tea bags

2 cups boiling water

1 generous pinch baking soda

Fresh fruit (I used 1 fresh peach, sliced, and a handful of whole frozen strawberries)

1 cup basil simple syrup (recipe below)

1 cup apple juice

2 cups cool water

Ginger ale

Steep tea bags in solution of baking soda dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Place fruit in pitcher, discard tea bags, and pour tea over fruit. Add basil syrup, apple juice, and 2 cups of cool water. Stir to combine and place in refrigerator until cold. When ready to serve, fill glasses 3/4 of the way with sangria. Fill glasses the rest of the way with ginger ale and serve.

Basil Simple Syrup
$0.75, total cost (If you have to buy basil. I grew mine, so my cost was $0.25)

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

4-6 fresh basil leaves

In a small saucepot over medium heat, combine sugar and water until dissolved. Add basil leaves and bring mixture to a boil. Continue to boil for 1 minute, remove from heat. When syrup has cooled, decant into a glass or plastic container, pouring through a fine-mesh strainer to remove leaves. Store in refrigerator.

Notes

"Baking soda? Really?": Yes, really. It takes away the bitter edge that iced tea sometimes takes on, leaving a really smooth finish. It's nice. Trust me.

If you don't like basil: ...feel free to use another flavor. Vanilla, maybe. Or peppermint. Or thyme. Go bananas (I'm speaking colloquially. Banana syrup in tea sangria sounds kinda gross.).

Garnish: I served mine in mason jars (which double as drinking glasses around here) with a sprig of basil. I was thinking, though, that serving this in tall glasses rimmed with sugar would be nice, too. To do that, just dip the rim of the glass in the sangria and then spin them in a saucer of sugar. 'Twould be pretty. :)

Now go make some tea sangria. It's better than Dr. Pepper. Maybe.