Monday, February 8, 2010

RECIPE: Lentil and Ham Soup (Crock Pot)

Kevin had received a ham from his employer over the holidays and we had a some leftovers.  I cubed the leftovers and put them in the freezer until I figured out what I wanted to do with them.  I used some of the ham in Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole and still had a little leftover.  Then I found this recipe in a Slow Cooker Recipe book.  

Lentil and Ham Soup
2-1/4 cup dried lentils, sorted and rinsed $2.00
1 quart chicken broth $1.00
1-1/2 cups cubed ham (FREE)
2 carrots, diced 1/2" $.30
2 potatoes, diced 1/2" $.20
1 onion, quartered (so we could remove it) $.88
1 celery stalk, diced 1/2" $.17
3 cups water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Put everything in the crock pot and cook on high for 3-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.  

This was so good!  We don't like onions but like the flavor (I know we're weird.) and removed them as we were eating the soup.  If you like onions, you might want to dice them smaller so they run through the soup.  This was our first time eating lentils and I was really pleasantly surprised.  They have a very "beany" texture that we're fond of.  Kevin loves Black Eyed Peas and while this didn't have that taste, it was definitely reminiscent of them.  He had two bowl-fulls, if that tells you anything!  The kids didn't really eat much of it but I not sure if it was because they didn't like it or because they were too tired to eat.  We'll definitely have this again, so I'm hoping they will like it better next time.  

The total cost of $4.55 is really great.  I'll have to see how much a reasonable slice of ham steak would be, since that is what you might substitute if you don't have leftover ham when making this soup.  I'll adjust the cost when I know for sure.

Enjoy!

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1 comment:

Brenda said...

Great idea! I love lentil soup and I like the idea of just throwing it all in the crock pot and forgetting it until dinner time.

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