low-budget soup!

So you know how there's this running theme around moms/mom's cooking on this blog?

Well my friends, this post is about grandpa's cooking, cuz I grew up with multiple cooks in the house...mainly my mother and grandmother, but also my grandfather, who in his macho (if endearing) fashion would cook up some signature dishes every so often.

Anyhow, a couple of days ago, while searching for a quick but cheap dinner at Dominion, I decided I'd give my grandfather's famous soup mix a try...the brand is called "Quik Kook" ( I believe the 'k' is for kosher :) ) and it only costs 99 cents! At Dominon of all places! The mix is just a blend of barley, rice, beans, peas and lentils. Straight up. No additives. Boo-yah.

There are two ways gramps cooks this soup - most of the time, he throws in a lot of salt and a few cans of tomato soup with the soup mix; other times he cooks it plain, sort of like khichra. (khichra is "sad" food, a dish people often eat during the Islamic month of Muharram, and also sometimes at funerals). I decided to forego the tomato soup and do my own thing with it. The cooking instructions on the back of the packet were really vague - something like, "add 1 c soup mix + seasonings to 1 quart (4 c) boiling water, let simmer for 45 minutes, add fried onions + oil and let cook for 10 minutes more". I tried to follow these instructions, but (obviously) improvised quite a bit...: I started off with the 4 c water, but added probably about 4-5 more along the way because there was much too little (possibly because I used too big a pot)...then, for "seasonings", I opted to go fairly simple with salt, pepper, paprika, and thyme. I added in some balsamic vinegar for a little kick too, but not until the soup was almost cooked. I also did the fried onions as instructed. Cooking time was probably over an hour, and even then I think some of the beans could have cooked for a little longer.

The end result was definitely pretty khichra-like, and although I've never liked khichra all that much ,I thought it was a tasty soup...not to mention cheap!! I calculated about 15 cents/serving :).