Week 1: Region - Asia
Day 2: Local Cuisine - Syria - War has torn through this country for over 4 1/2 years. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), "Over 3 million have fled to Syria's immediate neighbors Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria." (a.). We learned tonight, all those refugees have really hard lives.
Plan: Monday Dinner - $5 for 5 family members - Lemony Lentil Soup
Final total: $4.68
Story: Tonight's dinner is brought to us by Caleb, our 14-year-old head chef for the evening. This was an incredibly quick meal to throw together. We seven made a video to show you how fast it could all get together in the rice cooker.
I'll let the rest of the post show you what happened with this meal, but I will say these experiments help us appreciate the plight of the poor and exiled around the world. It is funny to me how we always have some sort of a melt down on the second day of a new experiment. Also, melt downs lead to growth and motivation to learn more and do more. We really want to up our giving to people in need locally, to food banks, and to Humanitarian Aid.
Here's the recipe, a link to the video, and the rest and how it went. I promise you a good laugh:
Lemony Lentil Soup from Syria
1 lb Red lentils - $1
3/4 cup lemon juice (we used lime, and this was too much for us) - $1.15
3/4 cup butter (should have used a cup) - $1
2 tbsp veggie (or chicken)broth bullion - $0.33
2 tsp garam masala $0.10
2 tsp cumin $0.10
1 tsp smoked paprika - $0.50
10 small cloves garlic, crushed (it wasn't too much) a free from the garden
Topping:
More paprika and toasted croutons - $0.50
Meal total - $4.68
1. Add all ingredients to rice cooker, cover with 6 cups water, and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Serve piping hot. Top with paprika and croutons.
Note: We adapted this recipe from a book called Soup for Syria. The Chef/Author/Photographer who compiled the recipes in the book has an amazing story this blog post can't do justice for. I plan to write a full review of her book when I get it.
This is the Rest of the Story
Ratings:
1. Quantity - On a scale of 1-5, 1. being, "I was still hungry" and 5. being "i had plenty to eat," was there enough food?
Me: 4- Just Enough
Don: 4 - Pretty good amount
KC: 3 - there was more than enough but I didn't eat until I was full...Soooo
Caleb: 5 - I ate Ike three bowls plus KC's
Hannah: 2 1/2 - I couldn't eat until I was full
Category Average: 3.7
2. Uniqueness - On a scale of 1-5, with 1. being, "We've eaten this same thing a bunch ," and 5. being, "This is unique in our experiment," how unique would you say this meal was?
Me: 5 - Very. I've never had a soup so tart.
Don: 3 - Only semi unique
KC: 4 - We eat lentils a lot, but, lemon.
Caleb: 3 - lots of lemon, actually lime, is what made it different.
Hannah: 3 1/2 - I tried to tone down the lemon with milk. It ruined it.
Category Average: 3.7
3. Variety - On a scale of 1-5, 1 being, "This meal has no variety bite for bite," and 5 being, "Every bite was a symphony," how would you rate the variety offered in this meal.
Me: 3 - the croutons save the soup and offer variety
Don: 2 - not much variety
KC: 2 - it was one dish, but there were croutons
Caleb: 3 - croutons
Hannah: 3 1/2 - paprika and croutons
Category average: 2.7
4. Enjoyment - On a scale of 1-5, 1 being, "Please never serve this again," and 5 being, "Lets make this again soon," how would you rate you overall enjoyment of this meal?
Me: 3 - I could eat it again in a few weeks, but I would add the right amount of butter and decrease the lemon
Don: 4 - I would like to eat it again, just with much less lemon, more savory.
KC: 2 - I'm just not a fan of refugee food
Caleb: 3 - I would eat it again at some point
Hannah: 2 3/4 - Hmm. I wouldn't ruin it next time.
Category average: 2.95
Overall Meal Rating - 2.61
It was nourishing and tasty, but too tart for some, and didn't offer enough bite-for-bite variety for most.
Classic Quotes from This Meal:
"If I was a refugee I would love this. And, I would be grateful. I just don't like lentils and mushy food. I don't like cinnamon except in dessert. I like poor people food; beans, potatoes, rice, I just don't like all of these spices. And, lentils. Like this." --KC
"There's no dessert? Well, maybe if you guys hadn't put so much lemon in we could have made something like lemon bars." --Don
"It was actually lime." --Caleb
References:
a. syrianrefugees.eu
2 comments:
I find myself growing to love your family through these experiments! I sure wish we lived closer so I could get to know your kids better. They sound like awesomely authentic people with open minds. (kind of my favorite kind of people)
I wish we loved closer, too. Yeah, I love that the dinner table is a safe place ;). They don't really hold back a whole lot as far as what they're thinking in a given moment.
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