I wasn’t sure what to make of it when I set everything to boil in my large saucepan. Would veggie “beef,” mixed vegetables, and broth go well together, all by themselves, until the time came to add a can of cream of mushroom soup? Would that just muddy the waters, as it were? Would the spices I’d chosen go along with the dish as a whole? Shouldn’t I just throw a canned of diced tomatoes into the mix instead and call it a day?
Rather than give in to my doubts and my Type A mind, I went along with the recipe and was so pleased with the result! This turned out to be a smooth, hearty stew filled with protein and veggies and all manner of goodness, with not very much fat and next to no money involved. In fact, the most expensive parts of this meal were found in the salad and foccacia – not that I’m complaining about how those side items turned out!
So I’ll definitely be giving this dish another try. Who knows? It may even join the regular rotation by the time winter’s in full swing!
The stats:
Ground “beef”: $3.99 ($2.00/person)
Mixed vegetables: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Veggie broth: $2.50 ($1.25/person)
Cream of mushroom soup: $1.00 ($0.50/person)
Salad: $3.59 ($1.80/person)
Foccacia: $3.99/seven ($0.86/person)
GRAND TOTAL: $16.07 … or $6.91 per person.
:)