The weather took a turn overnight and reverted to its good old January self (yesterday, our high was in the 50s! Go figure), and as soon as my feet hit the cold wood floor this morning, I knew some soup would be just the thing to combat the cold. I’d been wanting to try this recipe, from A Year of Slow-Cooking, for a while, and today seemed like the perfect day to fire up the good old Crock-Pot and get moving.
I was running a bit late this morning following the untimely demise of one of my favorite drinking glasses (which insisted on shattering into a million tiny shards of glass when it hit the floor, rather than breaking cleanly and calmly), so I was very pleased to see that this recipe was a quick fix. Within five to seven minutes, all the ingredients – fresh, canned, and spicy – were loaded up into the crockery, and I flipped the dial to Low and let it go. By the time LeeLee and I arrived home tonight, dinner was ready to go – just add salad!
This recipe didn’t taste quite as baked-beany as I’d expected, but it was good nevertheless, and we both went back for seconds. The fresh tossed salad was a perfect accompaniment, providing a little greenery to the meal. And the Fritos? Well, as usual, they were the icing – or, er, crisping? – on the cake. We’ll definitely make this one again!
The stats:
Pinto beans: $0.88 ($0.44/person)
Fire-roasted tomatoes: $2.39 ($1.20/person)
Molasses: $3.99 ($0.16/person)
Fritos: $2.99 ($0.75/person)
Carrots: $2.99 ($1.00/person)
GRAND TOTAL: $13.24 … or $3.55 per person.
BUT WAIT! This meal makes enough for at least one more serving of leftovers. So the per-person price goes down even more!
:)