Tacos, oddly enough, are one of my favorite foods. I could make tacos back when I didn’t even know how cook, and it still felt like a real meal. Tacos are actually the first thing I ever made for James. Since then, my taco recipe has evolved into a delicious dish that I still make on regular basis.

In honor of Frugal Nation, I thought I would give it a go with lentils. I have never been a big fan of beans (though I am trying to catch on, I didn’t think Great Northern Beans would make good tacos), so I used some French lentils I picked up at the Fresh Market before they closed up for good. This is a hybrid of my favorite taco recipe, combined with a few tweaks I picked up from Epicurious, though their recipe used a packet of taco seasoning (not in my kitchen, I say!).

Spiced Lentil Tacos

1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup lentils (black or green), rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can (14 oz) corn
taco shells, tortillas, or chips
toppings, as desired (rice, sour cream, cheese, lettuce)

Over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, and salt in olive oil under tender. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and lentils and saute until fragrant. Add tomato sauce and water, bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat and cover. Cook until lentils are soft, 25-30 minutes (or longer, depending on how soft you want your lentils), stirring occasionally. Add additional water if needed. Stir in corn and heat through. Serve as desired.

Frugal Breakdown:
1 onion: $0.50
1 garlic clove: negligible
1/4 tsp salt: negligible
olive oil: negligible
1 tbsp chili powder: $0.50
2 tsp cumin: $0.20
1 tsp dried oregano: negligible
1 cup lentils: $1.34
1 can tomato sauce: $0.89
1 cup water: negligible
1 can corn: $0.86
flour tortillas: $1.29
TOTAL: $5.58

Verdict: A rousing success, with money left for toppings or chips. Though I would argue this recipe is excellent on its own, I will admit to sprinkling some cheese on mine. Chopped spinach is also a great choice over iceberg lettuce.

This particular lentils were a bit more expensive than what I found at the grocery store, so a cheaper bag would bring this price down even more.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Frugal Nation, Main Dishes, Recipes, Special Projects, Vegan/Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.