Low Country Lentils: Food Bloggers Against Hunger

Have you ever been hungry? Well, it turns out that 1 in 6 Americans will be hungry at some point in their lives. The food assistance program in the United States averages to around $4 per day for each person. Could you feed your family on $4 a day??

I have joined forces with Food Bloggers Against Hunger today to help raise awareness of this rapidly growing problem in America.

I decided to take $4 to the grocery store to see if I could come up with a meal for that much. My first thought was peanut butter and jelly, but peanut butter is actually pretty expensive and took up the entire $4 itself. My second thought was beans, which are economical to buy, filling and stretch for many servings. I like to cook my lentils in broth, but quickly found that buying broth wouldn't fit into my budget. So I found that the lentils, lemon and one vegetable would come under $4. 

• Lentils - $1.69
• Red pepper - $1.19
• Lime - $0.29
• Grand Total = $3.39

After spending an obscene amount of time in the store and coming away with only three ingredients with my $4, I was very frustrated and tired. It opened my eyes to how difficult life can be and I paused to be thankful for my life.

In addition to dedicating my post to this issue today, I want to encourage my readers to watch A Place At The Table by Participant Films. The documentary brings out the truth about the hunger problem in America and the implications it has on our society. If you have not yet seen this, I encourage you to do so - it will open your eyes!

Help fix this problem in America and send a letter to congress. I am proud to join forces with 200 other food bloggers today (and moving forward) to make some noise about this problem. I hope you will help too!!

Low Country Lentils

Yields: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

2 T olive oil
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 T cajun spices

1 tsp ground cumin

2 cups red lentils
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
⅓ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the red pepper, cajun spices and cumin and saute for 5 minutes. Add in the lentils and stir to combine, then add in the broth, water and salt to pot. Stir and cook covered for 15-18 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.

Serving suggestions:
 - Over brown or white rice
 - Over fresh spinach
 - With cornbread