Last week’s grocery shopping left me with a bunch of kale that I wasn’t interested in chopping into a huge salad. For this week’s grocery plan, I decided to search for other “super foods” to pair with my leftover kale. Foods are classified as “super” when they provide a high amount of a daily recommended nutrient and have health benefits. At $0.99 per pound, sweet potatoes were the perfect vegetable to match with the nutrient-dense kale. Cucumbers at $0.79 each were also ideal. Like kale, cucumbers are rich in b vitamins like folate and are versatile enough that I can use it in multiple recipes. A spicy soup and pico de gallo brought all these vegetables together. Pico de gallo, also called salsa fresco, usually has freshly chopped jalapenos and complements the mild taste of cucumber.
Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Cucumber Pico De Gallo and Kale Chips
For Soup:
3 medium sweet potatoes diced $1
1/2 medium onion diced $0.75
3 cloves of garlic $1
1 tablespoon (14 grams) of cumin, cayenne, ground ginger, and red pepper (more or less to your preference)
1/2 a cup of corn $1
1 medium plum tomato $1
1/2 a cup of vegetable broth
Total cost to make = $4.75
(Note: While I already had the spices and broth on hand and did not have to purchase them, these items can be purchased at the Dollar Store. You can also get a small piece of fresh ginger for less than a $1.)
Directions:
- On medium low heat, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent.
- Add spices and vegetable broth. Bring to boil.
- Add sweet potatoes. Cover and reduce to simmer. Cook until sweet potatoes soften.
- Ladle the soup in batches into a blender and puree.
- Return to pot. Add corn and diced tomatoes.
Cucumber Pico de Gallo
Ingredients:
1 jalapeno $0.50
1/2 cucumber $0.79
1/4 white onion (I used the same onion that I used for the soup)
1 plum tomato (this tomato is included in the price of the soup)
1 lime $0.50
1/4 cup cilantro $0.79
Total cost to make= $2.58
Directions:
- Dice all vegetables
- Add lime juice and refrigerate before serving.
Kale Chips
Ingredients:
Kale
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 275
- Cut the kale from the rib
- Toss kale in the oil olive. Make sure all leaves are coated evenly.
- Spread kale evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle on salt and pepper lightly. Be careful not to oversalt.
- Bake for thirty minutes.
Without busting my twenty dollar budget, I managed to make a soup that yields four servings ($1.19 per serving) with 100% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin a and used a large amount of the kale that I purchased last week.
