I had a bag of frozen, cubed, onions, carrots, and celery that I sautéed for a while. This was maybe two cups of vegetables. I then added chicken stock that I had in the fridge from when I cooked a chicken. Once that was boiling I added the lentils, maybe a cup and a half (like all beans lentils increase in size). I seasoned them with oregano, cumin, and salt.
I let it all simmer until the lentils were soft. Mine were a bit old so it took longer than lentils normally do. Meanwhile I cooked rice (in a rice cooker) and my daughter and I prepared tomatoes, cilantro, and avocados to serve with the dish. We also topped it with olives and sour cream.
The avocados, olives, and sour cream brought the cost up a bit but the main dish of rice and lentils cooked with vegetables was quite cheap. You could put different spices with it, and add or subtract the vegetables to make it different.
