If you have just started to follow us, let us tell you that at Hungry Pumpkin we agree that not too much energy, time, or money is spent on planning and preparing lunch. Who can afford three hours of cooking if he has to work in the meantime, take care of the household and, after all, the children and pets? And of course every saved euro comes in handy too.
📃 Easy ⏱ Very fast (25min) 🌾 Contains gluten 💪 Quite nutritious.
What we cooked this time: Carrot cream soup with red lentils, and for the main course, barley with chicory and a salad of máche, tomatoes, and black cumin. Lunch was very easy to prepare, it didn’t take us much time, and it’s also wallet-friendly.

Barley is one of the oldest cultivated cereals and has a wide range of uses. It is used both for animal feed and in our diet, especially in the production of barley malt for beer, whiskey, as well as a coffee substitute and for a range of different dishes.
According to statistics from 2017, barley ranked 4th in terms of volume produced globally, just behind corn, rice, and wheat.
In terms of nutrient content, barley has a very similar composition compared to other cereals. Compared to wheat, however, barley contains a little less protein and a little more fat. The nutrient content per 100g of cooked barley can be seen in the table below.
|
100 g |
% of daily needs |
515 kJ (123 kcal) |
|
|
Carbohydrate |
28.2 g |
|
0.3 g |
|
|
3.8 g |
|
|
Fet |
0.4 g |
|
2.3 g |
|
|
0.083 mg |
7% |
|
0.062 mg |
5% |
|
2.063 mg |
14% |
|
0.135 mg |
3% |
|
0.115 mg |
9% |
|
16 μg |
4% |
|
0.8 μg |
1% |
|
11 mg |
1% |
|
Cupper |
0.105 mg |
5% |
Iron |
1.3 mg |
10% |
Magnesium |
22 mg |
6% |
Manganese |
0.259 mg |
12% |
Phosphorus |
54 mg |
8% |
Potassium |
93 mg |
2% |
0.82 mg |
9% |
Recipe, preparation, price of the lunch
We spent 10 minutes preparing all the ingredients – especially cutting the vegetables, and then another 15 minutes cooking the whole lunch.
First, we started preparing the soup. We cut the onions and carrots into larger pieces, quickly fried them in olive oil and watered them with water, and left the vegetables to partially soften and we were able to mix them with a stick mixer. Finally, we added red lentils to the cream soup. Of all the types – colors – red lentils cook the fastest. If necessary, we added a little more water and let it cook for a good 10 minutes.
Quantity (g or ml) |
Price for 4 people (EUR) |
|
Soup |
|
|
Olive oil |
20 |
0,12 |
Carrots |
250 |
0,25 |
Onion |
140 |
0,12 |
Lentils red |
150 |
0,36 |
Salt |
4 |
0,00 |
Mail dish |
||
Chicory |
500 |
0,79 |
Zucchini |
350 |
0,87 |
Barley |
300 |
0,56 |
Salt |
5 |
0,00 |
Salad |
||
Lettuce |
300 |
1,19 |
Máche |
125 |
1,19 |
Tomato |
200 |
0,50 |
Black cumin |
15 |
0,47 |
Salt |
3 |
0,00 |
Pumpkin seed oil |
10 |
0,12 |
Together |
6,54 |
While the soup was cooking, we fried the sliced chicory and zucchini in olive oil, added the barley, and watered it all together with water. In doing so, be careful not to add too much water, which the barley will not “drink” or. it will not be able to evaporate in time. If necessary, add water during cooking. In the end, we just salted our dish.
We also prepared a salad from a mixture of lettuce and máche, and we also added tomatoes and black cumin, all seasoned with pumpkin oil and salt.
In the end, the price of our lunch was € 6.54 for four people, which is € 1.6 per person! For those of us who cook only for ourselves and our better half, that means two flies at once – you cook once and eat twice and take advantage of the extra time for a walk :-). Is anyone else recognized in this record?
Nutritional value
With lunch consumed quantity |
% From daily needs |
||
Energy |
497 |
kcal |
25 |
Proteins |
19 |
g |
35 |
Total fats |
11 |
g |
25 |
Carbohydrates |
87 |
g |
|
Starch |
51 |
g |
|
Sugar |
11 |
g |
|
Fibers |
23 |
g |
93 |
Calcium (Ca) |
169 |
mg |
17 |
Iron (Fe) |
7 |
mg |
74 |
Magnesium (Mg) |
185 |
mg |
46 |
Phosphorus (P) |
452 |
mg |
65 |
Potassium (K) |
1793 |
mg |
90 |
Sodium (Na) |
1366 |
mg |
248 |
Zinc (Zn) |
4 |
mg |
44 |
Copper (Cu) |
1 |
mg |
123 |
Manganese (Mn) |
3 |
mg |
109 |
Selenium (Se) |
32 |
µg |
64 |
Vitamin A |
943 |
µg |
94 |
Vitamin E |
7 |
mg |
44 |
Vitamin D |
0 |
µg |
0 |
Vitamin C |
59 |
mg |
59 |
Thiamin (B1) |
1 |
mg |
59 |
Riboflavin (B2) |
1 |
mg |
34 |
Niacin (B3) |
6 |
mg |
42 |
Pantothenic acid (B5) |
1 |
mg |
22 |
Vitamin B6 |
1 |
mg |
57 |
Folic acid (B9) |
237 |
µg |
59 |
Vitamin B12 |
0 |
µg |
0 |
Vitamin K |
435 |
µg |
622 |
With lunch, we entered the body about 25% of daily calorie needs (497 kcal from 2000 kcal) and we also consumed 25% of daily fat needs, 93% of fiber, which plays an important role in the diet, as they have a beneficial effect on digestion. They affect the regeneration and function of the intestinal mucosa because they stimulate the secretion of mucus and hormones. We also consumed as much as 35% of our daily protein needs.
For children and adolescents, a minimum protein intake of between 0.9 and 1.0 g / kg body weight per day is recommended. For the average adult, the needs are lower, at 0.6 g / kg body weight per day. However, because there are individual differences between people, and because not all ingested protein can be utilized, the recommended protein intake is 0.8 g / kg body weight per day. Protein intake should represent 10 to 15% of daily energy intake depending on the age group, but not more than 20% of daily energy intake. Protein requirements during illness and convalescence, as well as in the elderly, are slightly higher, ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 g / kg body weight per day.
Lunch was also very rich in minerals and vitamins. We took in 74% of our daily needs for iron, 46% for magnesium, 17% for calcium, 64% for selenium, and as much as 90% for potassium. We also consumed as much as 109% of our daily needs for manganese and 123% for copper.
Manganese is a mineral that is found in small amounts in the body but plays an important role in fighting free radicals. Manganese participates as a coenzyme in many reactions necessary for the metabolism and digestion of proteins and the metabolism of carbohydrates. It is also important for cartilage regeneration.
Of the vitamins, our lunch was the richest in vitamin A (94%), followed by vitamin B1, B9, and C (59%). Of all the vitamins, only vitamin B5 (22%) was consumed below 25%. However, we did not consume any vitamin D and B12, which are difficult to find in plant foods.
The percentage of daily needs for total carbohydrates and starch is not stated because of the differences between individuals depending on the other nutrients consumed. However, we do not necessarily need free sugar in our diet.
If you want more detailed insight into the calculated nutritional value or have other questions and comments, you can write to us at info@hungry-pumpkin.com. We look forward to any mail!
Have a nice sunny weekend,
Your Hungry Pumpkin
