Peace in the Middle East Soup and Salad - $16.52 a serving

Every non-staple ingredient matched to a real product on the shelf, priced on 2026-07-19 at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine (ZIP 45202). 4 pantry staples excluded. 4 matches are flagged for you to check rather than silently swapped. Prices change without notice - this is what we paid attention to on that date, not a quote.

olive oil drives this basket at $8.49, 13% of the total. The next biggest lines are olive oil ($8.49) and grape tomatoes ($5.98). $23.55 of the basket - 36% - is package remainder: food you buy because stores sell packages and recipes call for amounts. It does not vanish, it sits in your kitchen for the next meal.

• Simple Truth Organic® Extra Virgin Olive Oil · about 470 ml left, $7.98 of value
• Simple Truth Organic® Extra Virgin Olive Oil · about 470 ml left, $7.98 of value
• Joseph's™ Flax Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Pita Bread · about 4 left, $1.99 of value
• Kroger® 99% Fat Free Chicken Broth · about 802 ml left, $1.40 of value
• La Preferida® Lentils Dry Beans · about 359 g left, $1.34 of value
• Carrots · about 334 g left, $1.24 of value

“I think war causes too much suffering in the world. One problem I see is that people often focus on their differences, rather than things they have in common,” says Pablo. “In the Middle East there have been wars going on for a long time because people often fail to get past their differences. I wanted to create a dish that takes parts of different cultures in the Middle East and shows how they can come together to make a delicious and healthy lunch. The lentil soup brings in many Middle Eastern flavors and is joined by a crunchy Israeli salad stuffed into a pita. My dish highlights things that different regions in the Middle East have in common, and shows that, in the end, everyone is more alike than different.”

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup dry lentils
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 4 large kale leaves, stemmed and chopped
• 1/3 Vidalia onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes or slices
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 10 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 large whole-wheat pita breads, cut in half and lightly warmed

This recipe is credited to a partner program (The 2016 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook), so we don't reprint its directions - read them on the archived original.

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