Everyone goes to the grocery store hoping for a good deal.

Imagine the surprise of shoppers when they walked into the Vincennes Save A Lot and were offered a cup of hot soup, a bag of lentils, and a $5 coupon to purchase the ingredients needed to make the soup.

The “For the Love of Lentils” program is the real life telling of the “Stone Soup” story. In the folk tale, villagers add one ingredient each to the pot to make a delicious batch of soup.

In the Knox County version, Community Health Nurse Susan Yochum, Nutrition Education Program Advisor Chris Clark, and Community Wellness Coordinator Chloee Hurst partnered with the Save A Lot management team to teach local residents how to use a common item provided by area food pantries: lentils.

“The event was held in the foyer of the store and was the perfect place to talk to shoppers as well as store employees, who were interested in tasting the soup that smelled amazing,” Chris said.

After seeing the response, Chris said the store manager, who was very accommodating and helpful, plans to stock lentils.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, 1/2 cup of lentils has 12 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, but only .5 grams of fat.

“The Knox County Health Department was proud to partner with Purdue Extension for a successful cooking event at the Vincennes Save A Lot, highlighting the versatility and nutritional benefits of lentils,” Susan said. “This collaboration showcased how simple, affordable ingredients could create healthy, delicious meals.”

According to Chloee, many of the shoppers were familiar with them but didn’t know anything about them.

“When asked about lentils, they said they had never tried them before, had thrown them out when given at the pantry, or didn’t know what to do with them,” Chloee said. “The recipes were simple, cost effective, and delicious, making the participants excited to incorporate the lentils into their recipes at home!”