One of my favorite soups of all time is from an incredible plant-based chef, Sarah Britton, and it is the inspiration for this chili. I’ll change up a few things to make sure this is authentic in flavor and a family favorite for football seasons to come.
The Original Recipe
The original recipe was chock full of crowd-pleasing ingredients: cheese, beef, beer, and processed vegetable oil. We swap those four ingredients with coconut yogurt, red lentils, vegetable stock, and olive oil.
The Lightened Up Recipe
Lentils are part of the legume family and are an incredible source of goodness and plant-based protein. As a complex carbohydrate, ¼ cup of dried red lentils has 35 grams of carbohydrates, but 14 grams of fiber, which means the net carbohydrate, is 21 grams per serving.
Apart from being an incredible source of plant protein and fiber, lentils are high in iron. The kicker? The amount of iron absorbed will depend on whether there is vitamin C present. Consuming vitamin C rich foods with iron-rich plant foods can increase the absorption of iron by 3 times. For this reason, we include lemon and fresh parsley for flavor and their great vitamin C content.
Vegetarian Chili (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils, rinsed very well
1 large onion, chopped finely
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pinch of sea salt
1 can of organic tomatoes (diced)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 lemon (organic if possible as we use the rind) cut into slices
½ cup of parsley, chopped
½ cup of cilantro, chopped
1 small container of natural unsweetened coconut yogurt or organic greek.
Directions:
In a soup pot, add the olive oil, garlic, and ginger and soften.
Add in the chopped onion, sea salt, cumin, and cayenne. Sauté until onions are soft.
Add in lemon slices, tomatoes, vegetable stock, and lentils. Give them a good stir.
Bring to a boil, reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes with the lid on.
At 20 minutes, the lentils should have expanded and you should now have a chili consistency. If not, wait another 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve hot with a generous dollop of coconut yogurt and lots of fresh herbs.
