I can't remember where I got this recipe, so if you read this, and it happens to be yours, let me know. I always want to give credit where credit is due. It is not my recipe though.
We didn't care for it at first. Then, I added my magic touch and we both (DH and I) really liked it. I is a little spicy, so I ate mine with a dollop of sour cream on top and a cold, crispy, green salad. The salad paired with the soup was really refreshing. After tomorrow, I'm going to freeze the rest of the soup into 1 cup servings for an easy lunch or on the fly supper. My touches are are in purple. With my touches, I give this 4 spoons.
Lentil Chili
2 teaspoons olive oil (I only used 1 tsp - next time I will leave it out altogether)
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium) (our onions are always strong so I used 2/3 c- 3/4 c onion)
1 cup diced carrots
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 teaspoons chili powder
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth (I actually used about 7 c-see my notes below)
3/4 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
2 cans (10 ounces each)diced tomatoes with green chilies (I used mild)
2 cans (15 or 19 ounces each) dark red kidney beans (I drained and rinsed them)
Freshly ground pepper to taste (I left this out altogether)
1. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. (I only used 1 tsp oil and some water to "sweat saute" my veggies.Next time I will leave the oil out altogether) Add the onions and carrots Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute. Add the broth and lentils. (I only added the 4 c broth the recipe called for at this point. I added the other 3 c after the soup was cooked. Next time I will add all 7 c at this point) Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, beans, and pepper (If using-I didn't). Return to a simmer. Cook, covered, over medium low heat until lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes or longer. One serving is 1 cup. Left-overs will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
When the soup was done (I call it soup because it really was nowhere close to what I know as a chili), I added the last 3 c of broth (for a total of 7), a sprinkle of chili powder, and a few sprinkles of Tony Chachere's (one of my favorite seasonings). Then I let it simmer a bit longer. To give it some consistency, I removed a blender full of the soup ( heavy on the chunky items in the soup- about 2/3 full of the chunky and 1/3 more of the liquid) and let it cool in the blender while I took my potato masher and mashed some of the remaining soup in the pot. Then I blended the soup in the blender till smooth before pouring it back into the soup pot. Then I stirred it all together and turned the heat to low. this gave it a great consistency.
199 calories, 12 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 12 g fiber, 3 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 691 mg sodium
