Madras Chili and other Yummy Lentil Recipes!

I LOVE Indian food! My husband introduced this cuisine to me on our first date :) This Madras Chili recipe is so simple and satisfying!

Before I was completely vegan, I used to sometimes eat the convenient product, Madras Lentils, made by Tasty Bites. Unfortunately, it contains a very small about of cream and butter (there are only 10 mg of cholesterol). Traditional Indian food consists of many truly amazing vegetarian dishes! However, they often contain a bit of dairy :( So, here is my dairy-free recipe:

Madras Chili

3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbsp)

1 onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 Tbsp cumin

2-3 tsp chili powder (3 tsp = 1 Tbsp)

1 tsp turmeric

dash of pepper (as much as you like!)

1 c dry lentils

4-8 c water*

4 c tomatoes, diced (2 cans)

2 c black beans (1 can)

Heat a large pan for a few min before adding any food. Optionally, saute the onion and garlic for a few min, then add all other ingredients, and bring to a boil. Otherwise, skip saute, and combine all ingredients, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally. See timing below*.

*Water quantity:

For 8 cups, simmer 90 min.

For 6 cups, simmer 1 hour.

For 4 cups, set INSTAPOT** to manual for 10 min.

**I'll do a post on the Instapot, a pressure cooker, one of these days. It's a super-speedy way to cook beans, rice, potatoes, soups, and more!

Of course I want to mention Dr Greger's Daily Dozen :) This recipe gets 3 check marks: beans, non-green veggies, and spices. There is also water, but it doesn't count, since it isn't in "beverage form".

Besides being in this recipe, what do chili powder, cumin, and turmeric have in common? It's salicylic acid, the main active ingredient in ASPIRIN! And CUMIN has the most! Watch this fabulous nutritionfacts.org video!

PLANTS with ASPIRIN ASPIRATIONS

PS: In case you ever wondered, lentils are the best option from the beans and lentils group, according to Dr Greger :)

Here are some other lentil recipes to try:

Hearty Lentil Stew

Easy Lentil Tacos

Tricky Traditional Lasagna

COMMENTS: Do you make any awesome Indian recipes? I'm working on a tikka recipe, and I would love to make some vegan Palak Paneer :)...I think www.pcrm.org has a recipe!

I'm not a vegetarian. PLUS, Super-Easy Chili Recipe :)

UPDATE: my family used to occasionally enjoy EGGS (danger of eggs), among other animal-foods, as a treat. However, we ate those things because they tasted good, NOT for any nutritional benefits.

I AM VEGAN, and my family is ALMOST vegan...my kids are "allowed" to eat whatever they want (well, that's hardly the case...but they are "allowed" to have meat or cheese if they want, though they freely choose not to because I educate them about all the reasons to eat healthy). My husband and kids eat desserts and ice cream which probably contain animal foods, but these are occasional treats. Anyway...

Check out 5 Big Reasons to Make Your Meat Portions Small! and Plant-Based Diets are Powerful!

Super-Easy Vegetarian Chili

1 red onion, chopped
1-2 bell peppers, chopped (or 1 lb frozen)
5 c tomatoes, crushed
1 lb frozen corn
2-4 cans (3-6 c) kidney beans, rinsed and drained (any type of beans work great!)
Consider using DRIED BEANS
Chili powder*, to taste, add generously because of large food volume
Avocado

Saute onion and peppers in water. Next, combine all ingredients (except avocado) and bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes up to several hours...the longer it cooks, the richer the flavor!

Instapot instructions: After sauteing onions and peppers (extra tasty, but not necessary), add all ingredients to Instapot, and set to MANUAL for 6 min!

Top with avocado slices (if you're used to sour cream, try plain, dairy-free yogurt, and see if anyone even notices!).

*OR 1 Tbsp each of cumin, garlic, and oregano, and 1 tsp cayenne pepper (as little as a dash of cayenne if you don't like spicy).

COMMENTS: What would you like to see on the blog? More recipes? More informative posts? More about running or other fitness or lifestyle tips and tricks? I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading ;)