Red lentil chilli in an acorn squash

Red lentil chilli in an acorn squash.

This dish from Meatless Monday pairs two of autumn’s best culinary offerings: chilli and roasted squash. Acorn squash serves as a bowl for this spicy and smoky red lentil chilli, which gets a unique twist with the addition of hominy.

For the Red Lentil Chilli —INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ medium onion, diced

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

800g diced tomatoes

1 cup no salt added tomato sauce

1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and sorted

1½ teaspoons chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

425g can no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed

425g can no salt added kidney beans, drained and rinsed

800g hominy, drained and rinsed (dried maize kernels)

For the Acorn Squash Bowl —INGREDIENTS:

2 acorn squashes, cut in half and seeded

¼ teaspoon olive oil

? teaspoon kosher salt

? teaspoon black pepper

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 220C

• In a large pot over medium-high heat, add the oil and saute onions and bell peppers together for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the jalapeno and garlic, stir.

• Add the diced tomatoes, sauce, vegetable broth and red lentils to the pot. Stir in the spices and cover with a lid over low heat for 40 minutes.

• On a baking sheet, place 4 halves of acorn squash and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

• Bake for 40 minutes, or until fork-tender.

• Turn off oven and let squash cool on baking sheet.

• Meanwhile, remove lid from pot and stir in the canned beans and hominy. Turn heat to medium and stir for 5 more minutes.

• Remove from heat and add 1 cup of chilli into each half of squash.

• Garnish with celery leaves or cilantro.

• Serves 4

— This recipe is courtesy of Elizabeth Shaw of Shaw’s Simple Swaps for Meatless Monday.

www.meatlessmonday.com

About Meatless MondayMeatless Monday is a global movement with a simple message: one day a week, cut the meat.

Launched in 2003, Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, working in collaboration with the Centre for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.The goal is to reduce meat consumption by 15 percent for personal health and the health of the planet.

They provide information, news, recipes and free promotional materials to help individuals, schools, restaurants, hospitals, food companies and entire communities to start each week with a commitment to eating healthy, environmentally-friendly, meat-free meals.