Idaho Meatless Chili. A chili featuring lentils. This is a new recipe to me. As an Idaho native, I didn’t realize we had our own state version of chili. If anything, I would have made the assumption an Idaho based version of chili would have been using venison or elk meat. In fact, this is a meatless chili in a state where meat and potatoes is still the preferred meal across the state. Okay, yes, true to our famously known Idaho potatoes, this recipe does in fact include potatoes.
Idaho Meatless Chili
Ingredients:
(Serves 4-6)
Prep time: 45 min. approx. Cook Time: 20 min. approx.
| 2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | tomato juice | |
| 1 | 19-oz. | ( | ounce | ) | can garbanzo beans, undrained (chickpeas) | |
| 1 | c. | ( | cup | ) | water | |
| 1 | medium potato, peeled and chopped | |||||
| 1/2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | dried red lentils, rinsed and drained | |
| 1 | ( | ) | medium carrot, cut into 1″ strips | |||
| 1/2 | ( | ) | small onion, diced | |||
| 2 | tsp. | ( | teaspoon | ) | chili powder | |
| 1 | tsp. | ( | teaspoon | ) | vegetarian beef bouillon | |
| salt & pepper to taste |
What You Will Need:
| 1 | large stock cooking pot; (I often use a big roasting pan on the stove top) | |||||
| 1 | soup ladle | |||||
| 1 | cutting board and knife | |||||
| 1 | can opener and vegetable peeler | |||||
| 1 | measuring cup | |||||
| 1 | measuring spoon | |||||
| 1 | wooden spoon | |||||
| 1 | small bowl | |||||
| 1 | colander |
Steps to Make Idaho Meatless Chili:
- Use can opener to open can of garbanzo beans; set aside.
- Place dried lentils in colander; rinse well and drain; set aside.
- Use vegetable peeler to peel skin from potato.
- Use cutting board and knife to chop the potato into bite size pieces, or slightly smaller.
- Rinse cutting board and knife; cut carrot into 1″ strips; set aside.
- Rinse cutting board and knife; dice onion; set aside.
- In stock pot, combine all ingredients.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
To Serve:
Dish Idaho Meatless Chili in a bowl while hot. Serve with hearty baguette bread and butter (optional). This would be paired well with a dry white wine, such as a Chardonnay. You could also do a nice cheese plate as an appetizer, a side, or as a dessert. You can find both wine and cheese available for home delivery here.
Special Tips:
For meat lovers, an additional option is to add 1 – 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef; browned and drained. Add the meat to the rest of the ingredients and let boil with them.
This tends to be a thicker chili, almost stew-like. To reduce thickness of ingredients, add additional vegetarian beef broth for continuity of flavor but add until desired thickness.
Health Benefits
Finding and incorporating healthy foods in our lives is not always easy. Temptations of fried fatty treats are at every corner. But who wants to be on a perpetual diet? My approach is to look for foods I like and learn how they are beneficial for my health. Granted, I seek information on the ones I like. I haven’t focused too much on foods I don’t like. My list is in progress and includes spices and herbs. I have data on vitamins too. Its been a work in progress for a few years and a collaboration of multiple online sources. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to document those and only extracted the essential benefits for my own purpose of reference. But I’ll bet when you look around the internet enough, you will find similar resources, possibly the same.
- This summary of collected tidbits from internet resources is not intended as a medical guide. Only available beneficial information is shown, negative side effects and other warnings have not been included. The effectiveness and accuracy of any health benefit are subject to opinion and varying outcomes from different studies and reports. Refer to your medical provider or nutritionist when considering any changes.
The Diet Plan
By educating myself on the nutrition value, I am motivated to make healthier choices. Obviously, all choices are meant to be in moderation and any diet changes should be approved by your medical provider. However, I enjoy eggs. Here is why I will keep eggs on my menu:
Eggs – good for muscular strength, promote healthy brain functioning, good for nervous system, good for memory and the metabolism, good energy production, healthy immune system, lower risk of heart disease, healthy fetal development, healthy eyesight, prevent macular degeneration, weight loss and maintenance, promotes skin health, helps to prevent breakdown of body tissues, helps liver function, excellent source of protein
I was pregnant with my first child when I had egg cravings that would not go away. To learn about its status of being a strong protein helpful for my health and for my unborn child, I let myself indulge. Boy, oh boy, did I ever indulge! And yes, it turned out to be a boy!
I have continued to promote an inclusion of eggs in our meal regimen. For a short time, I eliminated the yolks to only eat the whites. It was not a matter of the cholesterol questions surrounding eggs with whites versus yolks. It was just a thing I did while temporarily living in California. Since then, I have returned to eating the yolk too.
Are you ready to add eggs to your menu? Keeps hunger pains at bay. Watch the number on the scale drop. Now you know my method for creating a nutritional diet plan. Let’s discover health benefits for ingredients used to make the above chili.
Health Benefits of Idaho Meatless Chili Ingredients
Chickpeas
Chickpeas – Also known as Garbonzo beans, these are considered a legume with a nutty taste, often found in Indian, Moroccan, and Spanish cuisines, high in fiber, lowers cholesterol, helps reduce hunger which promotes weight loss, low calorie, can be roasted and eaten for a crunchy snack between meal, is a source of protein, helps with skin protection, helps regulate blood sugar, aids in digestive health, boosts the immune system, helps build muscle and helps with brain health and nervous system, helps to detoxify cancer cells and supports liver enzyme function, promotes high energy, and folate; which is good for development of unborn babies, for ultimate benefit of the chickpea soak for four hours for all chemical changes to occur
Onion
Onion – improve immunity, regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation, heal infections, raw onion helps produce good cholesterol (HDL), helps prevent cancer and reduce ulcer development, helps with depression, aids in sleep health, exterior use place under a nostril to help stop a bloody nose, consumption of raw onion helps oral health (beware of bad breath), helps lower blood pressure, combined with garlic works as painkiller, anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory
Lentils
Lentils – lower cholesterol, keep arteries clean, high fiber, reduces risk of heart disease, helps prevent constipation, IBS, diverticulosis, stabilizes blood sugar level by slowing digestion, excellent source of protein, helps with oxygen in body, promotes healthy metabolism,, helps with weight loss
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