Red Lentil Chili in an Acorn Squash

This dish pairs two of fall’s best culinary offerings: chili and roasted squash! Acorn squash serves as a bowl for this spicy and smokey red lentil chili, which gets a unique twist with the addition of hominy. This recipe comes to us from Elizabeth Shaw of Shaw’s Simple Swaps.

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Red Lentil Chili:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup no salt added tomato sauce
• 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and sorted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 15 ounce can no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed
• 15 ounce can no salt added kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 28 ounce can hominy, drained and rinsed

For the Acorn Squash Bowl:

• 2 acorn squashes, cut in half and seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425*F.
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 canned 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 chili into each half of squash.
Garnish with celery leaves or cilantro.
Enjoy!