Red lentil pumpkin chili

 

I'm told there's a Super Bowl coming up soon. While I could only name one of the teams* playing in it if pressed to answer the question on the spot, the food portion of the event is something I fully comprehend. Chili is a Super Bowl party staple for many people; this one is an option if you're looking for a meatless variety for some of your guests.I made it because it uses pumpkin and there are still several lurking in the basement to cook through. Go Team Pumpkin!

* The only reason I could name one of the teams is because their local newspaper came up with Birdle, an Eagles-related twist on Wordle. I can attest that you can successfully complete it with no actual football knowledge so it's one more potential bad habit to add to my Wordle/Quordle/Worldle daily addiction, but at least it's presumably temporary.

Red lentil pumpkin chili with zucchini
From “Purely Pumpkin” by Allison Day, a compendium of recipes using pumpkin, broken down by course type. I'm going to have to do a deeper dive into this one to make inroads in the pumpkin supply.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 small zucchini, cut into ½-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika or chili powder
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon oregano
1 (28-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
1½ cups pumpkin puree (about a small pumpkin's worth)
1½ cups water
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups cooked black beans, drained
1 cup uncooked red lentils
1 teaspoon salt

Method
Heat olive oil in a large deep pot. Add onion, zucchini, garlic, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes and oregano. Cook until vegetables are soft and just starting to brown. Stir in tomatoes, pumpkin, water, vinegar, black means, lentils and salt. Cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until lentils are tender. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Rating: A fine enough vegetarian chili option. It has the basic flavor profile; the red lentils give it some meatiness and the pumpkin puree gives it that thickness. If you've got the ingredients on hand, it's not a bad option for a family dinner. It reheated nicely, although it's not one of those recipes that necessarily gets better when made in advance.But this recipe for fully loaded vegetable chili is a more deeply flavorful vegetarian chili, one that makes you not miss the meat, so I'd definitely give that one the edge if company is coming.