This recipe was inspired by a craving for a hearty chili with a kick of sweet heat and a nuttier, more robust flavour than our traditional Classic Chili .  The pairing of sweet red lentils and nutty quinoa with savoury, salty parmesan cheese produced that ‘just right’ flavour I was looking for.

You definitely want to prepare your quinoa by adding garam masala (known as warm spice) to your cooking water/vegetable broth. This aromatic mixture of spices adds a dimension of flavour and warmth to the chili you don’t get using water or broth alone.
Also be sure to use plump, bright red tomatoes when making this chili. If possible, I recommend using Campari tomatoes which yield the perfect balance of juiciness, sweetness and acidity.

Enjoy the soul-warming flavour of this dish and as always, I welcome feedback if you get a chance to try this!

Preparation

1/Prepare 1 cup cooked red lentils as directed
2/Prepare 1 cup cooked quinoa as directed
Important: Add 2 tsp garam masala to water/vegetable broth used during cooking to infuse Indian-inspired flavour. 
3/Prepare parmesan cheese (see recipe below)

Parmesan Cheese-Ingredients

3/4 cup cashews, raw (110g)
1 tsp hemp seeds, raw and unshelled
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp lemon juice, fresh

Parmesan Cheese-Instructions

1/Place cashews and hemp seeds in the Thermomix mixing bowl. Grind 7 sec/Speed 7.
Note: Be careful not to overgrind.
2/Add salt and garlic powder to the TM bowl. Using the Turbo setting (1.0 sec) pulse twice.
3/Add lemon juice to the TM bowl. Using the Turbo setting( 0.5 sec) plus three times.
Transfer the prepared cheese to a small mixing bowl; set aside.

Chili-Ingredients

1 sweet onion, halved (115 g)
3 garlic cloves, peeled (70g)

Olive oil (10g)
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped (60g)
1 large orange pepper, coarsely chopped (150g)
6 ripened tomatoes, quartered (295g)
Celery leaves (5g)
Cilantro, fresh (5g)

Tomato sauce (295g)
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp celery seed
2/3 cup corn, frozen

Half of parmesan cheese recipe (recipe link above) *Reserve balance as garnish*
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

1 cup cooked red lentils
1 cup cooked quinoa

Chili-Instructions

1/Put onion and garlic in your Thermomix mixing bowl. Chop 5 sec/Speed 7. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2/Add olive oil and pinch of salt. Sauté 3 mins/120C/Speed 1. Once again, scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula.
3/Add celery stalk, pepper, tomatoes, celery leaves and cilantro leaves.
Chop 5 sec/Speed 5. Note: This step will puree the vegetables. If you prefer a chunkier texture chop using Speed 3. 
4/Add tomato sauce, water, bouillon powder, chili powder, cumin powder, celery seed and corn. Mix gently using spatula.
5/Add parmesan cheese (reserve half to be used as garnish) and a pinch of salt.
Cook 5 mins/90C/Speed 1.
6/Add cooked lentils and cooked quinoa to the TM bowl. Cook 1 min/90C/Speed 1.
Garnish with reserved parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Product Recommendations

*HarvestSun® Vegetable Bouillon Powder

Note: This recipe was made using a Thermomix appliance, however it can easily be adapted using similar food prep tools (e.g. mutli-function processor, immersion blender etc) or using a more traditional stovetop method.

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