Yum! I love chili and this easy to make Simple Start recipe hit the spot this week.

I picked up this Simple Start chili recipe at my Weight Watchers meeting. I’ve stayed away from lentils and beans because of the higher carb count, but I do love them.  Since I’m doing Simple Start this week, I decided to give this Lentil and Black Bean Chili recipe a try.

It is easy to make, delicious, filling and very high in carbs – 47g per serving.  The recipe calls for 1-½ cups of dry French lentils. I used the lentils I had in my pantry and that ended up making 6 cups of cooked lentils. That seemed like a lot to me so I used 2 cups of cooked lentils, and the carb count dropped to 37g. The ingredients below still call for the 1-1/2 cups of dry french lentils. I’m not sure how many cups of cooked lentils that makes.  If you are watching your carb intake, I recommend adjusting accordingly.

Lentil & Black Bean Chili
Net Carbs: 47g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 6
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c dry French lentils
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large sweet red pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 29 oz. canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes with chilies, undrained
• 31 oz. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ c fresh, chopped cilantro

Directions:

• Cook lentils according to package instructions.
• Heat in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and garlic; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
• Combine chili powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne and salt. Add to skillet and stir well to combine. Cook, stirring often, about 1 minute.
• Add tomatoes and their juice, and beans to skillet; stir well to combine.  Cover skillet and simmer so flavors can blend, about 5-10 minutes. Fold in lentils and cilantro. Yields about 1 cup per serving.