Inspired to create a dish using lots of Canadian-grown staples for my cooking demo at Canadian Western Agribition, I whipped up this chilli recipe featuring Canadian beef, lentils, onions, garlic, canola oil, mushrooms, kidney beans and tomatoes!

Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 large container white mushrooms, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 cup lentils (pick whatever kind of lentils you like!
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne powder (or more if you like more spice!)
2 teaspoons paprika
4 teaspoons chilli powder
2-3 squares unsweetened dark chocolate (or baker’s chocolate)

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring frequently, until onions soften (about 3 minutes). Add ground beef and breakdown beef into small pieces, stirring frequently to cook throughout.

2. Once the beef is no longer pink, add white mushrooms and red peppers. Stir in 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and a sprinkle of cayenne to coat everything. Sauté for about five minutes.

3. Add lentils and stir. Open cans of tomatoes and kidney beans. Rinse and drain kidney beans. Add tomatoes and kidney beans to the mixture, then rinse out can of tomatoes and use the water used to rinse the can to add to the pot of chilli (about half a can of water). Stir to mix.

4. Add remaining 2 teaspoons chilli powder, 2 teaspoons paprika, and 1 teaspoon cayenne. Stir to mix. Let mixture simmer for about half an hour until lentils are tender. Add chocolate and stir to melt. This will make your chilli more gummy and thicken it up.

Bon appetit!