Soup Week Rages On: Thai Chili

Today has been full of hacking, coughing and other unpleasantries... So tonight I took matters into my own hands. Nothing like a little (and by that I mean a lot of) spice to clear your system! I was inspired by a friends facebook picture of an awesome looking bowl of chili and PPK's recipe for Red Lentil Thai Chili

Not surprising I didn't stick to the recipe and made a few of my own changes. Which I will include below, if you want the original recipe (which is adapted from a Clean Eating recipe) click here.

Thai Chili  8 one cup servings

• 4.5 oz Extra Firm Tofu, drained

• 1t curry powder
• 1T olive oil (I got away with using 1t)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
•2 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced medium
• 2T cilantro
• 1T chili powder (I used hot but you can use mild if you don’t like the heat)
• 340g sweet potatoes cut into chunks
• 1/2c dried red lentils
• 2.5c vegetable stock
• 15oz beans (I used a mix of red chili, kidney and black beans)
• 1T tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• ½ can light coconut milk
•14.5oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (I used Muir Glen)
• parsley or cilantro to garnish
• Limes for garnish (optional) 

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cut tofu into small ½” cubes, rub curry powder into the tofu and arrange in a single layer on a baking stone or cookie sheet (don’t forget to spray cookie sheet with cooking spray) bake 20 – 30 minutes. Turn over half way through baking.

Heat oil in lager stock pot and sauté onions, mushrooms and garlic for 5 minutes. Add red pepper and sauté 2 – 3 minutes more.

Add cilantro, chili powder, sweet potato, lentils and stock to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer 15 – 20 minutes (until the lentils are cooked and the potato is soft).

Mix in beans, curry paste, coconut milk, tomatoes and tofu. Simmer 5 minutes longer. Garnish with either parsley or cilantro and lime wedge. Serve with naan or pita bread.