Beef and Lentil Chili

Columbus Day weekend and October is at full argument—the reds and oranges and the particular quality of the light that happens exactly two weeks before it's too late for it, the window you have to catch before November closes it. We drove out to the North Shore on Monday, the state forest up by Beverly, and walked the trails for two hours with Liam on Sean's shoulders for the steeper parts and down on his own feet for the flat parts, picking up leaves and examining them with the focused attention he brings to everything he's encountered for the first time. He collected eight leaves in his jacket pocket. He still has them on the windowsill in his room.

Fourteen weeks. The second trimester has arrived and the nausea is functionally gone—occasional echoes but nothing that controls the day—and I feel like myself again in the specific way you feel like yourself when something has been taking the floor for weeks and then stops. I cooked a real Sunday dinner this weekend: pot roast with root vegetables, the kind that fills the apartment, and ate two servings at the table and felt the pleasure of it in a clean way, nothing complicated.

At work I've been helping James—the new nurse—settle into the rhythms of oncology that are harder to teach than the clinical skills. The reading of a room. The reading of a family. The knowledge of when to come in with information and when to wait. These are the things you learn by being there and being wrong and being there again, and he's doing it right even when he doesn't know he's doing it right. I've been in his position and I know that it gets there.

The pot roast was for Sunday, but this beef and lentil chili is the recipe I keep returning to on the weeknights in between — when the October light is still doing that thing outside the window and I want something that fills the apartment the same way, something with weight and warmth that asks almost nothing of me while it cooks. After fourteen weeks of a body that wanted nothing to do with real food, there’s a particular pleasure in standing at the stove and actually wanting what’s in the pot. This is that recipe: deeply savory, built for a cool evening, forgiving enough that you can walk away from it and come back to it just like autumn itself.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar, sliced green onions, crusty bread

Instructions

Brown the beef. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and bell pepper to the pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
Add the spices. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and cayenne if using. Toast the spices with the beef and vegetables for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Build the base. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and beef broth. Stir well to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add lentils and beans. Stir in the rinsed lentils and kidney beans. Bring the chili to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
Simmer low and slow. Cover partially and simmer for 30–35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are completely tender and the chili has thickened. If it becomes too thick, add a splash of broth or water.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and spice level as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, shredded cheddar, or green onions as desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Beef and Lentil Chili — The Sunday Dinner That Brought Me Back to Myself