Pressure Cooker Wegmans Spicy Red Lentil Chili

So I'm all about my pressure cooker.  And cooking.  Healthy cooking.  Making cooking things easier.  You get the picture.  One of my weaknesses when I worked close to a Wegmans was going there for lunch and treating myself to a bowl of their Spicy Red Lentil Chili.  When I took a job that no longer put me near a Wegmans I decided to check out their recipes to see if I could make it for myself.  And I did a few times.  But it was a little labor intensive for me.  First you  have to cook the lentil separately.  Take half of them out and puree them.  Add them back in.  Cook up the rest of the stuff (peppers, onions, seasoning, etc.) and mix everything together.  Ok.  Maybe not LABOR intensive but it sure did use more dishes than I liked for what I felt should be something simple. 

Enter the pressure cooker. 

Since receiving my first pressure cooker as a gift Feb 2011 (easy to remember as it was an engagement gift from my mom!) I've learned so much about pressure cooking and how to convert recipes.  Mostly from Laura over at Hip Pressure Cooking. I learned split red lentils require only ONE MINUTE at high pressure with a natural pressure release to cook.  Not that on the stove top they take an incredibly long period of time, but I figured I could turn this into a one pot meal using my pressure cooker. 

Also, I like flavor.  A lot of flavor.  And veggies.  More than the original recipe called for.  I think that sometimes in a pressure cooker you might have to use a little more dried/ground spices than you would a longer cooking stove top or slow cooker recipe so I increased those quantities from the original recipe.  I'm cooking the lentils with everything else instead of separately.  And because I'm using less liquid I don't feel the need to add cornstarch or puree any of the dish.  Lastly, I use canned tomatoes instead of fresh as this is a recipe I like making year round and in the winter, fresh tomatoes just aren't worth it. 

So here is my pressure cooker version of the Wegmans recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 cup  Goya Red Lentils (International Foods)
4 cups + 2 Tbsp water, divided
2 Tbsp  Wegmans Salted Butter
1/2 cup peeled, 1/4-inch diced  onion
1 stalk  celery, trimmed, 1/4-inch dice (about 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp  Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Peeled Garlic, minced
1 (about 1/2 lb)  tomato on-the-vine, cored, 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
2 cups  Food You Feel Good About Vegetable Culinary Stock
1 Tbsp  Tabasco sauce
1/8 tsp  ground turmeric
1/8 tsp  ground cumin
1/8 tsp  ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp  salt plus additional to taste
1/2 tsp  black pepper
1/8 tsp  chili powder
2 Tbsp  Wegmans Cornstarch
1/4 cup finely diced  sweet green pepper - See more at: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=347707#sthash.4cq9OoND.dpuf

1 cup  Goya Red Lentils (International Foods)
4 cups + 2 Tbsp water, divided
2 Tbsp  Wegmans Salted Butter
1/2 cup peeled, 1/4-inch diced  onion
1 stalk  celery, trimmed, 1/4-inch dice (about 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp  Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Peeled Garlic, minced
1 (about 1/2 lb)  tomato on-the-vine, cored, 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
2 cups  Food You Feel Good About Vegetable Culinary Stock
1 Tbsp  Tabasco sauce
1/8 tsp  ground turmeric
1/8 tsp  ground cumin
1/8 tsp  ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp  salt plus additional to taste
1/2 tsp  black pepper
1/8 tsp  chili powder
2 Tbsp  Wegmans Cornstarch
1/4 cup finely diced  sweet green pepper - See more at: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=347707#sthash.4cq9OoND.dpuf

1 T cooking oil, I generally use a mild olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 T minced garlic
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t chili powder
A pinch up to 1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 14.5oz can of no salt added diced tomatoes
1 green pepper diced
2 c stock (vegetable or chicken both work nicely)
1 c water
1 c split red lentils sorted (to make sure no little rocks or other debris got into the bag) and rinsed

Instructions:
Over medium heat (stove top) or set to saute (electric), heat oil.  Add onions and cook for a few minutes until they begin to turn translucent.  Add celery and garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add the turmeric, cumin, chili powder and red pepper flakes.  Cook, stirring, until mixed well and fragrant.  Note: red pepper flake heat multiplies in a pressure cooker.  Do not underestimate red pepper flakes!  If this is your first time using them in a pressure cooker I recommend starting at the low end knowing you can always add a little hot sauce to the finished product to spice it up.  Add can of tomatoes, diced green pepper, stock, water and red lentils. 

Cover, lock lid, and using high heat bring to high pressure (or set your electric pressure cooker to high for one minute).  Once the cooker achieves high pressure, reduce heat and cook for one minute (if you're using an electric just let it do it's thing).  After one minute, for a stove top, turn off the heat and allow pressure to come down naturally.  If using an electric, be sure to unplug or turn off "keep warm" and allow pressure to come down naturally for 10-15 minutes (because of the insulation an electric PC can take much longer to come down from pressure but I find 10-15 minutes to be sufficient).  

Once the pressure has been released or after 10-15 minutes, carefully remove the lid tilting it away from you to allow the steam to escape.  Season with salt and pepper to taste (salt will generally be between 1/2 teaspoon to a full teaspoon).  Blow on it before trying it because it will be HOT. 

You can serve this a green salad if you want to be healthy like that.  Personally, I find this dish to be so nutrition packed that I can justify serving it with warm from the oven homemade cornbread.  And if you're looking for a delicious cornbread recommendation, this one by Pat and Gina Neely is my go-to recipe.  I cut the amount of sugar in half though, and generally use about 3T of butter instead of 4T because I add about 1T of bacon fat to a HOT cast iron skillet before pouring my batter in for a golden brown delicious crust. 

I threw this recipe into MyFitnessPal, omitting the turmeric, cumin, chili powder and red pepper flakes as they are tough to estimate and likely contribute very few calories/fat to the finished dish.  Here is what it calculated for nutritional information:

Hope you enjoy this version as much as we do!