As we’ve just had Vegetarian Week I thought you’d like this fabulously tasty recipe, from The Good Life Eatery Cookbook, for chilli with no meat that my whole family loved including the meat-eaters! My OH even thought there was meat in it! It is so easy to prepare and ignore the long list of ingredients as most will be in your store cupboard. I don’t think I will ever cook chilli with meat again as this is so good and much more healthy.
Chilli ‘Non’ Carne
Ingredients Serves 6
200g walnuts
200g carrots, roughly chopped
1 red onion (about 200g) roughly chopped
150g courgette, roughly chopped
25g finely chopped parsley
25g finely chopped coriander
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 corn on the cob, kernels removed (I used 2 as mine were small)
2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
To garnish (optional)
coconut yoghurt
1 avocado peeled, stoned & cut into slices
1 lime, cut into wedges
a few coriander leaves
How to Prepare
Start by rinsing the walnuts in warm water to remove any grit. Drain and pulse in a food processor until finely ground. Remove and set aside. In the same food processor, add the carrots, onions and courgette and herbs and pulse until finely chopped.
In a large stockpot, add the olive oil, garlic, ground walnuts, cinnamon, paprika and cumin and stir together. Add the onions, courgette, carrots and chopped herbs and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. The onions should start to soften and there will be an amazing aroma. Stir occasionally to ensure the spices do not burn.
Add the kidney beans, chickpeas and corn kernels to the pot together with the tinned tomatoes and allow everything to come to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to very low. Cook gently for 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t stick to the base of the pot. The chilli is ready when the tomato juice has evaporated and the flavours have developed.
Serve immediately , each bowl topped with a dollop of coconut yoghurt, 3 slices of avocado, a lime wedge and a few coriander leaves.
The Good Life Eatery Cookbook is available from Amazon:
