Chilli non-carne

This is a meat free meal with a kick. The beans provide plenty of protein and its packed full of vegetables too.

I’ve been looking through my latest posts and realised how long its been since I posted a full on main meal – I do cook normal meals, honest!

This weekend I made a chilli – a meat version for the rest of the family and this version for me. I’ll post the meat meal soon but this post has gone veggie.

I used to use a sachet of chilli powder to make this but they were always too spicy for the children so I ended up having to add sugar to counteract the spice. Cooking this from scratch has meant that we can have a healthier meal and can tailor the taste to suit everyone. Hurrah!

This post is a bit light on photos – cooking two separate meals at the same time while fending off four hungry children kept me busy enough!

I’ve used hot chilli powder for this meal – it really is hot so I didn’t need to use much. If you’ve got ordinary chilli powder at home then feel free to add a bit more, anywhere up to 1 tsp in total depending on how spicy you like your food. Add it a little at a time and taste it until you’re happy with it.

For cooking rice the I’ve always added twice as much water as rice, allowing 1/3 of a cup of rice per person. This is the only thing I ever cook that I measure in cups.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 onion
• 1/2 a 410g tin kidney beans
• 1/2 a 410g tin butter beans (or other bean)
• 200ml passata
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp flour or cornflour
• 2/3 cup long grain rice

Method

1. Chop the onion and peppers into large chunks and chop/crush the garlic.
2. Add the vegetables and garlic to a saucepan with the oil and fry for 4-5 minutes until the onion starts to look see-through.
3. Add the cumin, paprika and hot chilli powder and stir to coat the vegetables. Cook for 1 more minute before stirring in the passata.
4. Leave to simmer on a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.
5. Put the kidney beans and butter beans into a colander and rinse with water to get rid of the canned juices.
6. Boil a second saucepan of water for the rice. Add the rice once the water is boiling and cook according to the packet instructions.
7. Five minutes before the rice is ready put the flour in a mug and add a few tablespoons of the cooking juices. Mix together until you’ve got a smooth paste, then stir it back into the chilli.
8. Add the beans, mix and bring to the boil to help the sauce to thicken, then reduce the heat again.
9. Boil a kettle full of water.  By the time its boiled the rice should be cooked. Pour it into your colander and rinse with boiling water.

Your chilli is ready, enjoy!

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