Vegetable & Bean Chilli

This chilli dish never gets old or out of date. On cold and dark days, it can be just the right warming and nutritious food that you need. It is a filling dish packed with healthy vegetables, full of protein and natural nutrients as well as being very satisfying.

Enjoy as a filling with a sweet or white jacket potato, served on rice, used as filling for tacos and wraps or simply enjoyed on its own with salad.

SERVES 6 (and leaves plenty for later or to freeze for future use)

INGREDIENTS

Mix of vegetables you have in the fridge.  I used 1/2 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, about 8 cherry tomatoes (a little wrinkly but still tasty),  1 courgette, all chopped into small bite size pieces.  The quantity of your vegetables should be about 3 cups in total

1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can mixed beans (black & kidney beans work well)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
1/2 tsp Italian mixed herbs
1/2 cup chargrilled red peppers (can be bought in jars from supermarkets)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive/sunflower oil
Juice from half lime
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp truffle oil

Optional extras:
Grate 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger (powder is fine but I had some fresh in the fridge)
Grate 1/2 tsp of fresh turmeric (powder is fine but I had some fresh in the fridge)
1 sweet potato, washed and cubed (keeping skin on provides more fibre to your diet and keeps the potato cubes firmer)

* For those wanting a meat replacement and are ok with soy, you can use 1/2 cup of dried soya mince mixed with 1 cup hot water and 1 tbsp soya sauce. Add this in step 2 below.

METHOD

1.    In a saucepan, add the oil and sauté the peppers and courgette

2.    After about 5 minutes, add the rest of the vegetables (including sweet potato if using), beans and chopped tomato (and soy mince if using)

3.    Cook and bring to a gentle simmer

4.    Add the tomato paste, herbs and spices

5.    If the mixture looks a little dry, add a little bit of just boiled water, cover and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes

6.    This dish can also be put in a slow cooker or in a casserole dish and straight in the oven at 170C for 1 hour

7.    You can serve the casserole with jacket potatoes, brown rice, tortilla chips or simply with a nice green salad and crusty bread. If the chilli is spicy, add a tablespoon of coconut yoghurt to the top for that delicious creamy and cooling topping.

Optional extras: You can add any vegetable you love as well as sweetcorn.