Three Bean Chilli

Vege chilli is a classic vegetarian dish and this is a good store cupboard recipe. This dish is best cooked slowly, but if you need to cook it relatively quickly it will still taste great.

I use dehydrated soya mince in this, which you simply rehydrate by pouring hot water over the top and leaving for five minutes, but you could omit it or use any other type of vegetarian mince. I prefer dehydrated mince to other types as it doesn't have so many preservatives in it as other brands, and has the advantage that it is gluten free. You can use any type of beans you like; I used kidney, black-eyed, and black turtle beans in this but they are by no means necessary. The recipe list looks quite long but most of it consists of store cupboard spices which you can always omit if you don't have them.

This serves 4 - 6. We had a very generous four portions out of this plus a bit extra for my daughter (minus salt and chillies!), who had a lovely time digging into her portion and made a massive mess:

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stick celery, chopped
2 sweet peppers (any colour; I used one red and one yellow)
2 dried chipotle chillies (optional)
2 - 4 fresh chillies (optional)
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional; if not available just use more non-smoked paprika)
1 tsp dried coriander
2 tsp dried cumin
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional; can substitute for dried cumin)
75g dehydrated soya mince, rehydrated (about 300g rehydrated; can substitute for 300g other vegetarian mince)
2 x 400g tins tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 x 400g tin black beans
1 x 400g tin black eyed beans
1 x 400g tin kidney beans
large bunch fresh coriander, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Fry onion, garlic, celery and cumin seeds on a medium heat for 10 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the fresh and dried chillies (if using), peppers and spices and fry for two minutes.

2. Add the veggie mince, tins of tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. Add the beans and stir through. Cook on a low heat for at least 10 minutes, but up to an hour if possible. Stir the fresh coriander (if using) 10 minutes from the end. Season with salt and pepper as desired.