Recipe: 16 minute 'Chilli non Carne' ...

Yep - that's right- in just 16 minutes I made a delicious (if I say so myself) Vegan chilli non carne. Who says fast food has to be unhealthy?

Having spent all day trotting round the Devon County Show - with little sustenance on offer for Vegans (no shock really) belly rumbles spurred me into a bit of 'power' cooking.

Now I've been making chilli con carne for years and loving it, but since going veggie (now Vegan) all I really changed was the meat and stock content, and, guess what - I think the flavour of this Vegan version is better! And with no nasty saturated fat and dead cow in the pot it's a total win win.

Now I do have my own perfect secret recipe filed somewhere - but this was my quick fire version and it turned out pretty well, so I'm jotting it down here for you while I think of it.

'Hola'! deliciousness...

 [Serves 6 - so it's really good value]

Gather:

1 tbsp oil (I used olive)

1 large brown onion - finely chopped

good squirt of garlic puree (or 3 - 6 cloves of fresh, finely chopped garlic)

1-2 fresh chillies - finely chopped (I used one 'medium heat' red one)

2 bell peppers (1 red & 1 green) - chopped into small squares

1-2 tsp chilli powder (I used 1 tsp of hot chilli powder)

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 vegetable stock cubes (or 2 tsp vegetable bouillion powder)

3 tbsp tomato puree (approx - I just squeezed the tube 3 times!)

1 pack meat substitute (such as Tesco frozen Vegan soya mince 454g)

1 x 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes

1 x 200g tin cooked red kidney beans (I never use a whole tin, as I only like a few)

boiling water to make up the vegetable stock

Create:

Set your timer...ready, set, go!

1. OK - fill the kettle and put on to boil, run around demented and grab your ingredients while you heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2. Chop the onion, throw in the pan and while you gently fry the onion chop the fresh chillis and the peppers.
3. Add the garlic puree, chillis and peppers to the pan and fry a little more.
4. Add in all of the spices and the stock cubes/powder, mix well and cook gently for a minute or so.
5. Add the 'meat', tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans and then add boiled water to the level of the top of the mix.
6. Give it all a good stir, bring to the boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer.

Phew!

This should take you up to the 16 minute stage (or thereabouts).

You can simmer the chilli for another 10-30 minutes until it reduces down and the sauce thickens beautifully. (Don't be tempted to thicken with cornflour, as, in my opinion you need the sauce to be lovely and rich - so reduction is better than thickening a weak sauce.) Have a little taste and add some salt and pepper to your liking.

Meanwhile get your rice/tacos/tortillas/nachos and condiments ready and prepare for some hot mouth-tingling food action!

Enjoy! 

On this occasion I cheated and microwaved some Veet basmati ready-rice and served with some homemade coleslaw I already had in the fridge from dinner the night before.

But the other picture above was of more of the chilli making an appearance a couple of days later, along with some homemade nachos and a dip.

The final batch will get used on a baked potato with some Vegusto Vegan 'cheddar cheese' I would think!
Great accompaniments include Vegan sour cream, guacamole and some jalapenos as well if you love it super spicy!

Cooks tip: Add a strip of dark chocolate and melt into the chilli at the very end. This is a genuine Mexican addition that really elevates this dish in a way that you can't quite put your finger on...

p.s. Let me know if you beat my 16 minutes!

Chantal xx