Chili Sin Carne (Vegetarian Chilli)

Ingredients

Main Dish (10-12 servings)

5 medium-large carrots grated
2 medium courgettes grated
2 medium onions chopped
4 to 5 cloves garlic crushed
50g butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons cayenne and paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
400g tin chopped tomato
500g box tomato passata
400ml - 600ml water
Tin of kidney beans drained and rinsed
Tin chickpeas drained and rinsed
100g red split lentils
1 bell pepper and 1-2 chillis chopped
2 vegetable stock cubes (to dissolve in about 1 litre of liquid)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or wine
1 tablespoon honey
50g Quinoa (optional)

Sides and Condiments

Cheddar cheese grated
Fresh sour cream
Avocado
Lemon
Salt and pepper
Garlic
Fresh Coriander
Hot Sauce

Nachos/Rice/Wraps

Method

Chili Sin Carne

Add butter and oil to the pot and melt the butter before adding onions, mushrooms and crushed garlic to fry on high heat for 3 minutes.

Add cayenne pepper, paprika, ground cumin and oregano and continue to fry for 2 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid burning spices and herbs. Add grated carrots and courgette and stir through. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn heat down to high-medium.

Add the tin of tomato and box of tomato passata. Add 400 ml of water and stir through. Add lentils and peppers and chilli and stir through. Cook for 5 minutes lid on.

Add quinoa if desired. Add chickpeas and kidney beans and stir through. Add balsamic vinegar and honey - stir through.

Cover with lid and simmer on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes until lentils (and quinoa) are soft. Add stock cubes and dissolve in the pot. Add a bit more water if it needs it. The consistency should be a bit like bolognaise. Simmer for another 5 minutes and add salt to taste.

Guacamole

Mash avocado together with lemon juice, salt, pepper and a bit of garlic to taste.

Rice

Cook rice as per package instructions. I suggest that you rinse it well before cooking it if you like it fluffy.

My two cents and serving suggestions

The reason for leaving the stock cubes and salt until last is because the red split lentils do not go soft in salted liquid or rather take much longer to do so. When I salt my dish I add half a teaspoon to the pot at a time and stir and taste. Keep doing this until it tastes good to you. The ingredients I buy contain little to no salt so I trust my taste buds as to how much I add. 

I suggest you taste your fresh chillis before adding them as I have found that the spiciness of chilli peppers vary hugely - even ones that came from the same packet. If they are mild i add 1 or 2 to the dish. Its best practice to add extra chilli flakes or hot sauce to your own individual portion as spice tolerance varies.

I like to make this dish in a big batch because it is versatile and it keeps very well in the freezer. I  portion it out into small plastic containers before freezing. On the day I want to use it, I defrost and heat up a portion in the microwave. We often have it with rice, flour tortillas or nachos and sometimes a combination of all of those. It even works well just as a stew in a bowl. One of our favourite ways to serve it is in a dish with a side of rice, guacamole, cheese, sour cream and garnished with fresh coriander. It has a distinctive Mexican flavour.

Hope you like it.

Peter van der Linde