How exciting - our very first recipe blog post! So, I just need to put this out here first - I don't claim to be a chef by any means, but I like to eat and enjoy cooking simple food. I take inspiration from various recipe books especially BOSH! over the past few years, or I just cook what I used to eat prior to being plant-based and tweak the ingredients to suit.
So there's nothing fancy about the food that you'll see in my blogs - just simple, tasty grub using ingredients that you'll probably find in your own cupboard. Please also remember - don't be strict if you follow any of these recipes - make them your own, if there's a vegetable you need to use and I haven't included it - use it! If there are herbs/spices that you think would enhance the dish more - use them! These recipes are just the basics.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 Onion
3 Garlic cloves
1 Courgette
3 Carrots
Vegan mince OR Green lentils
2 Bay leaves (if you have them)
2 Red chillies
1 Tin of chopped tomatoes or passata
1 Vegetable stock cube dissolved in hot water
1 Tin of kidney beans
1 Tsp of brown sugar
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Sprinkle of paprika
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Splash of soy sauce
Rice or tortilla wraps - whatever you fancy!
Method
Chop onion, garlic, chilli, carrots and courgette. Heat some oil in a frying pan and add them to it at medium heat with some salt, pepper, oregano and paprika (or any other herbs/spices you'd like).
Add a vegetable stock cube to boiling water and mix it up before pouring half into the pan. Add 2 bay leaves if you have them. I had some in the garden but admittedly haven't used them yet in my cooking so I wasn't too sure what to do with them and just hoped for the best really!
Then add either some fake mince or green lentils, whichever you prefer/have in the house.
When I use lentils I usually rinse them and then put in after veg stock making sure I allow enough time for them to cook through. But you can cook them before and then add to the dish later or use tinned lentils if you prefer.
Add the rest of the vegetable stock as you go.
After 5-10 minutes, add a tin (or 2 if looking to bulk it up for more people or to have left overs to use for another meal) of chopped tomatoes - I didn't have any in the cupboards to my horror, so I used a bolognese jar we luckily had instead so feel free to switch things up if you haven't got the right stuff.
Let this simmer - stirring now and then. You may need to adjust the temperature of the hob to suit.
Lastly, add the kidney beans, a teaspoon of brown sugar if you have some, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a splash of soy sauce and leave to simmer on a low heat until your ready to eat (and if you used lentils, until they have softened).
Whilst simmering you can prepare and cook the rice if that's what you are having with it, although you may prefer wraps or to put it on a jacket potato - whatever you fancy/have got in!
I hope this simple chilli recipe can show you that anyone can cook! Let me know what you think of our first recipe blog post and if you try it out I hope you enjoy.