Vegan Bean Chilli

I feel like being able to make a chilli is one of those staple means any mediocre cook should be able of, and I'm talking about using one of those pre-made spice sachets! This is such a staple meal for me, I practically lived off it in my final year of university! A chilli is one of those meals where you can eat it in so many different ways, the most obvious one being with rice, but you could also enjoy with pasta, quinoa, mashed potatoes (it can't just be me that does this). You can also rework the chilli into different meals, so have it wrapped up in a burrito with some guacamole, alongside some tortilla chips - any way you like really!

Another excellent thing about making chilli is that it's pretty difficult to mess it up - there's no really precise timings or measurements, in fact I never really measure anything I just make it up as I go along! This is just a basic idea for you to follow if you don't know where to start, and you can change the ingredients as you see fit. If you don't kike mushrooms, skip them and add carrot instead. Not a fan of kidney beans? Add chickpeas. In this particular recipe I added a little cocoa powder because chocolate flavouring really complements chilli, so if you have dark chocolate around your house (and your Mum/ Partner/ Siblings haven't gotten to it first) feel free to add a little of that - again it's totally up to you whether you add it, I just find it goes nicely in the chilli.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for a really easy bean chilli, if you do give it a go I'd love to see how it turned out and know any variations you made of your own! Just send me a picture on Instagram or Twitter, find the links at the top of this page!

Serves 4
Total time: 50 Minutes
Ingredients

• 1 large Brown Onion
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 200g Closed Cup Mushrooms
• 800g Chopped Tomatoes
• 400g Red Kidney Beans
• 1 tsp Cocoa Powder
• 2 Vegetable Stock Cubes (I use these)

Cooking Directions

1. Finely chop your onion, then fry with the cumin, chilli powder and paprika for 5 minutes in a deep frying pan. 
2. Chop up your bell pepper and mushrooms, then add them both to the pan. Fry these until all the veggies are coated in spices.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and mix. 
4. Drain and rinse your kidney beans, then add these to the pan and stir to combine them in. 
5. Lastly, add the cocoa powder and vegetable stock cubes and stir until fully combined in the mixture. 
6. Cover with a glass lid and leave the chilli to simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.

Enjoy your chilli with some rice, quinoa, pasta or anything you like! I enjoy topping mine with some chopped spring onions and serving it alongside some homemade guacamole.