Vege chilli: Australian version!

[hope]

A while ago tripoli8 posted a recipe for vegetarian chilli.

Through no fault of her own, trip is American, which means a number of the ingredients she listed aren't available (or have different names), and the measurements are all foreign. SO. I generally used the recipe as a guideline anyway, which means over the several billion times I've made it, I've perfected my own variation.



I tend to serve my chilli with a few garnishes and sidedishes as well, the recipes for which are also below.

Ingredients for the Chilli:

• 2 cans kidney beans (if there's a 'mexican flavoured' option available, I get one of those and one plain)


• 1-2 medium sweet potatoes, diced


• 1 can of diced tomatoes


• 5-7 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 large red onion, chopped


• 1 cob sweet corn, kernels removed and cooked separately


• 1 eggplant (aubergine), diced largeish


• 1 zuchinni (courgette), diced largeish


• olive oil


• 2 c. red wine


• chicken or veg stock (liquid)


• one of those "Old El Paso" spice sachets for chilli (taco will do if you can't find chilli)


• Salt and pepper

Cooking the chilli

1. Prepare all your vegetables by peeling/chopping/pre-cooking (as instructed above).


2. Heat up your olive oil in a BIG saucepan and add the chopped onion and garlic. When the onion is soft/translucent, add the spice mix and stir it around for a minute or so.


3. Add the sweet potato and saute for another few minutes.


4. Add the egg plant and zucchini, mix with existing pan contents


5. Add the canned tomatoes, kidney beans beans, wine, and enough liquid stock until the vegetables are just covered.


6. Simmer over medium heat until the sweet potato is tender, 15-20 minutes. If it's still too soupy, simmer down until the liquid is thicker.


7. Stir in the pre-cooked sweet corn.


8. Serve with garnishes, over your carbohydrate of choice (see below).

I like to serve my vege chilli over cous cous, to prepare:

1. Measure one cup of liquid stock into a small saucepan and add a dash of olive oil.


2. Heat liquid on stove until just bubbling. Remove from heat and shake in one cup of cous cous grains (I shake the pan side to side while shaking the grains in so that the grains are equally distributed under the water).


3. Put a lid on the saucepan and set it aside for at least 10 minutes.


4. When reader to serve, fluff up the cous cous in the pan with a fork.

One cup will be enough for two people. If you want more or less cous cous, remember that the ratio of liquid:grains is always 1:1. The other important thing is to let it sit for long enough to absorb the liquid and get soft. A good measurement for this is to make your cous cous after step 5 of cooking the chilli, then set it aside to absorb while the chilli finishes cooking.

Garnishes for the chilli:

• Chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)


• Baby spinach leaves


• Grated cheddar cheese


• Greek yogurt or sour cream

I also like to have a salsa on the side:

Reasonably finely dice and mix together:

• 2 large, ripe tomatoes
• 1 small red onion
• 2 small capsicums (peppers) - usually I go for one red, one yellow

Final step: NOM.

Comments

[wenchpixie]

OM NOM NOM. I RECCOMMEND THIS CHILI. NOM.

[hope]

WITH MERINGUES FOR DESSERT!

[wenchpixie]

AND WELSHCAKES FOR SUPPER :D

[tripoli8.livejournal.com]

NOM INDEED. This looks so tasty. I'm gonna send this to my friend who came up with the recipe I based mine on, she's gonna love this. I can't wait to try it with the taco spices.