As you’ll know from my Veg Pledge at the end of last year, I’m forever looking for ways to cut back on my meat consumption. Alas, there is only so many times a girl can eat overnight oats or hummus for lunch before it gets very, very, VERY boring.

So, what we have here is photographic evidence of me widening my culinary horizons and trying to shake things up a bit with a super simple, super healthy, vegetarian ‘chilli con carne’ recipe with no meat. In that case, it’s actually a chilli san carne… if we’re really going to get technical… but hey, tomato/tomato.

For this vegetarian chilli recipe you will need:

Serves 2 (with leftovers)

A generous glug of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)
1 red onion (finely diced)
3 medium carrots (chopped up)
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 sachet of Schwartz Hot Chilli Con Carne recipe mixes (you can get this at Tesco)
1 large can of chopped tomatoes
2 cups of vegetable stock
1-2 cans of mixed beans (rinsed and drained)
Salt ‘n’ pepper
Teaspoon of chilli powder (or to taste)
Heaped teaspoon of paprika
2 medium white potatoes
1/4 cup of your favourite red wine (optional)
1/4 cup of sweet sherry (optional)
1/2 cup of grated cheese

To make the chilli SAN carne…

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on high heat until it’s glistening hot
Turn the heat down a touch and chuck in the onion, carrot and a sprinkle of salt – cook until both start to go tender and translucent (around 7-15 minutes), stirring occasionally
Add the minced garlic, chili powder, paprika, 3/4 of the Schwartz sachet and cook until your kitchen starts to smell incredible (no more than a couple of minutes)
Chuck in the chopped tomatoes and their juices, along with the beans and veg stock and give it all a good stir
Bring to a simmer and leave the chilli to do its thing for about 30-45 minutes – lowering the heat to maintain the gentle simmer throughout, stirring occasionally
About 10 minutes before it’s done, stir in the wine, sherry and salt & pepper to taste
Before plating up, take about a 1/3 of the chilli and whizz it up in a blender then add back into the pan and mix through for a thicker, more chilli con carne-like texture

To make the spicy spuds…

Roughly chop into wedges (leave skin on for extra fibre)
Par boil for about 5-7 minutes (or until they start to soften)
Drain out water and then shake the spuds around in the pan for a few seconds
Place on a baking tray and drizzle on olive oil and the remainder of the Schwartz mix
Toss to make sure they’re all well covered
Chuck in a preheated oven at about 180-200 degrees for about 30 mins (or until crispy and golden), flipping half way

Serve a generous helping of chilli into two bowls, chuck your crispy spuds in and sprinkle with cheese to your heart’s content. Store any leftover chilli in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze it for a rainy day!

You may also like my vegan mac ‘n’ cheese recipe with yep, you guessed it… no cheese!

–

This post was written in collaboration with Schwartz but all words, photographs, opinions, teeth, hair, boobs and nails are my very own.