Chilli Con Carne  

I’m a big believer in eating when and what you’re body tells you to eat. By that I don’t mean stuffing your face every time you feel peckish or get a craving, which admittedly I do a lot anyway, but I also don’t believe in not eating when you’re body’s telling you you need to. A few months ago I was craving peanuts. Now, I had never had much of an interest in peanuts before this time and so I basically took this as a sign that my body was in need of whatever nutrients peanuts are particularly rich in. I’m not a nutritionist so I’m not saying this is something anyone else should necessarily live by, but it works for me. So, bringing this back to topic, this week I’ve turned into a carnivore and have been really craving meat.

Unlike the rest of my family, I’m not normally a very meaty person. I used to be a vegetarian and as a result I often find myself slipping back into a veg-based diet. But this week I was in need of hard meat and so chilli con carne – the mothership of meat dishes – flew onto the menu pretty fast. Whilst I’m a food blogger and I a love trying new foods, I have to admit that I have the palette of a young child. I love gently spiced, relatively mild comfort food and anything with any oomph of chilli will blow my head off. Therefore I’ve spiced this ironically named chilli pretty gently, so if you’re cooking for kids or others with a palette like mine this will be perfect. If, however, you like your food hot you can add as much cayenne pepper as you like. I’d recommend adding another 1/2 tsp at a time once everything’s cooked, mixing it in and then tasting it. Don’t just triple the amount straight away as it might blow your head off and then you’re dinner will become a painful torture experience.

Recipe

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking

Ingredients

• 1 White onion
• 1 Clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
• 2 Medium sized carrots
• 1 Red pepper
• ½ tsp Smoked paprika
• ½ tsp Cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp Medium curry powder
• 500g Minced beef
• 400g Chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Tomato puree
• 1 Beef stock cube
• 400g Kidney beans
• Rice and salad to serve (optional)

Method

1. Begin by peeling and then finely chopping the onion and garlic. Put the oil into a large pan and put over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry gently until caramelised.
2. Peel and dice the carrot and then de-seed and dice the red pepper. Add the vegetables to the pan and fry for another 2-3 minutes to soften.
3. Add the mince to the pan and fry for 5-10 minutes until the meat is browned all over. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon as you stir the mixture.
4. Add the paprika, cayenne pepper and curry powder and fry for another 2-3 minutes to cook off the spices.
5. Then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, stock cube and 150ml boiling water to the pan. Stir to combine and then leave to simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and the carrots are no longer crunchy.
6. Drain the kidney beans through a sieve and rinse under cold water. Then add them to the chilli and stir them through. Season with lots of salt and pepper and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes.
7. Serve the chilli with rice and fresh salad!

Why not try…

Adding a little dark chocolate to the top of the chilli. It sounds weird, but is actually becoming a pretty common addition to chilli. It’ll add a delicious bitter, roasted flavour to the dish!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x