Two Bean Chili Sin Carne (Vegan, Wheat & Gluten Free)

 I've always loved a good chili, and as the weather is turning here in the UK and the days are getting colder, I'm finding myself fancying warm comfort foods more and more. 

This is my version of the classic chili con carne, which translates from Spanish as chili with meat. I don't eat meat, I amended the name to "chili sin carne" or "chili without meat" which I think is a better name for a bean chili!

This is a very easy and low cost meal that you can also make in the slow cooker in about 2.5 to 3 hours, so it's one that I use quite frequently because it's convenient and easy too.

As with all my recipes, there is lots of room for you to tweak it, add ingredients you like or try new things and I would encourage you to do so. Most of my recipes are born from me basically trying stuff to see what tastes good, and the best recipes are the ones that we adjust for our personal tastes. 

This dish goes very well with tortillas, boiled rice or on a jacket potato so you have plenty of scope to make different meals. 

This quantities I use normally make 3 adult sized portions, so we eat 2 portions on day one, then I get a bit creative on day 2 and find more things to accompany the leftovers like potato wedges or a side dish (or maybe just a big dessert!)

I really, really like baked beans in my chili - I can't explain it. They are just delicious and give it a real comfort food feeling. Sometimes I like to mix it up and swap them out for a different kind of bean for fun - it's all good.

Ingredients

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large red onion, chopped

1 sweet red or green pepper (bell pepper)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 - 2 chili peppers, sliced OR 1 - 2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin kidney beans, drained

1 tin baked beans

1 tin chopped tomatoes 

1 vegetable stock cube  

100ml hot water

1 tsp brown sugar

Method

Heat up the oil in a large pan over a medium heat - I like to use a non stick wok for this recipe when I'm cooking it on the hob. 

Gently fry the onion & peppers until soft and the onion is looking sightly translucent. Add the crushed garlic and fry for another minute. 

Add the spices and tomato puree, mix together with the onions and peppers and gently fry for another couple of minutes. Don't skip this step - sizzling the spices helps to bring out the flavour, and tomato puree needs to be fried to get rid of any bitterness.

Add your beans, tinned tomatoes and stir together.

Dissolve your stock cube in the hot water and add to the pan along with the sugar. 

Stir gently until combined and leave to simmer over a medium low heat for 20 minutes. 

Cover the pan with a splatter guard but don't cover completely with an airtight lid, as the sauce needs to reduce. 

At the end of cooking taste to make sure the spice mix is to your liking and that the beans are tender. 

Add additional chili or seasoning to taste. 

Thicken the sauce with cornflour if needed. 

Serve on a bed of long grain white rice with fresh tortillas

Slow Cooker Method - Suitable for a 3.5l Slow Cooker

Omit the oil and water from the recipe.

Put all the ingredients  into the slow cooker, and mix together.

Crumble the stock cube into the pan. If you're not able to crumble it, dissolve in a very small amount of hot water. 

Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or until cooked to your liking.

Note - you may need less chili for this version of the recipe.