About the Recipe
A hearty filling dish and a real crowd pleaser, I have served this dish too many meat eaters who actually say that they prefer it to chilli con carne. Also the quinoa combined with lentils makes a great meat substitute as it is high in protein and is one of the few plant substitutes which is a complete protein meaning that together they contains all 9 amino acids that you would find in meat.
Ingredients
- 250g of dry quinoa
- 2 x 500ml chopped tomatoes
- 1x 500ml tomatoe frito
- 500ml of water
- 2 jars of red kidney beans
-2 jars of red lentils
-250g of dried soja
- 4 large carrots
- 2 large onions
- 1/2 bulb of garlic
- 3 squares of high coco dark chocolate
- 2 large glasses of red wine
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- small bag of padron peppers
Preparation
This recipe will feed 8/10 people, for a smaller quantity simply halve the ingredients.
Soak your dried soja in hot water with a vegetable stck cube for 15 minutes. Add your tins of tomatoes, tomatoe frito, water and a large glass of red wine to a large saucepan or slow cooker. Next rinse and drain the kidney beans and lentils then add the quinoa and soja mince. Add the herbs and spices as well as most importantly the dark chocolate. For a normal spice level use 1 tsp of chilli for a 'blow your socks off' chilli double up on the chilli. Dice the onions and crush or finely chop the garlic and grate the carrots, fry this all together until golden brown and add to the pan. Congratulations your chilli is nearly done!
Pour yourself a large glass of red wine to reward yourself for your ingenuity.
Turn on your slow cooker or simmer on a gentle heat whilsts stirring, if you notice the mixture is a bit thick then add more water, if you notice it is a bit thin add some more quinoa to the mix.
Serve the chilli in a bowl and finish with some padron or green peppers, nachos on the side and a small rice castle. Dust everything with some cayenne pepper before devouring.