Now this is something that takes me back to my childhood! My mum makes such a good veggie chilli…so you have her to thank for this! This is a great one to make for meal prep as it freezes really well, it’s full of natural goodness, the kidney beans form a good source of natural protein whilst still being naturally low-fat. Also, if you are coeliac you can substitute the rice for cauliflower rice/quinoa/jacket potato or roasted sweet potato (and if you have any other suggestions I’d love to hear from you!!). There is one secret ingredient in this dish….CHOCOLATE!!

You will need:

1 x brown onion, diced

2 x cloves of garlic, crushed

1 x courgette (zucchini), sliced

1 x red pepper, roughly chopped

1 x yellow pepper

1 x large red chilli sliced

10 x button mushrooms, quartered

10 cherry tomatoes, whole

 400g of chopped tinned tomatoes

400g of passata

1 tbsp of tomato paste

1-2 tsp chilli powder or flakes

3-4 squares of plain dark chocolate or a sprinkling of cocoa

Brown rice**optional

Herbs: I used chopped parsley and topped with spinach

Seasoning

Serves 4-6

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C.
• In a deep pan cook off the onion and garlic in oil (I like olive or coconut oil).
• Add in the fresh chilli, courgette and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes before adding in the red and yellow peppers. Cook off for a few minutes.
• Add in the tomato paste, chilli powder, red kidney beans, passata and the chopped tomatoes. Give it a good stir and add some salt and pepper.
• Add in the cherry tomatoes.
• If the ingredients are not all covered by the sauce then top up the mixture with filtered water.
• Add in the kidney beans and the chocolate.
• Cook for a good 10 minutes and be careful it doesn’t reduce too much. Taste and add more chilli or seasoning if necessary.
• Transfer the mixture into a lidded baking dish and pop in the oven. Cook for 30 – 45 minutes on 150 degrees…be careful it doesn’t reduce too much (check it every 15 minutes). **see notes for a quicker cooking option.
• Pour the chilli over brown rice (or any of the other suggestions above).
• Season to taste.
• Serve with fresh herbs and spinach.
• Enjoy x x

Notes: 

• I find this is a dish that gets better with age! By cooking it in the oven I find the flavours combine really well and the sauce reduces to a nice thick consistency, however this is not necessary if you are in a rush you can just continue to cook it on the hob for an extra 10 minutes at least (so 20 minutes in total). I don’t think the end result is as nice and rich, but I understand that sometimes we just don’t have the time!
• This is awesome the next day and can be frozen into batches for your freezer stock.
• Feel free to add in extra pulses such as lentils and chickpeas.