Lots of people have their own chilli recipe, and this one is my go-to if I am making a quick evening meal. It has a tomato base, some aromatics, some usual spices, kidney beans, and some kind of “meat”.
I quite like a mix of minced cauliflower and walnuts, but I also will use TVP mince for this (see this other post on why I think TVP is not as processed as some say). In a recent SauceStache video, he used a mix of grades of TVP, and it works out really good in this recipe too!
Ingredients:
40g TVP mince
1 MEAT-FREE OXO cube
1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
5/6 chestnut mushrooms, diced (by hand is best!)
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chipotle chilli powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Make up a stock with the OXO cube, veg bouillon, mushroom seasoning and about 220ml boiling water. Mix together with all the TVP in a bowl and leave aside while you get on with the rest.
In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in a dash of oil over medium-high temperature for about 5 minutes. Add in the chopped mushrooms and stir occasionally until the mushrooms have given up their water and start to brown.
Add in the chopped garlic and stir for a minute so that it starts to cook but doesn’t burn. Now stir in all the spices, the beans and the tomatoes. As it comes to the boil, stir in the TVP and any stock that is left in the bowl. Turn the heat down to just maintain a simmer and leave alone for 20 minutes or so, while you prepare any accompaniments.
A few minutes before serving, check the seasoning. There will have been salt in the stock, but the sauce may need some more now.
I think this goes best served with long grain rice (I like to mix some brown into white!) and some corn chips.