Easy Veggie Chilli

I used to be vegetarian. It was a 'studenty' thing I went through, when I first moved to Derby to study at university. I came to my senses of course, a couple of years ago. One of the things I used to make was this chilli with Soya Mince. I still make this from time-to-time and actually prefer it with Soya, as opposed to meat. It's certainly a healthier way to do it and in any case, I've never been keen on frying minced beef in a pan ; it turns grey and produces lots of liquid that you have to drain off. This is the ideal dish to eat after a long day protest marching to make drugs legal or even to have with you whilst chained up to a tree in an industry-threatened green belt area of the country....Whatever your 'bag' maybe, I think you'll agree it's a winner!

What's in it:

100g Soya Mince
400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes (drained)
400g Tin Red Kidney Beans (drained)
4 Shallots (finely sliced)
3 Cloves Garlic (chopped)
1 Medium Red Chilli (deseeded and thinly sliced)
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Fresh Chicken Stock
Salt & Pepper to season

How to make it:

• Gently sweat off the shallots with the vegetable oil in a deep pan, for about 5 mins. Add the garlic for a further minute, before adding the Soya mince, sliced chilli & paprika. Move around with a wooden spoon to incorporate all the ingredients for around 2 mins.
• Add in the chopped tomatoes, a ladle- full of stock and season with salt & black pepper.
• Simmer very gently with a lid on the pan for 15mins, periodically adding stock if needed.
• Stir in the red kidney beans and replace the lid for a further 10-15 mins.

So there it is. Very simple and very tasty. Probably not very Mexican though. I tend to try and incorporate smoked paprika into as many different things I possibly can and this is one dish where it compliments the other flavours very well.

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