Post your chilli recipes and tips here

I made chilli for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it went down a treat. I used the super BBC good food site again. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...illi-con-carne

So this week I decided maybe it would be good to make it a little healthier and cut out the meat. So I followed the recipe but instead of beef used chickpeas and green lentils. It is surprisingly yummy and satisfying without that guilty feeling of eating less than healthy red meat.

Anyone else have variations on the chilli theme? It's apparently a really healthy food in that it's slow release sugar.

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

Can't help on that one sorry. No one here really likes spicy food and I'm allergic to chillis so they don't cross the threshold. Hope others have recipes for you though !

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

I do a vegetable and noodle stir fry where at the end I add grated ginger/garlic/chillies and serve with lots of watercress all sprinked with Kikkoman low salt soy sauce.

Finely sliced spring onions/celery/mushrooms/red pepper/grated carrot/bean sprouts and with the watercress that's 7 of my 5 a day in one go.

Watercress tastes really good with a sprinkle of soy sauce .

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

Chillies should be used with discretion,and there are many types, they should add heat but also flavour. Not to burn your taste buds to hell.

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

I guess there's chilli and there's chilli.

When I make chilli I make it as a complete meal which is only accompanied by jacket potatoes or rice.

Typically it has the following ingredients:

Beef mince
Onions
Garlic
Courgettes
Red/Green Bell Peppers
Chestnut Mushrooms
Red Kidney Beans
Tomatoes

In terms of the spices I throw in plenty of smoky paprika, piri piri seasoning and some cayenne pepper to suit the level of heat needed. I throw in a good glug of Lee and Perrins Worcester Sauce and sometimes also crumble in a beef OXO cube.

Note that I don't generally use tins or cartons of chopped tomatoes. I prefer to use fresh tomatoes which uses the entire tomato, skins 'an all. For this I use batches of passata that I have previously made and frozen. I just fill a large pan with the freshest tomatoes (ideally italian plums), cut into quarters, add 5 or 6 cloves of chopped garlic, a little water and let them steam/simmer away for 20 to 30 mins. At the end of that time I throw in fresh basil.
Then I blitz the hot mixture in a blender to a fine passata paste so the skins are not noticable. Pop it all in glass containers (from Ikea) and keep in the freezer until needed.

If I am making a veggy version of this without the mince, then I usually add cubes of butternut squash to bulk up the dish and skip the kidney beans and/or replace them with butter beans.

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

Mine,

Beef mince
Onion
Garlic
Lea & Perrins
Tin of tomatoes
Oxo to taste
Marmite to taste
Olive oil
Kidney beans
Crushed red chilli's for the heat
Smoked paprika
Cumin
Oregano

The longer it simmers the better, and it's more tasty the next day after a night in the fridge.

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

Yours looks powerful fender - particularly the marmite. I was thinking of maybe adding worcestershire sauce for a bit of oomph next time. Works well in a beef casserole.

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

That's a good idea, and so easy to make particularly to use up fresh tomatoes growing in the garden (which fingers crossed there will be here!)

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

The marmite is actually quite subtle - works well...

Re: Post your chilli recipes and tips here

I love stir fries, particularly with bean sprouts (what is it that's so yummy about them?). Stir fries do feel healthier than other fast food so you can eat twice as much. I like to put cashew nuts and sesame oil in mine too.