Invigorating Chili sin Carne with Nachos, Grated Cheese and Yellow Corn

I was at a dinner party the other day with good friends and the menu consisted solely of veggie food. I was so impressed by one of the dishes that the host gave me the book in which she'd found the recipe: Anna Jones: A Modern Way to Eat. Highly recommended! Anyways, the following day I was browsing through the recipes in the book and a wonderful take on a chili sin carne, aptly titled Proper Chili. Can a veggie chili overshadow the meat-version? I asked myself ... hardly! There was of course only one way to find out. And I have to admit, this is one the greatest chilis I've ever tasted. I might a have adjustments to her recipe, for example, I had to alter the proportions of beans because I didn't have the amount called for. But that's way with recipes - they're constantly changing. And the result was lip-smacking amazing! It was so tasty that my wife applauded in sheer gastronomic delight! I instantly regretting telling her that the recipe was mostly stolen - the honor could have been all mine!

Invigorating Chili sin Carne with Nachos, Grated Cheese and Yellow Corn 

Ingredients:

8-10 servings.

1 red onion
4 garlic cloves
5 cm ginger
1 red chili
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp chipotle puree
2 cans canned tomatoes
150 g Puy lentils
150 g bulgur
200 g quino tricolore (mixed)
400 g mixed canned beans (e.g. kidney beans, brown beans and  augnbaunir og brúnar baunir)
1,5 l vegetable broth
2 tsp cocoa powder
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Sides:

Nachos (or tortillas)
1 finely chopped chili
Yellow corn
Grated cheese
Fresh coriander




First step is to fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chili in hot oil until soft. Drop the cinnamon stick and the bay leaves in there also. Season with salt and pepper.




Then introduce a bit of spice: Chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, chipotle puree, cacao powder. Stir well together and fry for a few minutes with the rest of the ingredients. Pour in the canned tomatoes and heat to a boil.




Add the lentils - they need about 30 minutes of cooking.




Then the bulgur and quinoa.



When 10 minutes remain, rinse the beans and mix into the stew.




In total the stew requires around 35-45 minutes of cooking.




We enjoyed 2013 Rosemount Shiraz with the food. This is an Australian red wine characterized by a robust bouquet of berries, confident enough to pair with such a pungent stew!




Arrange the ingredients together for a beautiful presentation: Nachos, chili, cheese, fresh chili, fresh coriander. And of course, enjoy!

The vegetarian feast never ends!