Vegetarian Chilli - Meat Free Monday

This vegetarian chilli is a delicious family meal taking its' substance from sweet potatoes, red kidney beans and red split lentils. 

It's packed with goodness, flavour and sustenance and is a great Meat Free Monday meal - that is also vegan (so long as you omit from serving with any cheese or yoghurt). 

I made this at the weekend for a lovely Saturday lunch with my two daughters, and a few packed lunches for this week to keep the cold at dawn - it is mostly made from store cupboard essentials, so I didn't even need to leave the house. 

I served with some wholegrain rice, avocado, a cucumber and carrot ribbon salad, a little fat free natural yoghurt and a grating of cheese and it was very well received. 

You could add other vegetables to the mix or different beans; black beans, chickpeas or butter beans would all work here too.

Vegetarian Chilli

Here's how:

• 1 white onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red jalapeno chilli
• 300g sweet potato (peeled)
• 1 orange pepper
• x2 roasted red peppers (I used jarred, but you could char your own and remove the skin)
• 1x tin red kidney beans
• 1x tin of chopped tomatoes
• Vegetable stock
• 100g red split lentils
• 100g sultanas 
• 1 tbsp dried cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chipotle paste
• Drizzle olive oil

Firstly drizzle the olive oil into a large pan or wok and place on a low heat.

Now peel and finely dice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the chilli and add to the pan to saute.

Whilst this is softening in the pan, peel and roughly chop the sweet potato to about 1cm pieces and add to the pan. 

Chop the orange pepper into small pieces and add to the pan. 

Now add all of the spices - the cumin, cinnamon, caynenne pepper, paprika and season with a little salt and pepper too.

Mix around with a wooden spatula to ensure all of the sweet potato gets a good spice coating and allow to cook out for a minute or so and then add the drained red kidney beans and the chopped tomatoes.

Rinse the lentils and add to the pan with the chopped roasted peppers, the sultanas, the chipotle, oregano and thyme.

Using one of the empty tins, make up a vegetable stock cube in one of these - fill it up and add to the chilli and give a good stir.

Allow to cook on a low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring every so often. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

If you're looking for further Meat Free Monday inspiration here are a few other recipes I've posted on the matter:

• Squash and Goat's Cheese Pot Pie
• Spinach, Ricotta and Courgette Pasta Lasagne
• Mexican Veggie Burgers
• Greek Stuffed Tomatoes
• Truffled Mushroom and Leek Tagliatelle
• Squash Mac and Cheese
• Creamy Mushroom and Danish Blue Cheese Risotto