Chili time again and this time I decided to throw some green lentils and red lentils in to add added texture as I know a lot of meat eaters are looking for meat like textures when transitioning from meat to all plant based meals.
Personally I just double my favourite aspects of dishes like mushrooms peppers and onions etc instead of trying to replace the meat as I now appreciate the veg etc more than i ever did the meat. All your favourite flavours always come from the spices and herbs etc in a dish anyway and not the meat as a general rule.
Red lentils make a good replacement texture wise for a fine mince, and the larger green lentils a replacement for course mince.
I will always usually add some vegan friendly gravy granules to the dish at the end to fill out the sauce and add familiar extra flavour as you can use the old classic Bisto as it's vegan!
Ingredient quantities are for a batch cook that will typically supply 8-9 x 400g tupperware/takeaway size portions that can be eaten with whatever carb source you normally have with a chilli. I have anything from rice to sweet potato.
So here are the ingredients as they went in:
200g of dried Red kidney beans soaked over night and drained (equivalent to two drained 400g tins)
200g of dried Black beans soaked over night and drained (equivalent to two drained 400g tins)
400g tin of Baked beans (optional - Ideal to bulk up the amount of meals)
300g of Whole mushrooms
6 x Chunky chopped Salad Tomatoes
2 x Large chopped white onion
3 x Chunky chopped Mixed peppers
1 x Teacup of dried lentils (I used green lentils)
1 x Teacup of dried Red lentils
Half a bag of baby spinach (optional - purely for nutritional purposes)
1 x Pint of hot water with the following added...
1 x Veg stock cube
1 x Teaspoon of Turmeric (optional)
1 x Teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
1 x Teaspoon of Chili powder
2 x Teaspoons of Cumin seeds
2 x Teaspoons of Chili flakes
2 x Teaspoons of Chopped Garlic (I used Lazy garlic from a jar)
1 x Teaspoon of Garlic salt (Garlic salt adds a garlic flavour with a salty kick).
Once lentils have absorbed a suitable amount of the liquid add...
1 x 500-600g jar of Tomato passata or meat and dairy free bolognese/pasta sauce.
Once suitably cooked and lentils and kidney beans soft enough use onion gravy granules as a thickener and flavour enhancer if required.
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