Gluten Free · Dairy Free
Pantry Staples & Ingredients
Not for the traditionalist, this chili con carne uses some unconventional spicing and a whole lot of veggies.
I came up with this recipe, when our trunk freezer broke down on the morning of the 4th of July (with no hope of a technician visit for at least 24 hours) leaving me with about 30lb of rapidly thawing meat. I have scaled down the recipe for my reader's benefit but suffice to say, we will be eating chili for some time to come.
Ingredients:
- 2lb of ground or finely chopped beef
- 1 large onion
- 15oz (one can) of diced or whole stewed tomatoes
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 heaping tsp of merguez spice
- 1 tsp of chili powder (optional)
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp of dry mustard powder
- 1 tbsp of herb de provence
- 15oz of cooked red kidney beans (apx 1 can)
- 15oz of cooked pinto beans (apx 1 can)
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 4 medium carrots
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 small egg plant
- 3 sticks of celery
- 5 medium mushrooms
- 3 spring onions / scallions
Steps:
- Chop the onions and saute on medium heat in the 2 tbsp of olive oil
- Add the ground meat
- Add half of the merguez spice
- Mix through
- Cover and cook on medium high heat for 10 mins (or until the oil is collecting on the surface in little merguez infused pools)
- With a small ladle, spoon off as much of the oil as you want and discard (or save for frying potatoes another day;)
- Chop all of the veggies finely (holding the spring onions to one side)
- Add all of the veggies, ( except the spring onions), the rest of the spices, tomato paste and stewed tomatoes.
- Cook for 40 mins
- Then add the beans and cook for an additional 10
- Serve with corn bread and a salad
