This delicious and healthy meal consists of several components which you can either make yourself, or purchase ready made to save time. For a vegan version you can simply omit the sour cream. The real hero of the dish is the vegetarian chilli con carne and I recommend at least making this one from scratch – I’ll start with that recipe:
Vegetarian Chilli Con Carne
Ingredients
- 1/2 a brown onion – diced
- 3 cloves of garlic – crushed
- 1 x 420g tin of red kidney beans (drained)
- 1 x 420g tin of crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 a cup of TVP (Textured Soy Protein)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
Method
Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, add all other ingredients, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. As there is no meat used, 5 minutes is quite sufficient. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Char Grilled Capsicum
Ingredients
- 1 each of green, red & yellow capsicum
- Balsamic vinegar
Method
Slice the capsicums into strips, discarding seeds, place a little olive oil in a pan (I like to use a grill pan), cook for around 10 minutes, moving them around with tongs to cook evenly. Once cooked to your liking, drizzle balsamic over it and season to taste.
Char grilled corn
Char grill 4 cobs of corn on the same pan used for the capsicum. Once cooled, slice kernels from the cobs.
Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 x fresh tomatoes
- 1 lebanese cucumber
- 1/4 red onion
- A few sprigs of coriander (omit if you find coriander objectionable)
- 1/2 a birds eye chilli
- Juice of half a small lime
Method
Dice tomatoes, cucumber & onion, finely chop chilli & coriander, mix all together with the lime juice – season to taste.
Guacamole
Ingrededients
- 2 ripe avocado
- 1/4 red onion
- 1/2 a birds eye chilli
- Juice of half a lime
Method
Dice onion, finely chop chilli, mix everything together and mash to your desired consistency.
Cook 1 cup of brown rice & quinoa according to packet instructions (or buy a pack of pre cooked rice).
Assemble
Arrange all ingredients on a plate or bowl, top with sour cream and/or cheese if desired and add tortilla strips for some extra crunch.
This is my go to lunch and I like to set aside some time over the weekend to make myself a batch – I find it almost meditative 😊. The ingredients listed in the blog are suitable for 5 lunches, or a family meal.
Outdoor Obsession 