Seeing as winter clearly is not over yet, I’m still yearning for those warm, cosy meals. Chili happens to be quite high up on the best cosy meals of all time list – and I have to say, I make a damn good chili.
I think what I love the most about this dish is that 1. it’s SO EASY to make, 2. it cooks all in one saucepan so clean up is very minimal, 3. this recipe makes so much chili you have leftovers for days (which means less cooking for me!), and 4. it is LOADED with vegetables – but you can’t even tell!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Package of ground pork/turkey/beef – whatever you prefer
- 1 large carrot (grated)
- 1 zucchini (grated)
- 1/2 can tomato paste (~80mL)
- 1/2 pepper (green or red)
- 1 package chili seasoning (or make your own – I just don’t have the time or talent for that) – you can buy the packages from the grocery store
- 2/3 cup onion
- 1/2 cup corn
- Big handful (about 2 cups) of spinach/spring mix
- 1/2 cup black beans or black eyed peas
- 1/2 can/jar pasta sauce of choice (works out to be about 350mL of sauce) – a tomato and basil one usually works the best
Toppings
- Sour cream
- Cheese
- Tortilla chips/Doritos
- Rice
Method
- Put 1 tbsp olive oil into a big saucepan (make sure it’s deep!) on medium heat, add in your onions, then your ground meat – stir until meat is fully cooked
- Add in your package of chili seasoning and mix until meat is fully coated
- Stir in your pepper, corn, carrot and zucchini – continue mixing until vegetables start to cook
- Throw your beans and spinach in, along with the pasta sauce and tomato paste and mix thoroughly so all ingredients are well mixed
- Leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes (I find that just below medium temp is good), stirring every so often so that the whole pot gets cooked and warmed through well
- Serve immediately with toppings of choice – I love mixing sour cream and cheese into mine and using tortilla chips to dip into the chili
That’s literally it. Chuck all the ingredients into a pan and mix until cooked. So super simple but so incredibly yummy and universally loved that you can impress the whole family with this vegetable packed dish!
Until next time
xx