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The best Chilli sin Carne

I have made the most amazing bean and lentil chili this weekend so I though I should share the recipe with you. It’s spicy, incredibly satisfying and truly delicious!

Both beans and lentils are great source of carbohydrates and protein. Lentils are also full of iron and antioxidants and peppers as well as sweet potatoes full of vitamin C making this dish perfect to bust your immunity (not only) through those winter months. Enjoy!

TO SERVE 4

Shopping list:

  • Red Onion
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 1 Stalk of Celery
  • 1 Sweet Potato
  • 1/2 Chili Pepper
  • 400g Tin of Green Lentils
  • 400g Tin of Kidney Bean
  • 400g Tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 200g Tin of Sweetcorn
  • 2 Table Spoons of Tomato Puree
  • 6 Squares of dark chocolate (80%)YES!
  • 2 Teaspoons of Cumin
  • 2 Teaspoons of Ground Coriander
  • 1 Teaspoon of Oregano
  • 3 gloves of garlic
  • Chili powder
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Oil

To Serve:

  • Rice
  • Avocado (optional)
  • Jalapeno (optional)
  • Plain Yogurt (I use coconut, optional)
  • Fresh coriander (optional)

Method:

Start with chopping the onion and chili pepper and frying in a large pan with a little splash of oil. Then add chopped celery stick, cubed sweet potato and bell pepper and keep stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add spices(cumin, coriander and oregano),minced garlic and mix. Rinse beans and lentils and add them to the pan along with tin of tomatoes. Cover and let the pot bubbles away for flavours to develop for around 10 minutes. Finally, add the tomato puree, chocolate and sweetcorn. Leave the pan uncovered so that the chili can reduce. After 5 or so minutes taste it and add salt and pepper. Like it bit hotter? This is the time to add some chili powder.

Serve with steaming hot rice. I love contrasts on my plate so I also add big spoon of cold yogurt to offset the heat of chili , chopped avocado and coriander for freshness and couple of jalapeno peppers for crunch. Those are my favourite option but you can add anything that takes your fancy (tortilla chips, guacamole, chopped fresh peppers, flat bread, chili flakes, squeeze of lime… ) or just enjoy it simply with rice. Bon Appetite!

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How to stop food waste?

Food Display

Food waste is a big issue. It is estimated that in developed countries around 100kg of food per person is wasted every year! In UK equivalent of 250 million meals is going uneaten while one in 9 people around the world does not meet their daily requirement for food. UK wastes 14 billion pounds worth of food every year. We produce more than enough food to feed the world but waste nearly 40% of it! This is truly shocking. Many countries including Haiti, Chad, Madagascar, Mozambique are on a list of top 10 “hungriest countries”. While it sounds like a distant problem 1 million people in UK assessed food bank in 2019 and in US, 40 million people live in poverty. Continue reading “How to stop food waste?”

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What’s the issue with palm oil?

What is palm oil?

We hear a lot about palm oil and all sorts of controversies around it. But what actually is palm oil? It is edible, very versatile oil derived from the fruit of the oil palm or palm kernels. It’s main supply comes from African oil palms Elaeis guineensis and American oil palms Eliaeis Oleifera & Attalea Maripa. This oil has a very long history dating back to 5000 years. In 19th century it was the most exported product out of West African countries. Soon the palms were brought to Asia and now Malaysia and Indonesia make 85% of global supply.

Continue reading “What’s the issue with palm oil?”

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Sustainable life – What does it mean?

The subject of sustainability is so vast! There are problems wherever you look. Yes, it can be very overwhelming and distressing. From the global warming, deforestation, air and water pollution, natural resources depletion to poor waste management and aggressive farming. Where do we even begin?

Hurricanes, melting glaciers, spikes of temperature causing wild fires destroying crops and wildlife habitat. Those are issues we have all heard of just too many times. It might be happening far away from our home town, for some it might be right at your doorstep. Some are more affected then others but we are all responsible for the changes. What can we do about this ? How can we stop the devastation?

This is very complex and I’m not pretending to have the answers. I do know that all changes start within us! Each and every person can make a positive change TODAY. Only collectively we can make a difference globally. Continue reading “Sustainable life – What does it mean?”