All time favourites: Chili

Especially when the days are still a little cold and I am craving a hearty dish, I go for my version of a vegan Chili. Most vegan Chilis go for a meat substitutes, such as tofu. As I like my Chili lighter and a little more fresh, I won´t use any substitutes wheather they are soy- or wheatbased. Instead I go for a variation of beans and different spices. 

Ingredients:

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1-2 cans of different beans (I used kidney beans and black beans, but chickpeas work great as well)

1-2 bell peppers (I usually go for the orange or yellow ones, since I like them more. But you could use, whatever you want)

1 onion

1-2 gloves of garlic

1 lemon

Cumin, Paprika, Thyme and Coriander (I would use a pinch of cumin and at least half a teaspoon of everything else)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon oliveoil

Directions:

Add first you have to finely chop your onion and the garlic. Then heat the oliveoil in a pot and fry the onion, until it´s slightly translucent. Next you add the garlic, stir everything for about 30 seconds, and add all the spices. Stir for another few seconds, then put in the beans and the crushed tomatoes. You need to turn down the heat and let everything simmer for at least ten minutes. Use the time, to get the juice and the zest from your lemon and cook yourself some rice, to eat with your chili. When your chili has cooked properly, you can add salt and pepper to taste and finally add the lemon juice and the lemon zest.

With the lemony taste, the chili gets a really fresh flavour, which totally matches with the spring wheather. The chili also tastes great when it´s cooled down or when you heat it up the following day. To give everything an even more special touch, I would try to add some mint.

Enjoy your meal!