Lentil and bean chilli

One to whip out for those ‘where do you get your protein’ questioners.

Ingredients

For the chilli

• 100 ml water
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 100 g red lentils
• 1 tin butter beans, drained
• 1 tin red kidney beans, drained
• 1 tin haricot beans, drained
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chilli powder (more if you like it hot)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 red peppers, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 tsp instant coffee
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp dark treacle
• 25 g vegan dark chocolate
• ½ bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Black pepper, to taste
• 4 baked sweet potatoes, to serve

For the topping

• 250 g soya yoghurt (plain and fortified)
• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp coriander, chopped

Method

1. Heat 100 ml water in a saucepan that can be covered and add the onion and garlic. Cook this over a low heat until the onion is soft.
2. Add the lentils, butter beans, kidney beans, haricot beans, smoked paprika, chilli powder, tomato puree, peppers, carrots and coffee granules to the pan along with enough water just to cover. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid.
3. After 10 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, treacle and dark chocolate and stir thoroughly.
4. Leaving the lid off, return to a simmer and keep stirring every few minutes to stop it from sticking. Reduce the liquid in the pan until you have achieved a deep, rich, sticky chilli. Stir through the chopped parsley and season to taste.
5. For the topping, mix all of the ingredients together.
6. To serve, spoon lashings of chilli over steaming sweet potato jackets and top with the herbed yoghurt.