Bean and Vegetable Chili

This is my basic chili recipe. I've made it many times. This time I served it over a purple baked potato with a side of kale sauteed with smoked garlic. It also goes well with rice or tortilla chips. You can add extra vegetables to the recipe if you wish - courgette and aubergine work well.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cocoa powder
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion, garlic and red pepper. Fry for ten minutes. Add the cayenne, cumin, oregano and cocoa powder. Stir the spices into the vegetables. Add the tomatoes and beans. Heat through slowly.

Avocado and Basil Houmous

I made this by accident. I was trying to make plain houmous, but I added too much tahini. As I had no more chickpeas I decided to add some avocado to stop the tahini being overpowering. Then I thought, as avocado tends to brown when exposed to air, I should add something green to prevent the houmous turning a murky brown. I was out of fresh spinach, so I threw in some basil leaves. It turned out really tasty. It's good spread on wholemeal bread and topped with tomato slices.

Ingredients:
1/2 tin of chickpeas
1/2 large avocado
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
2 tsp tahini
Large sprig of basil, chopped
1 garlic clove
Salt and lemon juice, to taste

Directions:
Put the chickpeas, avocado, olive oil, water, tahini, basil and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and lemon juice to taste and blend again. If the houmous is too thick blend in some more water until it reaches the desired consistency.

Spiced Red Bean Burgers

My partner bought me some Vital Wheat Gluten on Ebay, so I decided to get experimenting with it. Vital wheat gluten can also be purchased from http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/, http://www.flourbin.com/ and http://www.honest-to-goodness.org.uk/ .
These are influenced by the chickpea cutlets recipe from Veganomicon, the flavour is very different though. We ate them in homemade wholemeal buns with lots of Reggae Reggae sauce. Also on our plates were potato and sweet potato wedges and a spinach and grated carrot salad.

Ingredients:

1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp white pepper
1tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 large sprig of basil, chopped
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1tbsp liquid smoke (optional)
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Centigrade or Gas Mark 6.
Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Mash the kidney beans until no whole beans remain. Add the remaining ingredients and knead together for about three minutes.
Form into four flat, round patties. Place the patties on the baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, then flip the patties over and bake for a further five minutes.