Here at the village headquarters, this is one meal that always goes down a treat! Even more importantly, it’s easy and fast to make … and making a double portion is only a little extra work, so yay leftovers!!!
Full of vegetables and beans, and served with avocado, grated cheddar, creme fraiche and optional nacho chips, it’s also a pretty healthy meal all round.
Here we share our basic recipe, but you can of course adapt it to your own preferences of beans, vegetables and spiciness.
Serves: 2 adults 2 kids
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Difficulty level: Easy
INGREDIENTS
- olive oil
- 2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 red pepper, finely diced
- 1/2 a courgette, grated coarsely
- 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes – don’t go for the cheapest 🙂
- 4 teaspoons of cumin – we LOVE cumin; if you don’t, put less
- 2 teaspoons of dried coriander
- 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika – you can find this in Carrefour
- optional: 1/4 – 1 teaspoon of crushed chili, depending on how spicy you want the dish to be. Alternatively, you could use fresh chili
- 2 x 400g cans of beans – we typically use kidney beans and black beans, but you can use any kind you like
- salt and pepper
- cane sugar
To serve:
- nacho chips – we like Delhaize’s organic chili / plain nacho chips
- 1/2 avocado per person, sliced
- 1 big handful of fresh coriander for garnish
- 1/4 lime per person, to squeeze over the chili
- 150g grated cheddar cheese (we buy Delhaize grated cheddar)
- 1 x 200cl pot of crème fraîche
METHOD
- Take a thick-bottomed saucepan, and put enough olive oil to just cover the base of the pan – we use a Le Creuset.
- Add the finely chopped onions, crushed garlic and spices (coriander, cumin, smoked paprika and chili, if you are using it) and sauté at a medium heat until the onions are clear and the spices are fragrant.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, diced red pepper and grated courgette and simmer with the lid on for around 20 minutes.
- Add the beans and let them simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, cane sugar (to ’round’ the taste) and more chili if needed.
SERVING SUGGESTION

Ours always looks something like this:
– served in a wide bowl
– some lime squeezed over the chili
– a small handful of grated cheddar
– 1/2 an avocado, cut into slices
– a tablespoon of crème fraîche
– a sprinkling of fresh coriander
– a handful of nacho chips