Sneaky Chilli with extra vegetables

I'll have to admit I had never been one for Chilli - its the beans. My mother tortured myself and my sister in childhood with a chili inspired dish called "Red Dragon Pie" I loathed it and as a result for many years avoided all things with beans in like the plague. I am now cured thanks to a dinner invitation to a lovely friend's who cooked the most delicious chilli. I could not possibly not eat it in good manners and I was won over.

This chilli is a gentle warming chilli because its made with families and tender young palates in mind. Of course you can hot things up by adding extra chili powder or better still raiding my greenhouse for some of the fresh chillis growing within and chop one or two more in.

Sneaky Chilli with extra vegetables. Serves 8-10
(the trick is to make loads and freeze the extra for another day!)

Ingredients
2tbsp corn or vegetable oil
500g minced beef or pork
500g stewing beef, or pork, cut into rough 2cm chunks
2tsp ground cumin
1tbsp flour
2tsp fresh oregano, or thyme
1tbsp tomato purée
1 x 350-400g can chopped tomatoes
1 x small butternut squash (peeled and diced)
2 x sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)
3 x medium sized courgettes (sliced and diced)
2 x 500g tinned red kidney beans
1 litre beef stock
Ground black pepper
2 red onions peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium red chilli, seeded and chopped (or more, or less)

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and fry the minced and diced beef on a high heat, stirring until browned. Add the cumin, flour and tomato purée then stir in the chopped tomatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and courgette and beef stock. This will allow the cumin spice to cook for a while and release its lovely flavour.

Meanwhile whizz the onion, garlic and chili together in a blender with a dash of water until smooth. Add this mixture to the pan. Bring the mixture to the boil, season and simmer for 1 hour.

Wash the kidney beans and add to the pan and continue cooking for another 45 minutes, or until the beef chunks are tender. The vegetables will break down to become part of the sauce and almost vanish in it altogether.

I like to serve this with brown rice (its much better for you and good for the digestion) but use white rice if you prefer. Its lovely with nachos too!