Vegetarian Meal #8: High Protein 3 Beans Curry Chili (Easy and Vegan Friendly)

March 27, 2018

Vegetarian Meal #8: High Protein 3 Beans Curry Chili (Easy and Vegan Friendly)

Beans they are cheap and healthy what more can you ask for, nevermind I just thought about a tree that grows money that's something to ask for. Beans have been a go-to source of protein for every human being in the world for many years, it is not a special vegetarian/vegan food although it does get overshadowed as a high protein source by Meat. Not only are beans high in protein, it is also high in fiber and other nutrients without the added cholesterol-raising fats that Meat has. Plus they can be cooked in so many million versatile ways. Here is one way I decided to make them. It was inspired by an Indian curry meets chili. Highlights of this meal are that it is pretty easy to make requiring not a lot of ingredients although it seems it requires a large number of seasoning, I did explain how it can be customizable. It also can be served in many diverse ways so its a meal that keeps on mealing. FYI I have no idea what to call this meal so I will keep changing the title till I find a name that sticks. Feel free to contact me or leave a comment to what it should be called.

First here are the items I used to make this meal

Supplies:

1. Beans: 2 Kroger Black Beans 15.25 oz ((39 grams of Protein / Cup),
1 Goya Red Kidney Beans 29 oz (43 grams of Protein / Cup), &
1 Goya Chick Peas/ Garbanzos 47 oz (39 grams of Protein / Cup)

2. Tomatoes: 3 Cans of Hunts Diced Tomatoes (extra one was putting on its makeup)

3. Spinach: Taylor Farms Organic Baby Spinach.

(Although my blog is geared to be on the healthy side, I am not an organic snob. I feel if your food budget allows you to afford everything organic, that's amazing!!!! lucky you !!!!! marry me, please!!!!! hehehe but if you can't its okay but if you see a good organic deal you better get it. It's always a case by case scenario for me like I find that this organic spinach lasts much longer than the $1 fresh bunched ones so on a good day I usually get both or I leave proudly with my $1 non organic spinach )

4. Onions and Garlic: some beautifully chopped ones here. One and a half bulb of garlic and one smedium white onion.

5. Oil: Chosen Foods Avocado Oil.

Why Avocado oil? well because its just what I had on hand. Why do I have avocado oil? well because I was at Ross one day, yes the dress for less retail store Ross (Ross is low key a place to get good deals on random health food items) although I am suspicious why they are sold there and for the price. In the meantime, I don't mind.

6.Nigerian Scent Leaves: Or Ntong as my people call it. first of all in this meal/recipe its obviously negligible because not everyone has this in their pantry.

Scent leaf is Nigeria not so best kept food secret. If you are wanting to give it a try please venture off to an African store if you can and get this or maybe you may have luck finding it with its English formal name as Clove Basil somewhere else. The scent and flavour of what these leaves add to food is simply amazing. If I am not convincing enough maybe reading about some of its health benefits may help. 19 Health Benefits of Scent Leaves

7. Seasonings: Garlic Powder, Pink Himalaya Salt, Chili Powder, Grounded Red Pepper, Dried Parsley, Dried Rosemary, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Mrs. Dash Salt-Free seasoning blend, Tumeric, Curry, and Nutmeg.

Okay, I know it seems I threw in the whole kitchen cabinet but let me break it down which seasoning is necessary and why I chose what I chose so you can customize it to what you have. Of course, you can add something that I didn't add.

I. Garlic powder - not necessary since I had enough fresh garlic but I love garlic and I can't get enough

II. Pink Himalayan Salt: any salt will do but I got this salt on sale $1.99 at Ross and I have heard so many good things about it, it has all these extra minerals and I am happy to have it in my toolbox. Benefits of Pink Himalayan Salt
III. Chili powder / grounded red pepper: just need anything with heat, depending on what you have and how much heat you can handle.

IV. Dried Herbs (Parsley & Rosemary): you can use any dried herb you have available it adds a nice flavour. You can also go fresh with it.

V. Brown Sugar & Ground Cinnamon: Tomatoes, in general, are acidic and canned tomatoes are canned with salt or if salt-free they are canned with citric acid so for me they taste bitter and I don't like the bitter taste. A bit of sugar is important here to help out with the bitterness. So use any sweetener that does the job for you but I think that brown sugar does a good job here and Ground Cinnamon adds a nice flavour. If you are okay with the tomatoes the way they are, then you can leave the sugar but add a bit of grounded cinnamon for flavour.

VII. Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Seasoning Blend: this one here is not necessary, I just added it cause I am extra. You can also use a vegetable bouillon cube/powder if you are a bit extra.

VII. Tumeric, Curry, Nutmeg: I am making a guess that not everyone may have all these 3 seasonings present right now in their cabinet. If you don't, I encourage you to add this to your collection. Not only do they add great taste and flavour to foods, they also have a lot of health benefits, especially Tumeric. I felt these three seasonings were the highlight seasonings for this meal but if you don't have all of them you can work with what you have.

Okay, let's get to cooking...... but wait a minute I got a PSA.

My brother is a part inspiration why I made this blog, and I write it in a way that I am speaking to him hence the casualness of the blog but the dry humour is all me. Anywho I sent him this meal in advance as something he can make and he mentioned to me "isn't canned food bad." Long story it is a yes and no. We have been so privileged with electricity we have forgotten about the ancient art of food preservation and yes good ole salt was and is still used to help preserve food. So a lot of canned food is filled with salt, minus some other canned concoctions who knows what is in them. Too Much salt is bad but in the case of canned beans you can rinse it off. As far as the tomatoes you can get a no salt added variety and if all fails, read the ingredient and nutrition label, don't go on assumptions. Assumptions about food are alright but its always great to read labels on all food. A brand can advertise a new product as high protein while the older similar product actually has a higher or same gram of protein.

Sorry about that now back to the cooking.

1. Opening all our canned goods. Why can't they all come with the easy to open lids.

2. Drain the liquid from the beans and rinse them.

3. Heat up pan or pot of choice, pour in Oil (don't go crazy) a little will do and yes you can go without any oil but it won't be as much fun.

4. Throw in the Chopped Onion and Garlic

5. Next, I threw in the Nigerian Scent Leaves. I added a little bit of some of the seasonings at this point (Garlic Powder, Parsley, Rosemary, Mrs. Dash Blend) stirred and allowed everyone to get to know each other well for about a minute or two

6. Then I pour in the Hunts Diced Tomatoes. After pouring in the tomatoes I did put in a little Salt and Brown Sugar till Iiked how it tasted.

(Sorry again I don't measure anything, I put a little seasoning and taste along the way and add more if needed. Its best too put little at a time because if you add too much it will take some algebra and chemistry to fix it. While adding is simple math. )

7. Next, I added the Beans and some of the seasonings (Tumeric, Curry, Nutmeg, and Cinnamon)

8) I stirred everything and let it simmer covered on low heat. The beans are already cook but need a little time to summer so the seasonings can get to know each other. Also, canned beans are amazing because although cook they can still handle being under the heat without falling apart. I also added more of the seasoning I added early on (Garlic Powder, Parsley, Rosemary, Mrs. Dash Blend)

9) Lastly, I added Spinach

10. Stir in the Spinach till it wilts. I didn't allow it to wilt completely its okay because when you heat it up later it will wilt more. I did taste it again and added what I felt it needed like a little more heat, a little salt and sugar. That would be all up to your taste buds but guaranteed with the seasonings I mentioned this will taste yummy especially the Tumeric, Curry, and Nutmeg.