Cheat's Chilli and Tortillas

Last night we had chilli with burrito tortillas and salad. The chilli was one that I had made earlier and froze. The recipe is below.

Burritos are a great favourite with my children. They love to make them up themselves at the table. We usually have salad, which includes at minimum lettuce, tomato, olives and avocado. We usually have store-bought salsa, which I know is sacrilege to proper Tex-Mex cooks. We also have some sort of protein, which may include refried beans, TVP taco mince or chilli, like tonight. Sometimes the children will have cheese, though often we skip that.

When we have burritos, the children eat a lot more salad than they would ever eat alone. They usually eat several tortillas worth of food (5 or 6 for the teenager!). It's a quick and easy way to have the whole family eat a healthy salad-based meal.

Tonight we had simple chilli, in our tortillas. It's not really authentic mexican food, but it was good. Because it's so easy to make, I called it "cheat's chilli."

Cheat's Chilli

Serves 8-10. You can freeze some for later, which is what I do.

2 onions diced
3-4 cloves garlic crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 x 400 g tins of beans (kidney, soy and butter beans for me), drained and rinsed
1 large tin crushed tomatos
1 small tin corn kernels
1 small zucchini grated
1 chipotle chilli,* chopped
3 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
large pinch cumin
1 massel "beef" style vegan stock cube
Additional chilli powder to taste, if you like it hotter.

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onions and garlic. Heat gently until the onion is transparent, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Heat to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer.
   
3. Stir to dissolve tahini and stock cube.
4. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes. (You can serve it sooner, if you wish.)
5. Serve with rice, tortillas or rolls.
   

* Chipotle chilles are smoked jalapenos. The can be bought canned or dried. However, if you can't get them, you could just put in chilli to taste and a dash of liquid smoke,** if you have it.
**For Australian people, you can order liquid smoke from the Vegetarian and Vegan Society of Queensland. They will mail order it to you. It's handy for a whole range of recipes.