If you’re looking for a protein packed, vegan main that’s also gluten-free, you have to try this chilli with cashew cream. It is so flavourful and fresh plus it’s a neat way to incorporate butter (aka lima) beans into a meal. If you’ve been wanting to expand your legume cooking roster farther than black, kidney and chickpeas like me, this is a great dish to experiment with.

INGREDIENTS

For chilli:

• 1 chopped white onion
• 1 blended 19 oz. can of tomatoes; ideally organic San Marzano because those are my favourite 🙂 you could also substitute a 700 ml jar of tomato sauce
• 2 large carrots chopped
• 1 – 15 oz. can of butter beans (aka lima beans), rinsed and drained
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa
• salt and pepper to taste
• Cilantro and avocado to garnish/top

For Cashew Cream:

• 1 cup of soaked raw cashews (soak overnight or for an hour if you use boiling water)
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• 1/4 of a lemon’s juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of Herbamare (or salt) to taste
• Nut milk, the quanity of this will depend on the consistency you want. I like my cream to be a smooth liquid so I add 1/2 a cup or more until I get the desired texture.

DIRECTIONS

1. Sauté chopped onion in pot at medium heat with a little bit of oil (preferably coconut or avocado).
2. Once cooked to where the onion is clear, add in tomato, stir and bring to a boil.
3. When the pot with the tomatoes is bubbling, add in raw carrots, beans and cooked quinoa then lower temperature to a simmer.
4. Cook at low temperature for 15-30 minutes, stirring every now and then.
5. While chilli is cooking, make the cashew cream by draining the cashews and adding all ingredients for the cream listed above into a small blender. Blend until smooth – remember, you can add or take away liquid depending on how thick you would like this.
6. Once cashew cream and chilli are ready, spoon out the chilli into a bowl, drizzle with cashew cream and top with cilantro and a cut up avocado. Only thing left is to eat it and enjoy!