SERVES 4 | 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES
2 red onions
2 sweet potatoes (8 oz each)
3 mixed-color peppers
4 large ripe tomatoes
olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
1 x 15-oz can of cannellini beans
hot chili sauce
1⅓ cups black rice
1 bunch of fresh mint (1 oz)
4 small flour tortillas
¼ cup plain yogurt
Preheat a grill pan to high. Peel the onions, scrub the sweet potatoes and seed the peppers. Cut off a small chunk of each and put aside with 1 tomato (this is for the salsa later). Roughly chop the rest of the veg into 1½-inch chunks and halve the remaining tomatoes, then chargrill, working in batches.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil into a large casserole pan over a medium-low heat and stir in the cumin seeds and paprika. Peel, roughly chop and add the garlic, finely grate in the lemon zest, and add the grilled veg bit by bit as they’re ready, stirring regularly. Tip in the beans (juices and all), and 1½ cans’ worth of water, then add around 1 tablespoon of chili sauce (or to your liking). Season with sea salt and black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes, or until thickened and reduced. Meanwhile, cook the rice in a pan of boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Pick 2 sprigs of mint leaves and very finely chop with the salsa veg, then toss with the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Warm the tortillas on the grill and ripple a good few shakes of chili sauce through the yogurt. Serve the chili with the black rice, salsa, yogurt and tortillas, and pick over the mint leaves. Enjoy!
Using veg raw to make a salsa as well as cooking it in the stew is incredibly resourceful and delicious.
