Oh wow Chili!!!

Tomato chili with walnut taco meat and sour kream

Well, I ended up staying in tonight after checking my bank balance and discovering I'd spent way more than I meant to this month! So, I got busy in the kitchen and finally made Ani Phyo's chili... oh WOW it was incredible! Utterly delicious, I am definitely going to make this again and again. I made half the recipe, which is supposed to serve 2, and I ended up eating it all, because it was so unbelievably tasty I couldn't stop! Ok, so it doesn't look quite as pretty as the picture on Ani's page but it was truly gorgeous to eat.

There's a weekly farmer's market outside work every Wednesday, with an amazing organic veg stall. They sell a great range of local produce, I always get kale, chard, mixed salad, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries... well loads of things! Anyway, last week he gave me a bag of organic mixed chilies so I added a couple of these to the recipe for an extra kick! I put in 1 (small!) scotch bonnet (oh yes, I'm proper hard, me) and a birds eye one, and they gave it a really lovely flavour as well as some extra heat. I put taco meat on top and made sour kream from soaked cashews, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and just enough water to make the right consistency.

Ani Phyo is fabulous, her books are such a delight- all the recipes are simple, without millions of ingredients and everything tastes great. I love her. And I'm so glad I finally got round to making this chili. It's so easy to do, only takes a few minutes and doesn't need a dehydrator or any complicated equipment. Really fresh and delicious.

I'm going to make some of the liquid gold elixir that Sherry recommended next and bring it work with a big salad for lunch tomorrow. I got some of those enoki mushrooms too, so they will definitely be in it. I'll let you know how it turns out!