Not Quite Veg Everyday - but trying: Pinto bean Chilli

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Well, who'd have thought it? Hugh's Pinto bean Chilli appears to have been a big hit.

I was not really expecting it to be a success, and in time honoured Recipe Junkie fashion, I had a tense couple of conversations in the run up regarding what was on the menu. I was so worried that I even let Pink roll out some of the flat bread dough and managed to keep cool instead of getting irritated about the flour. On the work surface, on the flour, in her hair...

The best thing about the recipe is that it's very, very easy. Loads of veg too. The only slight complication was that I was intending to use dried pinto beans because that's what I had (not canned), and I kept forgetting to do the overnight soaking thing. We were supposed to have this last week...

However, that doesn't matter now, because I finally remembered to soak the beans last night, and I made it and the kids enjoyed it, AND I used green chilli. I have been leaving out chilli in things recently to get the kids used to tastes without being put off by heat, but I had 4 chillis left from the chard and new potato curry, and as that hadn't turned out too hot, I thought I'd use them rather than leaving them to shrivel at the bottom of the fridge. I was making double + quantities to put a meal in the freezer for when we have loads of house guests in a couple of weeks' time, so I didn't use quite the number of chillies I should have done given the quantities in production (wimp) but some nevertheless, which is nmore than none. I negotiated a tense moment during the meal when the Husband asked directly if there were any chillies in it. I answered 'No', in what I hoped was my best 'Yes' voice, but I'm bit sure he got my meaning.

Anyway, served with magic flatbreads, some shredded lettuce and some creme fraiche heading for it's overdue date (no sourcream) both Blue and Pink enjoyed it. In fact, in the bath, Blue actually said it was "pretty good actually". I was feeling fairly chuffed when he added "it tasted quite...meaty". Hmm not sure who won that one.