recipe: Like Chilli, but make it L’haricot

A note to all the at-home chefs: I have a different way of cooking; I don’t recommend being super stringent with measuring because I love to encourage people’s sense of creativity. However, the ingredients proportions are as follow:

Kidney beans 2 cups; Coconut Oil, 2 tbsp; Red onions, 2, chopped; Garlic, 2 cloves, finely chopped or crushed; Maldon sea salt, to personal taste; Tomatoes, 6, fresh and chopped; Tomato puree, 2 tsp; Root ginger, 4inc, diced; Scotch Bonnet Chilli, 1, chopped or thrown in; Stock cube, 1, thrown in; Sweet potato, 4, wedged; Olive oil, drizzled; Black pepper, sprinkled; Rosemary.

Method:

L’haricot - the beans

There’s a bit of overnight preparation. We don’t typically use carton or canned beans to avoid unexpected flavours (we’re really not into sugar, if you hadn’t noticed). So, dry kidney beans are needed but should soak in water overnight – make sure the water sits above the beans. Skipping this step would result in them being tough and chewy!

The next day, drain the beans and let them boil in 2 ½ cups of salted water. Then bring down the heat, letting them slowly cook until they’re soft and buttery.

In another pan, gently heat some coconut oil. Add the chopped onions and garlic, let it turn light brown. Then add the tomatoes, root ginger, scotch bonnet chilli and puree into the mix.

Let it sizzle for a few minutes, stirring gently. Next, add the root ginger, stock cube and salt to taste. Gradually add water and let simmer.

Sweet Potato Wedges

Drizzle olive oil onto your diced sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the salt, pepper and rosemary on to taste. Place on a baking tray and into the oven. Cook for a few minutes, on medium heat, until soft and slightly browned.

*This recipe originally appeared in The Bristol Magazine.