I spent my university years cooking some pretty questionable stuff. I’m sure I’m not alone – a diet of toasted potato waffles and endless variations on pasta with jarred sauces was a rite of passage for students. The food landscape seemed quite different then … that’s my excuse anyway.
There were some exceptions. My friend and I sometimes spent a whole day cooking. She’d show me how to make her mum’s Iranian food; I’d cook simpler things – massive pots of chilli and pasta bakes. Sometimes I’d put batches in the freezer, other times I’d eat the same thing all week and on some occasions I’d cook for everyone I knew.
My chef training came a few years later. How useful it would have been to have some of those techniques up my sleeve as a student: simple things, like knowing how to chop properly, or how to make proper stocks. But top of the list would be knowing how to cook pulses perfectly, in the cheapest and most delicious way.
Dried pulses have seriously changed how I do things in my kitchen. I’ve moved from using the tinned version to cooking my own in big batches and freezing them in portions, ready to make into hummus, soups or stews. They are much more delicious and buttery when cooked at home. The length of time it takes to cook a dried pulse will depend on how long ago it was dried. The older it is, the longer it will take to cook. Buy pulses from places where they are less likely to have been sitting around for ages.
The protein we get from beans is not a complete protein like those found in eggs, dairy or quinoa. Pulses have only eight of the nine essential amino acids that make up a complete protein. The missing piece of the jigsaw can be filled by grains or sesame seeds, which contain the ninth amino acid. So eating your pulses with a little bread, or hummus made with tahini, will form a complete protein, providing more energy and nourishment – hence the grain and pulse mixes in my chilli.
Since I moved away from eating meat, I’ve been trying to put together a chilli that I felt could emulate the depth of flavour of my meaty versions. It was a long time coming, but this is it. Most vegetarian chillies use lots of beans, which are a bit too filling and can be uninteresting to eat. This one also uses lentils and an array of cheap-as-chips grains that give character and texture and take on the punchy flavours much more readily. Bravely spiced, this chilli packs a flavour punch. The first time I made this, we stood at the pan after dinner, taking turns for another spoonful.
The soup is such a comforting bowl: it celebrates split peas, which seem to have somewhat fallen off our cooking radar, but are such good value and cook down to a comforting, yellow, buttery mess. It’s much simpler and quicker than the chilli and mostly made with storecupboard staples, topped and finished with a flurry of flavours: this is a soup that will sustain.
The all-pleasing chilli
This is based on one of my most-cooked recipes, but made a little simpler and easier on the wallet. Mix and match the grains as you like – this is a great way to use up those odds and ends left at the bottom of a jar, but steer clear of couscous, as it cooks too quickly. The amount of stock needed will depend on the type of grain you use, so if you do experiment with different grains, make sure you watch the liquid levels and top up, if needed. This makes a vatful, so you’ll need your biggest pot; halve the quantities if you want a more manageable panful.
Serves 10-12
Olive or rapeseed oil, for frying
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
A thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped, or 1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin (ground or bashed seeds)
1 tbsp smoked paprika
3 × 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
300g green lentils, soaked
200g bulgur wheat, pearl barley or brown rice
1 tbsp cocoa powder
400g tin of small beans (haricot, black or black-eyed), or 300g home-cooked
1–2 litres vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper
1 Put your biggest pot over a medium heat. Add a splash of olive or rapeseed oil and cook the onion, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes, or until soft.
2 Add the chilli powder, cumin and smoked paprika. Stir around in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, stirring as you go – but start with 1 litre of the stock and keep the rest on hand to add as needed if the chilli starts to look a bit dry. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 30–35 minutes, until the lentils and grains are cooked and the chilli is deep and flavoursome.
3 Season to taste, then serve.
Eight ways to eat your chilli
1 Tortillas or wraps (flour or corn), yoghurt, with chilli and thyme oil.
2 Spooned over corn tortilla chips, topped with a grating of good cheese and melted in the oven with some guacamole and salsa for dipping.
3 Sandwiched between two slices of fresh bread with a grating of cheese, a hit of sriracha and shredded lettuce.
4 In a couple of crispy taco shells with all the trimmings.
5 Folded into a wrap with some brown rice, chopped tomatoes and a little sour cream, burrito style.
6 In a toasted cheese sandwich.
7 With rice, yoghurt and chutney.
8 With sauteed greens and a quick tomato salsa.
Yellow split pea stew with green olives (main picture)
A comforting buttery bowl topped with a quick punch of flavour.
Serves 4-6
450g dried yellow split peas
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
½ tsp salt
2 lemons, juiced and zest reserved
For the topping
½ cucumber
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Small bunch of mint leaves, chopped
Big pinch of salt
Green olives, pitted and chopped
200g Greek yoghurt
Olive oil, to drizzle
1 Soak the split peas in cold water overnight. This isn’t essential, but will halve the cooking time.
2 Put the drained peas in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a rapid boil for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes, or until tender. Drain, season and set aside.
3 Put a large pot on a medium heat. Add the oil, onions and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or so, until soft. Add the cooked split peas and 350ml of cold water. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat. Ladle half the soup into a bowl and set aside. Use a stick blender to puree the rest of the soup in the pan. Stir the chunky soup back into the puree for a soup that is nicely textured. You can thin the soup with more water (or stock) a bit at a time. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning until the flavour is right.
4 While the soup is cooking, prepare the toppings. Slice the cucumber lengthways then scoop out and discard the seeds. Coarsely grate it into a bowl. Add lemon zest and garlic, and season.
5 Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with a generous dollop of the yoghurt, a spoonful of the chopped olives, mint, a spoonful of cucumber and a drizzle of olive oil.
- Anna Jones is a chef, writer and author of A Modern Way to Eat and A Modern Way to Cook (Fourth Estate); annajones.co.uk; @we_are_food
