I think many of us love a good chilli and I’m fairly certain we all know how to make it, but did you know how packed full of goodness this delicious spicy dish actually is?

This is one of my favourite meals to make because it takes no time, you can vary it as much as you like, it’s full of goodness and it tastes delicious.

If you have children, you might want to tone down the spice but otherwise, add as much as you can tolerate and enjoy the burn!

I like to make a huge chilli at the beginning of the week then you have lots of options for the week; you can add meat, have it cold with a salad or reheat it with rice or a sweet potato.

I made this chilli with the following beans, vegetables and spices. I chose these beans particularly because they were the organic selection in boxes in the supermarket (I try to avoid canned food wherever possible as canned food contains BPA).

Beans
Black Beans
Kidney Beans
Butter Beans
Canelloni Beans
Chick Peas

Vegetables (use Organic where possible)
Two red peppers
One white onion (I prefer red for this but I didn’t have one at home)
Five cloves garlic
One box organic Passata
Two red and two green chillis (with seeds)
Two carrots, chopped

Spices
Turmeric
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Cumin
Coriander
Black Pepper

The Goodness

Vegetables, legumes, herbs and spices, and fruits are excellent sources of important cancer-fighting and anti-ageing phytonutrients and antioxidants.
A couple of examples in this chilli are Capsaicin, which is the active compound of chilli and hot peppers; it helps to protect DNA from damage and is a powerful anti-cancer phytochemical.
Garlic contains Allium Compounds, an important phytochemical with proven health benefits. Studies from China show that people who eat a lot of garlic are protected against stomach cancer, which may be because garlic is able to block the conversion of nitrates and nitrites (found in many preserved foods) into cancer-causing nitrosamines.
Curcumin, the principal curcuminoid of Turmeric, has been regarded as a medicinal herb for thousands of years and is often mentioned as having the ability to kill or prevent a number of cancers including breast, colon, prostate and skin.

We can see with just a few examples the powerhouse of goodness and nutrients packed into just one bowl of one of our easiest and most popular dishes. I hope this encourages you to make it more often.