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Serves: 6

Time: 45 mins

Price: $

Difficulty: 1/5

This burrito bowl recipe is inspired by Connors “banging” Nachos from the other week! As students, we all love a good Mexican meal. I recommend you branch out this week and get creative with a burrito bowl! The toppings on a burrito bowl are where you can get groovy. For this, I have suggested you make some crispy chickpeas! As a healthy and cheaper alternative to corn chips, these are a must-try. The range of toppings you can use makes this one a popular recipe for the whole flat. Don’t like avocados? Top with sour cream! Not a fan of tomatoes? Go for corn instead! Fill your flatties stomachs with their favourites, and swindle them with a ‘new’ version throughout the year by topping with seasonal produce.

Ingredients 

Vege Chilli 

• 1 brown onion (diced)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 2 celery sticks (diced)
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped) 
• 1 packet burrito/taco spice seasoning mix
• 2 cans chopped tomato
• 2 cans beans (drained and rinsed) (I like to use kidney beans and black beans)
• 1 cup mixed veggies
• Oil 
• Salt 
• Pepper

Crispy Chickpeas

• 1 can chickpeas (drained and then dried with a tea towel) 
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• Oil
• Salt 
• Pepper

Serve with

• Rice

Topping Suggestions

• Cheese
• Red onion 
• Roasted vegetables (kumara and pumpkin are good winter options!)
• Sour cream
• Canned corn
• Tomato
• Cucumber
• Lettuce/baby spinach

Method

1. Begin by making the vegetarian chilli. Pour a glug of oil into a large pot and bring to a medium heat. Add the onions, grated carrot and celery and cook for about 10 mins until softened.
2. Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 mins until fragrant. 
3. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees for the crispy chickpeas.
4. To the chilli pot, add the cans of beans and tomatoes, and your taco spice mix. Stir until combined, turn up the heat slightly and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins.
5. From here, add the mixed veggies and continue to cook until the sauce is thickened and the veggies are tender.
6. As the chilli is in its final stages of cooking, add your chickpeas to a lined baking tray, and toss with 1 Tbsp of oil, plus the paprika, cumin, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Place into the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 mins or until golden brown. They may feel soft when they are straight out of the oven, but if you let them cool for a few mins they will crisp right up!
7. Serve the vegetarian chilli on rice, top with the crispy chickpeas and any other toppings you like! Check out above to see some topping suggestions :)