Easy Camping Quinoa Chili
A soy-free, gluten-free, quick and easy chili that is delicious, hearty and easily customisable. This recipe is best suited for kayak camping or car camping as it relies on a few bulky - but easily available - ingredients.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 2 cans beans any type
- 2 packs vegan ground meat or cut-up vegan sausages (optional)*
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 150 g quinoa
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced**
- 1 medium onion diced or half-slices
- 2 peppers diced
Spice mix***
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tbsp soup broth powder
- a dash of cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste
Optional toppings
- Cilantro
- 1 lime
- 2 avocadoes
- 1 jalapeno sliced
- 200 g shredded vegan cheese
Instructions
At Home
- Put the spice mix in one container. Keep the salt and pepper in a separate container as you would be adding that to taste.
- Feel free to pre-chop the onions, pepper and garlic to save time at camp; they can also be transported together with everything else in one container, or kept separate.
At Camp
- In a bit of water, add the garlic, onion, peppers and cook till the onion is translucent. Add splashes of water as you go to prevent sticking. Sprinkle in about 1-2 tsp of salt, to help soften the vegetables faster.
- Add in the spice mix, and stir so that everything is well mixed.
- Throw in the vegan ground meat, if using, and use the spatula to break it up into small pieces. Also throw in the remaining ingredients. Rinse and drain the beans if you’re able to, otherwise throw it in as is. Rinse the can of diced tomatoes with some water and pour that into the chili so as not to waste any of the flavour. If the consistency is too thick, add more water; it will thicken even more as the quinoa cooks.
- Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer until the quinoa is cooked. Do a final taste test and add more water, salt or pepper if needed to achieve the desired taste and consistency.
Notes
*The vegan ground meat or sausages is optional, but if you omit it, keep in mind that the number of servings will reduce a little: to 4-5. To make the dish gluten-free or soy-free, substitute with gluten-free/soy-free veggie bites or crumble, or simply skip this ingredient.
**You can substitute this with 2 tsp of garlic powder. But this isn’t a heavy ingredient, and fresh garlic tastes a lot better, so I’d suggest sticking to it if possible.
*** You can replace the spice mix with 1 pack of store-bought chili seasoning mix.