Need to spice up your Mexican night dinners? Easy, here are two options for vegetarians and non vegetarians.
Ingredients
For Mexican chilli beef
- 1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil
- 1 medium brown onion, finely diced
- 650-700 g / 1.5 lb beef mince, grass fed if possible
- 1 long red chilli, finely diced with seeds
- 1 can of diced tomatoes or tomato passata (about 400 g / 1 1/2 cups)
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
FOR VEGETARIAN: Add 150g of pan fried tofu. For extra flavour add in chilli, garlic, ginger and tamari sauce.
For roasted sweet potatoes
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes
- 1 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika (I used smoked paprika here)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- Generous pinch of black paper
- Generous pinch of sea salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For salsa salad
- 2 large tomatoes, cut in quarters, seeds scooped out and diced
- 2/3 cup diced roasted red peppers (see note above)
- 1 medium cucumber, diced finely
- 1/2 cup diced spring/green onions, about 2-3 springs
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander/cilantro, leaves and stalks
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 small red chili chopped or chili flakes, to your heat taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Pinch of sea salt
METHOD
Heat ghee in a large, deep frying pan or a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté onion until soft and golden, about 6-7 minutes. For the sweet potatoes chop into 2cm cubes and place in a bowl and coat with seasoning. Distribute them evenly on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 40mins on 180-200.
Add the spices, garlic, salt and chilli to the beef and cook for a couple of minutes together. Add the diced tomatoes and stir through, bring to a boil. Turn to low-medium heat and cook for 20 minutes, with a lid on, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, remove the lid, bring the hit to high and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes, stirring a few times.
Once the beef chilli is under way, combine sweet potato with sweet paprika, cumin and olive oil and scatter in a large baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 C. Take out of the oven, sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt and pepper, toss through and place back in the oven for a further 5-7 minutes.
Prepare the salsa salad. Combined all ingredients in a salad bowl and set aside until serving. Cut avocado into quarters and drizzle with some lime juice to prevent any discolouration. Once everything is ready, divide between four bowls and serve with a quarter of avocado each.
