Nacho baby! My ultimate chilli con carne
Mexican food is one that I have never had any knock backs from the kids at home or at the childcare centre I work at.
It’s jam packed with yum, it’s vibrant and fun to eat and it can be so nutritious if you choose your ingredients wisely.
Choose only good quality, lightly or unsalted corn chips or tortillas or healthy grains like quinoa and rice. Make your own salsas buy chopping some fresh tomatoes and hitting them up with a pinch of sea salt and lime instead of using those jarred salsas which are often full of preservatives, poor quality salt and sugar.
If you can allow yourself just a little more time than just simply emptying a bowl of average corn chips into a bowl and slopping on some supermarket jarred Mexi sauce and cheese, If you really want your kids to taste some love and for their little bodies to gain from the whole experience then, like with any cooking, a little more effort goes a hell of a long way.
Ingredients that are used heavily in Mexican cooking are amazing for our health, it is such a well balanced cuisine and what I absolutely love is it that those are the foods that are available and abundant in that part of the world, all to be harmoniously brought together in one hell of a tasty plate of lunch.
The cooling avocados and coriander compliment and balance the warming paprika, sweetcorn and tomatoes. The cumin and coriander seed help our bodies to digest better. Think about the Mexican meals you know, aren’t they just a perfect concoction of good fats, healthy carbohydrates and beneficial proteins, all wrapped up with deliciously fragrant spice, acid, crunch, creamy, sweet and salty deliciousness? It’s no wonder the kids go nuts for it! We all do!
No matter where you are from, nature basically has offered humans an array of seasonal and beautiful foods and we as humans have spent thousands of years using those foods to create traditional cuisine. So cool!
Here’s my super easy and delicious Chilli con carne recipe that can be used for nachos, tacos, served with quinoa or rice with guacamole or how ever you like to eat it.
My little one here enjoyed hers with some roasted sweet potato, smashed lemony avocado, some natural yoghurt and a simple tomato salsa and I literally couldn’t get it in her mouth quick enough!
Recipe serves 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
3 tbs olive oil
500g beef mince, grass fed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large red capsicum, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smokey paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 cob corn, kernels removed
1 can organic crushed tomatoes, plus 1 can water
1 square of good quality dark chocolate *
1 can organic black beans (or kidney beans) rinsed and drained
1 bunch coriander, chopped
Method:
Heat 2 tbs of the olive oil in a heavy based pan over medium heat and cook the mince breaking up with a wooden spoon for around 10 mins until browned and caramelised, scrapping those tasty crispy bits back into the meat as you go. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and cook the onions for 5 minutes until they’re translucent, add in the capsicum, garlic and spices and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, add the beef back into the pan along with the sweet corn, tomatoes, water and chocolate.
Lower the heat and simmer for 45mins to 1 hour with a lid on, stirring occasionally.
Check the seasoning and if desired adjust with good sea salt and cracked pepper.
When the chilli is ready and you’re happy with the flavour stir in the beans and coriander and heat through.
Serve how ever you like it!
…But I do strongly recommend how ever you have it… make sure there is a good lump of guacamole on the side. Heaven!
*Chocolate is commonly used in Mexican cooking, it adds beautiful depth and richness to a dish like this.
