Hidden Vegetable Chilli Con Carne
Absolutely delicious healthy chilli beef nachos with tons of hidden veg - with homemade tortilla crisps recipe too.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- pinch dried chilli flakes (to taste)
- 500 g lean beef mince
- 150 g mushrooms
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small courgette
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbs tomato puree
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- pinch sugar
- 400 g tin kidney beans in water
- 200 g tin sweetcorn in water
- To serve:
- Homemade tortilla crisps (see recipe below)
- 100 g Cathedral City Mature
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Sour Cream
- Healthy Homemade Tortilla Crisps
- Ingredients:
- 3 wholemeal tortilla wraps
- spray oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the Chilli Con Carne: Prepare the vegetables; peel and chop the onion, chop the red pepper, mince the garlic. Finely chop the mushrooms, scrub and grate the carrot and courgette.
- Heat the oil in a large pan then gently fry the onion and red pepper until starting to soften. Add the garlic, spices and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute.
- Push the onion and peppers to one side of the pan and crumble in the minced beef. Brown the beef all over, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.
- Once the beef is brown, add the chopped mushrooms, grated carrot and grated courgette to the pan and stir to combine all of the ingredients. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree, then crumble over the stock cube. Fill the tomato tin with water and add it to the pan, then give everything a good stir. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally as it cooks.
- After 15 minutes, add the cocoa powder and a pinch of sugar to the pan, then drain and rinse the kidney beans and sweetcorn and add them in too. Give everything another good stir, then cook for another 15 minutes until the chilli mixture has reduced and is nice and thick. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, make the homemade tortilla crisps (see recipe below) and leave to cool a little. Preheat your grill (broiler) to a medium-high heat and grate the cheese.
- To serve, pile the tortilla crisps into a large oven-proof dish, dollop over a generous serving of the chilli and top with the grated Cathedral City Mature cheddar cheese.
- Pop under a grill for 5 minutes or so until the cheese starts to melt and bubble. Serve with the salsa, guacamole and sour cream on the side.
- For the tortilla chips: Start by preheating your oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4/350°F). Spray or brush a couple of baking trays with oil.
- Pile the three wraps on top of each other, then cut into 4 wide strips. Cut the strips into triangles.
- Separate out the triangle shapes and place them in a single layer on the baking trays. Spray or brush them with oil and season to taste.
- Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the triangles are starting to brown round the edges and are crispy. Do keep a sharp eye on them as they cook because they can burn very easily.
- Once baked and crispy, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, before transferring to a serving dish.
Notes
NOTE: The chilli recipe is deliberately very mild to ensure that it is child friendly. If you'd like a bit of heat to it, add a finely chopped red chilli, use hot chilli powder or increase the amount of chilli flakes you add to the recipe. You might also like to add sliced jalapeno peppers to the finished dish before topping with the grated cheese, or you can serve them on the side so that adults can add them to their own servings if wanted.