Bean Chilli with Avocado & Lime Salsa

Recipe Serves 4

Bean Chilli with Avocado & Lime Salsa

Ingredients

30 minutes preparation, plus 40 minutes cooking

For the chilli:

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

1 large red pepper, chopped into 1cm wide strips

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3 tablespoons Mackays Sun Dried Tomato & Smoked Chilli Chutney

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

400ml water

1 x 400g tin black beans, drained

1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained

1 x 400g tin pinto beans, drained

10g dark chocolate

Salt

 

For the avocado salsa:

1 large avocado

¼ cucumber

½ small red onion or shallot, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic, finely chopped or grated

1 lime, juice only

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt

 

To serve:

Steamed basmati rice and/or tortilla chips

Sour cream
Mackays Sun Dried Tomato & Smoked Chilli Chutney

Follow The Recipe

Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add the sunflower oil and then add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for five minutes or until the onion is starting to soften. Add the finely chopped garlic and the chopped red pepper and cook for another five minutes.

Add in the ground cumin, Mackays Sun-Dried Tomato & Smoked Chilli Chutney and the tomato puree and cook for one minute, stirring the whole time until all the vegetables are coated in the flavourings. Add in the tinned tomatoes and 400ml water, use the tin from the tomatoes to measure out the 400ml water – this means you will get any extra tomato flavour still clinging to the inside of the tin. Add ½ teaspoon salt.

Bring the sauce to the boil and then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

While the sauce if cooking, make the avocado and lime salsa. Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and the skin and then chop into 1cm cubes. Put the chopped avocado into a bowl and squeeze over the juice of ½ lime. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, remove the seeds with a teaspoon, and then cut each half into 4 vertical strips and then chop into small cubes. Add the cucumber to the avocado and then add the finely chopped red onion, garlic and chilli, the olive oil and generous pinch salt. Stir well and then taste. Add more salt or lime juice if needed.

Drain the beans well and then add them into the pot with sauce. Turn the heat back up to medium and bring the chilli to the boil. Once boiling turn the heat to low again and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the dark chocolate and stir until it melts. Taste the chilli and adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Serve the chilli over steamed rice or on top of tortilla chips with a dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of Mackays Sun Dried Tomato & Smoked Chilli Chutney. Serve the avocado and lime salad on the side.

The bean chilli is even better the day after it is cooked. It can be stored in the fridge for three days and can be frozen for up to six months.