Taco Bowls
A bowl of fresh summer sunshine to brighten up your week this January - With Blue Monday just past this ‘hug in a bowl’ recipe will get you one step closer to feeling happier and help you beat the winter blues.
I love Mexican food but don’t always have time to do the full Mexican fiesta during the week! This is a good compromise – full of flavour, fresh veg and texture but minimal faff and cleanup. This bean recipe is another great mid-week one-pan dish along similar lines!
I used veggie mince made from peas – but you could use any veggie/beef/lamb/pork mince you like. If you are using a veggie mince check if you need to do anything to it before frying – I needed to rehydrate the pea mince, some need defrosting.
Serves four
Ingredients
Olive oil
2 medium/ 4 small sweet potatoes
1 head of cauliflower
2 portions of veggie mince / 200g mince of choice
1 tin of black beans drained and rinsed- this could be kidney beans/mixed beans
1 red pepper
2 tsp. each of ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes optional
2 cloves garlic
A handful of fresh tomatoes
Bag of your favourite salad leaves
Hand full fresh coriander
1 avocado if in season
Optional – tin of corn drained and rinsed/sour cream/grated cheddar/chilli sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Chop the sweet potato into bite-sized cubes, put in a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil.
Break the cauliflower into florets, half any large ones. Pop in a bowl, drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix well then put into another roasting tray and spread out well.
Put both trays into the oven. Roast for 30 minutes, check after 30 minutes, but give them another 10 minutes if they need it. The cauliflower should be browning at the edges and the sweet potato soft.
Meanwhile, chop the garlic finely, cut the red pepper into small cubes and half the tomatoes.
In a large frying pan, fry the garlic and red pepper over a low heat in a little olive oil for five minutes.
Add 1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika and the chilli flakes if using. Add the mince and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes and black beans. Put the lid on and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until the mince is fully cooked. It will be on the drier side so stir it every few minutes and add a splash of water if sticking.
When everything is ready, start the assembly: in each bowl start with salad leaves, then bean and mince mixture, roast sweet potato, and spiced roast cauliflower. Next slices of avocado, corn and/or sour cream. And finally, the fresh coriander and/or grated cheddar and any hot sauce if you’re brave! I’m NOT.
