Chili Con Kanga With Avocado, Lime and Coriander Salsa

by Linda on April 27, 2012

Sadly this isn’t one of my better examples of photography! I’ve been waiting all year to post this recipe.  Chili con Kanga is good on its own, but this time of year there is a little window of time when avocados, limes and coriander are all in season together, and the salsa with it makes it sensational.

I always make a great big pot of this when I make it, and we have it for dinners and lunches several times.  It will serve six or eight people for dinner easily, or you can freeze it or keep it in the fridge for several meals.  Or, you can halve the recipe.

Less red meat and more vegetables is a good idea, for health, environment, and hip pocket reasons.  And less factory farmed meat and more wild harvested, free range, organic meat is a good idea for the same reasons.  This combines both.

The Recipe:

Cook 400 grams dry beans till they are soft.  I soak them first and use a pressure cooker so they cook quickly.  The post about Bean Basics has my basic bean cooking method.  I don’t think it matters what kind.  They all add a different character to the dish, but they all seem to be good in their own way.

Brown 1 kg kangaroo mince in a little olive oil in a heavy pan.

In a big pot, saute together:

  • 4 onions (chopped)
  • 6 garlic (chopped)
  • 6 chilis (more or less, depending on how hot the chilis are and how hot you like it)
  • 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons smoky paprika
  • 1 capsicum (chopped)
  • 6 carrots (chopped)

Add the browned kangaroo mince and the beans, along with:

  • 1 heaped tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or a good teaspoon of dried)
  • 5 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 kilogram chopped tomatoes  (or a big jar of passata)
  • 2 big tablespoons tomato paste (leave out if you use passata)
  • 1 dessertspoon treacle (or brown sugar)
  • 2 cups of water
  • a good grinding of black pepper, and salt to taste

Simmer for half an hour or so until it reaches the right consistency.

Avocado, Lime and Coriander Salsa

Mash together:

  • An avocado
  • Juice of a lime
  • a big handful of coriander leaves, chopped fine
  • salt to taste

Serve the chili in bowls topped with a good dollop of avocado salsa, and, if you like, some warm tortillas to mop up with.

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The Breakfast Challenge – Avocado, Lime and Coriander Wrap

by Linda on July 28, 2011

The possums have finished off all my avocados,  but I live in an avocado growing region and we’re smack bang in the middle of the season so there’s always a few ripening on my kitchen bench.  They marry so well with limes, and this is the last of the limes for the year.  I also have heaps of coriander in the garden. In another few weeks all the leafy greens will realise spring is on the way and will want to go to seed, so this is the time to take advantage of luxurient foliage.

Avos have lots of calories but they’re such good calories – full of vitamins A, B, C, E and K, omega-3, monounsaturated fats, potassium, magnesium, antioxidant phytonutrients, and importantly, an amino acid called glutathione that slows down aging. I make a face mask out of them this time of year, but really, they’re much more effective from the inside!

The Recipe:

Very simply, mash together an avocado with plenty of lime juice, lots of finely chopped coriander, and a pinch of salt. (You’ll be surprised how much coriander you can add and it still keeps tasting better and better).

It’s good scooped up with pita chips, or, my favourite, wrapped in a warm home-made tortilla.

(The Breakfast Cereal Challenge is my 2011 challenge – to the overpackaged, overpriced, mostly empty packets of junk food marketed as “cereal”. I’m going for a year’s worth of breakfast recipes, based on in-season ingredients, quick and easy enough to be a real option for weekdays, and  preferable, in nutrition, ethics, and taste.  The Muesli Bar Challenge was my 2010 Challenge.)

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Avocado and Lime Juice on Toast

by Linda on July 28, 2010

Not so much a recipe as a reminder.  I have at long last moved on from Tangelo Breakfast Compote as my favourite breakfast.  There’s still a few tangelos, but the avocados are so beautifully in season now, and there’s also still plenty of limes.  Avocado on home-made heavy bread, toasted, with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.  Mmmm.

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Macadamia, Olive Leaf, Aloe and Avocado Face Mask

July 21, 2010

There is a little bit of science to this. Besides zinc and Vitamin E, which are both good for your skin anyway, macadamias have really high levels of palmitoleic acid, which is is the key ingredient in many anti-ageing products and what used to make hunting sperm whales so lucrative.  Olive leaf extract has an antioxidant [...]

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