It’s been a while, but I had the perfect excuse to cook this luxurious meal the other night because my friend Jim decided to come over for dinner and a gaming evening. (Dawn of War if you must know! 😉 )

• For the chilli and rice

• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 red onion
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1 big bunch fresh coriander
• olive oil
• 2 mixed-colour peppers
• 1 x 400 g tin of chickpeas
• 1 x 400 g tin of black beans or pinto beans. (I used pinto because I couldn’t find black.)
• 700 g passata
• 1x 250 g pack of mixed long grain & wild rice

• For the salad

• 4 small corn tortilla wraps
• 2 ripe avocados
• 3 heaped tablespoons soy yoghurt
• 2 limes
• 1 romaine lettuce
• ½ cucumber
• 1 fresh green chilli
• 1 handful ripe cherry tomatoes

Ingredients out • Oven at 200°C/400°F/gas 6 • Food processor (bowl blade)

 

Place the rice in a pan with cold water and crank up the heat. Keep and eye on this, it will take exactly 15 minutes.

 

 

Put the chillies, peeled and halved red onion, paprika and cumin seeds into the processor, squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher, then add the coriander stalks (reserving the leaves) and 2 tablespoons of oil, and whiz until fine.

 

Tip into the pan, then add the deseeded and roughly chopped peppers, drained chickpeas and black beans, a pinch of salt and pepper and the passata, stir well.

 

Fold the tortillas in half, slice into 0.5cm strips, sprinkle on to a baking tray and pop in the oven until golden and crisp.

 

Put most of the coriander leaves, a pinch of salt and pepper, half a peeled avocado, the yoghurt and the juice from 2 limes into a jug and whiz with a stick blender until silky.

 

Check and adjust the seasoning of the chilli.

 

Remove the tortillas from the oven into a bowl, cut the lettuce into chunky wedges and add to the bowl • Scoop and dot over curls of avocado • Peel the cucumber into ribbons and finely slice half a chilli, then scatter both over the top.

Pour chilli into serving dish. Make a well in the middle of the chilli and tip in the drained and cooked rice.

Pour the dressing over the salad, pick over the remaining coriander leaves, finely slice the remaining chilli and sprinkle over the top along with the halved cherry tomatoes, then toss everything together • Serve with dollops of yoghurt.

 

Munch the hell out of it! 🙂