It appears I am sticking with the theme of sauces for the moment as today I made spicy Mexican bean chilli to go alongside chicken fajitas. This bean chilli is so easy, needing minimal effort and only a few ingredients. It is great to have with rice or as a meat-substitute for burritos/fajitas or with couscous and in salads. There appears to be loads of Mexican food in Adelaide and its inspired me to try new recipes!

I also must apologise for my lack of pictures, when I started cooking I was planning on blogging, but it was so yummy decided I wanted to share it.

This recipe is similar to one I created before (shown in my Big Fat Mexican Meal blog), my ingredients are:

• 1 Tin mixed beans (I specifically used Mexican beans)
• 1 Tin diced tomatoes
• ½ Red onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• Cayenne pepper
• Oil
• Salt and pepper

This recipe is so simple like I said, and the first step began by me finely chopping the garlic and red onion. I heated a drizzle of oil in a saucepan and added the onion and garlic. Once the onion started turning golden and softening I added the tin of Mexican beans. You must make sure they are drained and rinsed thoroughly as the juice in the tin can alter the flavour.

After about 5 minutes, when the beans were heated through and mixed with the onion and garlic I added the tin of diced tomatoes. Similarly to the pasta sauce yesterday, I filled ¼ of the empty tin with water, and poured this in too, to use all of the tomato juice.

Now all that was left to do was wait for the sauce to thicken and to add the seasoning. Once everything had combined together I added a dusting of cayenne pepper. This should be to taste; it’s always better to start with small amounts as it can be very spicy! Along with the cayenne pepper I also used salt and pepper, tasting each time as well.

The thickening of the bean chilli took around 20 minutes. You shouldn’t put a lid on the saucepan to ensure the liquid evaporates as it is cooking, allowing the sauce to thicken, giving it a more chilli-like texture. Once it is at the desired consistency your veggie bean chilli is finished!

Tins of beans and tomatoes can be purchased cheaply and seasoning like cayenne pepper can be bought from all supermarkets, including Aldi/Lidl etc. I bought my garlic today from Adelaide Central Market so I like to think that made it taste even better, however I’m sure it was just the same as the shop bought alternative!