MexiMash.

In my efforts to give up all the processed stuff and improve my health, there’s just one thing (let’s call it a ‘family of things’) that I’ve never been able to say farewell too. Corn.

Just give it to me in any form. Popped and covered in any sort of gooey goodness or even just plain straight up from a brown paper bag, whole grilled, baked and of course those little crunchy golden morsels called ‘chips’.

So I set about creating a meal we could throw together any night of the week, which was full of healthy delicious goodness, and meant that if I was going to succumb to the corn chip, they could work in quite nicely as part of my meal instead of empty calories as an additional snack.

The result is MexiMash. It’s a staple in our house. One of the meals we have as part of our suite of “I can’t be bothered with thinking or cooking so this will do”. And that’s what it is, presuming you have mostly good stuff in your pantry and fridge.

This meal will be your body’s friend and satisfy any corn chip weakness you may have.

Serves 2 hungry adults

• Two medium tomatoes or a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes
• Three or four cups of baby spinach
• Four hundred grams of organic mince beef/pork/veal or combo of these (grass fed if you can get your hands on it)
• Two garlic cloves diced thinly
• One onion diced thinly
• Half a capsicum – red, green, yellow or organ of=r a combo of these – roughly chopped
• A fistful of any fresh herbs you have around like parsley, oregano, basil – if you only have dried herbs you’ll need a good couple of shakes
• Two tablespoons of cheese. If you have to include cheese, go for feta and get the pre-crumbled type so you use less. If not, just include one tablespoon.
• One spring onion roughly sliced
• Three tablespoons of full fat Greek yoghurt with a sprinkle of cumin mixed through
• One tablespoon of pepitas – activated or toasted if possible
• Half a tin of chopped tomatoes – organic if possible (I save the other half and use it in my homemade tomato and pasta sauces)
• A good shake of any spices like Tacomare, cinnamon, onion powder, sweet paprika and a pinch of rock salt and pepper to taste
• Coconut oil for frying your meat
• A good squeeze of lemon or lime
• And of course, those delectable corn chips – go for the plain ones if you can do it

COOK IT

Start by frying up the onion and garlic in the coconut oil in a deep frying pan on a medium to high heat for a few minutes til soft. Throw in your mince and break it up whilst it’s on the heat, then throw in any or all the spices you feel like including. Cook through and remove from the heat.

NOW BUILD IT

Add a handful of corn chips to the bottom of the bowl first so you have to dig around for them, and your forced to fill up a bit on some of the good healthy stuff first. Then load your spinach in a bowl, pile on your mince then throw on your fresh tomato, tinned chopped tomatoes, cheese and spring onions. Finish with a dollop of the yoghurt and cumin combo topped with pepitas and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

Vego | Just leave out the meat and double up on the spinach and tomatoes or add a fancy vegetable like cubed and baked pumpkin or sweet potato.

Paleo | No cheese, yoghurt or chips for you my friends. Enjoy!

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