Tex-Mex Platter

Tex-Mex is one of my favourite cuisines (can I call that a cuisine?), it consist of lots of ingredients that I love which end up tasting even better when combined. Beans, cheese, spices, bring ’em on! I also find that Tex-Mex food is really easy to make and, let’s be honest, comforting beyond belief.
I make this type of food quite often, and whenever I show a dish like that in a vlog, someone always requests a recipe. Today I thought I’d share this Tex-Mex dish with you which I whipped up last week. It’s a typical Loepsie-dish, nice and simple, vegetarian, and tastes really, really good.

Ingredients

Beans of choice (I used brown)
Sweet potato
Carrots
Tomato
Onion
Garlic
Passata or tomato sauce
Avocado
Lemon juice
Tortilla chips
Grated cheese
Mexican spices
Cayenne pepper

As always, I didn’t use any specific measurements. I like to take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, according to taste, amount of servings I need, and the size of the vegetables I get. In this case I used one can of beans, one large sweet potato, two small carrots, two tomatoes, two onions, three cloves of garlic, and two smaller avocados to serve two very hungry people.

Stew

Start by dicing your onions (I used one and a half and saved the remaining half for the guacamole) and pressing your garlic (I used two cloves, saved one for the guacamole). Clean the carrots and cut them into rings. Clean the sweet potato as well, and cut that into small cubes.

Heat up some oil in a pot over medium heat, and sauté the onions and garlic. Add a dash of Mexican spices. I have a pre-made mix, but you can use your favourite spices or make your own Mexican spice mix. The ingredients vary from brand to brand, I suggest googling some combinations to find one you like. Stir everything well, spices can burn quickly. Add the carrots and sweet potato to the pot, and allow to soften for a few minutes. Then, add your beans and a splash of passata or tomato sauce, whichever you prefer. Add a little bit more of the spice mix. I added a pinch of cayenne pepper as well, to give the stew an extra kick. Cut your lemon in half, and squeeze a little bit of lemon juice into the stew. Cover the pot with a lid and leave to simmer for 10/15 minutes or until everything has softened and the stew has a nice consistency.

Guacamole

Peel and pit your avocados, and put them in a mixing bowl. Dice half an onion and a clove of garlic, and add to the avocado. Add a little bit of lemon juice, a dash of cayenne pepper, and some salt and pepper. I also add a tablespoon of mayonnaise, but this is totally optional and unnecessary (I do it just because Robbert loves it, haha!).
Blend everything with a handheld blender until it’s smooth.

Garnish

Take a large, deep plate, and fill 2/3 with the stew. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top (I used mature Gouda, of course, but feel free to use your favourite kind). Add a nice glob of guagamole (I did about 3 tablespoons), and fill the rest of the plate with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

This isn’t the healthiest meal I’ve done, it does contain quite some fat, but it also contains a lot of vegetables and good fats, and I definitely wouldn’t feel guilty about indulging in something like this every once in a while. You can always leave out the cheese and substitute a wholewheat tortilla, potato or rice for the nachos, and make the dish a little more health-friendly.
Seriously though, this is so good. You’ll love it.