MEXICAN food is a North American favourite, and it's no wonder.
The flavours are spicy and warming, and kids love it because there's usually good stuff like cheese, salsa and ground beef in there somewhere. Here's a Mexican meal that's quick enough to prepare on-the-fly for a midweek dinner (the dessert needs a bit of time to chill so make it before you start preparing the rest of the meal). Most of the ingredients are pantry staples or easy to find during a 15-minute blitz of the supermarket. Enjoy your mini-fiesta. Buen provecho!
BEEF & SALSA BURRITOS
1 pound lean ground beef
1 Tbsp chili powder ½ tsp ground cumin
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 medium flour tortillas
½ cup sour cream
In a large nonstick skillet, brown the ground beef over
medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until there isn't any pink, stirring occasionally. Pour off the fat. Add the chili powder and cumin; stir in the salsa and spinach and heat through. Remove from heat and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Stir in the cheese. Warm the tortillas (one at a time as you assemble burritos) for 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave until pliable. Spoon one-half cup of the beef mixture into the centre of each tortilla. Spoon a little sour cream over top of the beef. Fold the bottom edge of the tortilla up over the filling, then fold the sides into the centre, overlapping the edges to enclose filling snugly. Makes six burritos.
MEXICAN CORN & BEAN SALAD
This is a great lunch with chopped cooked chicken.
1 341-ml can corn niblets
1 green pepper, diced
10 grape tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
One or two green onions, chopped
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 firm, ripe avocado, peeled and diced
Dressing:
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
½ tsp chili powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a medium bowl, mix together all of the vegetables, except the avocado, and the cilantro. Stir the dressing ingredients together well and pour over the vegetable mixture; stir to combine thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste; gently fold in the avocado. Makes four to six servings.
Key Lime Parfaits
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp sugar
¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp finely grated lime zest
1½ cups chilled whipping cream, divided use
½ tsp sugar
Melt the butter in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat; mix in sugar and stir until bubbling, about one minute. Mix in the graham crumbs; stir until colour deepens, about three minutes. Turn onto a plate to cool.
Stir the condensed milk, lime juice and lime peel together in a large bowl (mixture will thicken). With an electric mixer, beat one cup of the cream in a medium bowl until firm peaks form; fold into the lime mixture.
Place one-quarter cup of the lime mousse into each of six large wine glasses.
Top each with one tablespoon of the crumb mixture, then another quarter cup of the mousse.
Top the parfaits with the remaining crumb mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to four hours. Just before serving, whip the remaining one-half cup of cream with the half teaspoon of sugar until firm; top each parfait with a dollop of cream. Makes six servings.
