Black bean bowls with oven-baked tortilla chips

Serves 4–6

These black bean bowls are an easy yet filling weeknight bowl. You could easily use beef or chicken mince in place of the black beans—just add the mince when you add the onion, and let it brown before adding the other ingredients.

For the black beans:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp ground paprika

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 regular-sized bottle of tomato passata

1 cup vegetable stock or hot water

1 cup hot water

2 x 400g / 14.1oz tins black beans, drained and rinsed

500g / 17.6oz Japanese pumpkin, cut into large cubes

120g / 4.2oz kale leaves, washed and roughly chopped

salt and pepper, to season

How to make

1. Place a large, deep frying pan—with a lid—over a medium heat.
2. Add the olive oil and onion, and fry for 4–5 minutes or until the onion has softened and started to colour.
3. Add the garlic and spices, and fry for another 2 minutes until fragrant.
4. Add the passata, stock and water, and bring to a simmer.
5. Once simmering, add in the black beans and pumpkin, and simmer for 15–20 minutes with the lid on, or until the pumpkin is tender.
6. Turn off the heat and stir through the kale leaves, until they wilt. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
7. Ladle into big bowls and top with grated cheese, a dollop of yoghurt, slices of avocado, a few tortilla chips, hot sauce (for the adults) and coriander.

For the tortilla chips:

If you like smoky corn chips, sprinkle a teaspoon of smoked paprika over the chips once they are out of the oven. If you like a cheesy corn chip, try sprinkling over a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. If heat is your thing, try sprinkling over a little cayenne powder.

Ingredients

6 corn tortillas, each tortilla cut into six triangles

2–3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt flakes

2 tsp ground sweet paprika

How to make

1. Preheat your oven to 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7.
2. Drizzle a baking tray with half the olive oil, and arrange the tortilla triangles in a single layer over the tray. With some strategic placement, they should just fit.
3. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the salt flakes.
4. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes, or until the chips are crisp.
5. Remove the chips from the oven and sprinkle over the paprika.
6. Any leftover chips will keep in an airtight container lined with paper towel for two days.

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Recipe from our lunch and dinner series in Lunch Lady issue 11. Buy any copy of Lunch Lady for stacks more recipe, snack and lunch ideas.