Mexican beans and fruit recipe

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: about 35 minutes

 

1/2 medium-sized to large pineapple

2 green apples

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 ripe tomatoes, preferably roma tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon hot chilli powder or Tabasco sauce, or more to taste

2 cans borlotti beans, about 400 g each, drained

salt

fresh coriander to serve

 

1 First, prepare the fruit. Peel the pineapple and cut out the core. Cut a few fine sticks of pineapple for the garnish and chop the rest into bite-sized chunks. Core the apples; cut half of one apple into thin wedges for the garnish and cut the remainder into dice. Put the fruit for the garnish in a bowl, sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

 

2 Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onions with the garlic over a moderately high heat until they are lightly browned and softened. Add the diced apples and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the dice are brown in places. Add the chunks of pineapple and cook for a further 2–3 minutes, stirring. Add the tomatoes and chilli powder or Tabasco sauce and continue to cook for 10–15 minutes, or until the mixture is sauce-like in consistency.

 

3 Add the beans to the mixture in the pan and stir. Continue to cook over a low heat for 5–10 minutes to mix and mingle the flavours.

 

4 Season to taste with salt. Garnish the beans and fruit with the reserved pineapple sticks and apple wedges and leaves of fresh coriander, and serve hot. For a Mexican-style presentation, accompany with flour tortillas plus a raw vegetable salad.

 

 

Each serving provides 1214 kJ, 290 kcal, 13 g protein, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 47 g carbohydrate (22 g sugars), 12 g fibre

 

 

Tomatoes are well known as a good source of the anti-oxidants beta-carotene and vitamin C. But new research shows that the lycopene contained in tomatoes is even more important in the prevention of cancer, and is enhanced by cooking.