Week 2 Day 5: Chorizo chilli with guacamole

Day 5... picture coming soon

This is a huge cheat of a recipe I'm afraid, I'm sure purists among us would gawp at the sight of ready made chilli beans. However, it was cheaper to buy the tin of chilli beans than it would have been to buy chopped tomatoes, tinned kidney beans and all the various herbs and spices. That being said, you could bulk buy the tomatoes and spices and buy dried kidney beans to soak until ready (often overnight)... in the long term, this way would be cheaper if you had plans to use up the leftovers. For me however, my budget is £20 per week with no presumptions of any items already being in the store cupboards, so this was the cheapest way of doing it without any pre-purchased store spices/tins. I know a lot of people do have cupboards full of tins and spices but I don't like to assume anything other than perhaps a bit of olive oil and salt (and I did budget those into my week 1 costs)... I've read a few "a week of meals for under £-" in which they assume things like capers and tartar sauce are kicking about in the cupboards - this never seemed bizarre when I was living at home, however as soon as I moved into the staff house kitchen with my two empty shelves, it became a tad laughable (no kitchen fairies here I can tell you!)

So yes, this is a pretty simple recipe, but the smokiness of the chorizo takes the humble chilli bean to a much more gastronomically acceptable level... and anyway, I'm certainly not complaining it was quick and easy, it gave me enough time to go surfing before work (if only my hair dried as quickly... the no damp hair policy is a hard one to enforce at a beach café on one of the UK's best surf beaches!)

Ingredients:

1 tin of chilli beans
Olive oil
1 red onion, sliced finely
A large thumb sized piece of raw chorizo, sliced into rounds of about half a cm in thickness
1 Avocado
Juice of a 1/4 of a lemon
A small handful of fresh coriander
Natural yoghurt (optional)

Method:

• Fry onions and chorizo in an oiled frying pan on a medium - high heat
• Once the onions are softened and the chorizo is cooked through and slightly crispy on the outside, add the tin of chilli beans and simmer
• Meanwhile, smash the avocado and combine with the lemon juice and a few sprigs of finely chopped coriander
• Serve the chilli topped with the guacamole, a few extra coriander sprigs and a dollop of natural yoghurt.