Avocado and earthy black beans are a classic combination. Add some Mexican herbs and the mixture comes to life. The interloper here is ground black cardamon which isn’t Mexican at all, but adds a savoury, smoky, spiciness and curiously perhaps, seems to add to the buttery taste of avocados. Its a combination I want to explore further. I par-cooked the halved peppers in the microwave to cut down on oven time. In fact, the whole dish could be microwaved and I’m not sure why I didn’t do that. Microwaving peppers retains their colour much better than oven cooking.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the stuffed peppers:
4 bell peppers (any colour)
80g cooked sweet potato (approximately one small sweet potato).
1 medium avocado
1 x 400g tin of black beans (well drained)
1 tbsp garlic powder or granules
1 tsp ground black cardamon
1 tsp dried epazote
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 medium red chilli, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 to 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs (use gluten free if preferred)
Salt to taste (I used 1 tsp)
For the avocado ‘crema’
1 medium avocado
5 tbsp Greek style yoghurt
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
N.B.this makes more ‘crema’ than you need but any left over is great as a salad dressing in place of mayonnaise or to accompany other dishes.
To serve:
Chopped coriander, parsley or mint leaves
Crumbled feta cheese
Method
For the stuffed peppers:
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the stuffed peppers:
4 bell peppers (any colour)
80g cooked sweet potato (approximately one small sweet potato).
1 medium avocado
1 x 400g tin of black beans (well drained)
1 tbsp garlic powder or granules
1 tsp ground black cardamon
1 tsp dried epazote
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 medium red chilli, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 to 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs (use gluten free if preferred)
Salt to taste (I used 1 tsp)
For the avocado ‘crema’
1 medium avocado
5 tbsp Greek style yoghurt
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
N.B.this makes more ‘crema’ than you need but any left over is great as a salad dressing in place of mayonnaise or to accompany other dishes.
To serve:
Chopped coriander, parsley or mint leaves
Crumbled feta cheese
Method
For the stuffed peppers:
- Halve the peppers from stalk to base, de-seed and place in a microwaveable dish with a little water in the bottom. Cover and cook on high for 5 to 8 minutes until almost tender. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the oven to 175C (if using the oven)
- Chop the cooked sweet potato into small chunks. Place in a mixing bowl.
- Halve and peel the avocado, cut into small chunks and add to the sweet potato.
- Add the drained black beans and, the herbs, spices and chopped chilli.
- Add the lime juice and mix everything together. Roughly mash the mixture with a fork to break down the beans slightly. You want to retain texture.
- Add the breadcrumbs. If the mixture seems too wet add more breadcrumbs. Add salt to taste. Pile the mixture into the pepper halves.
- Place pepper halves in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. (or in the microwave for 8 minutes)
- Halve, peel and roughly chop the avocado.
- Place avocado, yoghurt and lemon juice in a jug.
- Use a stick blender to blend to a smooth consistency.
- Add salt to taste
- Scatter fresh herb leaves and crumbled feta over the peppers and drizzle with a little of the ‘crema’.
- Place the remaining ‘crema' in a bowl to serve alongside.