Working your ass off dinner - "Mexican" style

Remember my last post about #workingyourassoff-dinner? My super-easy super-fast Thai-reipe? If not, you can check it out HERE.

Well, life here is quite busy, as always these days (yesterday started at quarter past four in the morning, since I was going to Stavanger to give two talks, and then back to Oslo to go to a celebration of the international women's day - I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow when i finally got to bed last night), so there is no less need for quick and tasty recipes - but the same Thai all the time is a little bit boring... So a couple of days ago I made another #workingyourassoff-dinner, but this time more Mexican inspired.

Before I share the recipe with you, let me just refresh the rules for a real #workingyourassoff-recipe:

The recipe for working your ass off simple chili con carne:

You need:

• green beens (frozen ones - I love these, and use them in all my #wokringyourassoff-dishes)
• leek (prechopped, from the freezer)
• mushroom - I use champingnon (prechopped, from the freezer)
• meat - this time I happened to have fresh, minced meat, but it's of course possible to use frozen
• Tabasco sauce - the one with chipotle is just perfection <3 (I also have a lot of different chili sauces, like normal Tabasco, habanero Tabasco, plus some others; and I use a little bit of everything to get the perfect taste, but I can really recommend the chipotle!)
• extra virgin olive oil
• chopped, canned tomatoes
• cinnamon
• butter
• salt and pepper
• (if you happen to have some old wine, it's perfect to put it in the pot)

You can also add peppers (all colours), tomatoes that are not canned, eggplant, squash (the peppers and the eggplants taste awesome if you chop them, put them in a ovenproof dish, pour some olive oil on top, and grill them in the oven - then put them in the pot. This of course takes more time, so then it's not longer a real #workingyourassoff dinner anymore ;)). I'm personally not that fond of canned beans, but if you like it, it's of course perfect to add. They're cheap, and since they're canned, you can store them forever before you find out that you want to make a chili con carne.

these ziploc bags from IKEA are perfect <3

the perfect Tabasco for a Mexican inspired pot of chili <3<3<3

a glass of wine is always a good idea (maybe unless you're driving, or you're pregnant, or you're 16 ;) )

 Do:

Put some flavourless oil, like rapeseed oil, in a pot. When it's real hot, add the meat and a table spoon of butter (mmm, butter <3). Stir.

When the meat is fried, add the leeks and the mushrooms. Make sure it doesn't get burned by stirring ;)

Then add the canned tomatoes. This time I used two cans, since I wanted everything to be more "soupy" and less dry. Add a little cinnamon - maybe just half a teaspoon. Add the Tabasco, and/or other chili sauces. I like it spicy, so I use quite a lot - the secret is just to taste, add more, taste, add more, or not, until it's perfect for your taste :) Let everything boil for a while.

Add extra virgin olive oil (I use a lot - olive oil <3) and green beans. It's all ready when the green beens are warm. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Serve it with rice or bread, or just eat it as it it - which is what I do; with salt, pepper, and some sour cream on top.

This is of course not my "very best perfect fantastic gourmet"-recipe for Mexican food, but the very easiest and fastest way (I can think of) to do it. 

It's quick, it's simple, and it's quite tasty - what you need when you're busy working your ass off <3 

I'm not sure why he looked like this - but, hey, he's a guy - you can't understand why they do everything they do :P (He was actually very happy about the food <3 )