Cheap Healthy Food - Chilli Mince Is Tops!

11 June 2009

I'm not a spicy food fan. No Sir-ee! I mean I've done the month-long holiday in India and survived, cautiously, by navigating my way around super-hot, spicy curries at every meal time (strangely, this included breakfast too). I must admit to an overly liberal use of raita to assist in this endeavour (raita is a yoghurt and cucumber dish that cools the palate, very similar to Greek Tzatziki).

So it was with some trepidation that I pondered my dear (American) friend Jill's invitation on Saturday to join her and her American friends, living in New Zealand, for a bowl of 'chilli'. "A bowl?" I thought, "Don't Americans put their food on a plate like the rest of the world?" Hmm, apparently not when it's chilli. And yes, I do talk to myself a lot...

Is It Called Chili, Chilli or Chili Con Carne?

Anyway, what's with the name 'chilli'? Here in little old N.Z. (note for our American friends, that's pronounced en-zed, not en-zee) the use of the word 'chilli' tends to suggest you're talking about the actual chilli pepper. That might explain my cautious enthusiasm about joining Jill for what could potentially be a bowl of chilli peppers...

From what I gather, the name chili or chilli can refer either to the actual pepper itself, or to a dish containing beef mince (US translation: ground beef), kidney beans, tomatoes and yes, chilli. Chilli con carne seems to be almost identical (is it identical?) except it often includes 'cumin'. Who knows, either way it all tastes good. The question that remains of course is - is it healthy?

Chilli - A Cheap Healthy Food?

The base ingredients of chilli - beef, tomatoes, kidney beans and chilli - are terrifically nutritious. For starters, adding more legumes (kidney beans being one sort) into our diet is a great idea - legumes are high in fibre and low in fat, and if we use them in place of animal meats this can both decrease our saturated fat intake and increase our fibre intake, which is all good.

Most westerners are vastly short on dietary fibre - so always keep an eye out for ways to up your fibre intake. Plus legumes, like minced beef, are a cost effective option, an important point in these tough economic times (but I won't drone on about that).

Tomatoes are Lycopene Packed!

Tomatoes are a great addition to a meal too. Now I'm not one to rave about particular foods, I don't go for this whole 'superfood' fad that's going on at the moment. But, tomatoes are a delicious, nutrient packed food, and of course they contain terrific lycopene.

Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that quenches free radicals in our body thereby stopping them from causing mayhem in our body cells. Lycopene is more available for absorption by our body when tomatoes are cooked, according to scientists. So tinned/canned tomatoes are a great option (as they go through a heating process during tinning that improves lycopene bioavailability).

Good Quality Minced Beef Is Crucial

It's always a good idea to select a low-fat grade of minced or ground beef. It should be as red as possible, if it's light pink that suggests a high fat content. Depending on what country you live in, your mince may be labelled with fat content. If so, you can easily select the better quality, lower fat, beef mince. The last thing we want to do is turn our healthy chilli dish into a saturated fat-loaded-meal.

Healthy Chilli Recipe Revealed

I was so inspired by Jill's delicious chilli dishes on Saturday that I promptly set about digging out a chilli recipe I found while visiting the West Indies in 2007. Another culture where chilli is big! Now Jill's recipes came from her Mum (US translation: Mom) and what Jill did reveal to me was that she added cinnamon into the sweeter chilli dish.

So anyway, I took the West Indian recipe and added American Jill's cinnamon suggestion and with a little fiddling the resulting cheap healthy food became our dinner on Monday and Tuesday nights, yum...

My Healthy Chilli Recipe

Saute the onions in the oil, then add crushed garlic and beef mince and stir until browned. Drain off any fat and then throw in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1 hour (more or less) stirring often. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Cheap Healthy Food - The Humble Bowl of Chilli Beef

I have learnt much about chilli this week, it is a cheap healthy food. And I love it! And I've learnt a thing or two about my American friends too... I had no idea you loved chilli so much. Here in N.Z. (remember it's en-zed) we have a love affair with the roast dinner, particularly roast lamb, but that's a story for another day. And now is not the time for sheep jokes people... if you don't know what I'm talking about, then please be a friend of us NZers and don't try to find out!

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About The Author

Jennifer Bowden Nutritionist, MSc (Dist), BSc (Hons) - Human Nutrition

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