Some of the best dishes come about when you are forced to be creative. This usually happens when you’re staring at your open fridge looking at all the odds and ends you have and wondering what you can do with them. I had 250g of ostrich mince in the freezer, some winter vegetables (gem squash, sweet potato), yoghurt and one avocado. I did end up buying a tin of red kidney beans in order to stretch the mince but I still consider this a budget buster meal.

Scroll all the way to the bottom to see how I would turn this recipe into 5 different dishes and don’t forget to tell me what you think in the comments!

Loaded Baked Potato

Ingredients:

• 250g ostrich mince
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies
• 1 big clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 tin chopped tomato
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tin red kidney beans
• salt
• coriander
• 1 large Sweet Potato
• For assembly: cheese, yoghurt, chili flakes, avocado, tomato onion salsa (1 small tomato, 1/4 onion, 1 green chili, coriander)

Method:

1. Heat a little bit of oil in a pot or pan. Sauté the onion then add the garlic and green chilli. Then add the mince and brown  the meat until you can see it start to caramelize.
2. Add all the spiced then add the chopped tomato and a little glug of water.
3. Simmer on medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Correct seasoning then take off the heat to cool.
4. Add freshly chopped coriander.
5. To bake the sweet potato, cut it in half lengthways. Put it on a piece of foil and drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper on it and fold all ends of the foil together so no air can escape. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, switch off the oven and leave to cool inside.
6. To assemble, take one half of the sweet potato and spoon some mince mixture over it. Grate cheese on top and grill in the oven. Put a dollop of yoghurt over the top (I mixed a tsp of chilli flakes in mine), smashed avocado and tomato and onion salsa. Lastly garnish with chopped spring onion.

How to turn this recipe into 5 dishes:

1. Loaded Baked Potato – to take this recipe up a notch crush some tortilla chips over the top.
2. Mexican Bowl Salad – Layer shredded lettuce, mince mixture, grilled corn, red pepper, guacamole, spring onion and salsa in a bowl. Drizzle yoghurt mixed with chili powder or cayenne pepper over it as a dressing.
3. Chilli Con Carne – Add 1 whole tin of chopped tomato, 2 TB tomato paste and 2 more fresh green chillies if you like it hot. Simmer this on low heat and serve with brown rice, guacamole and salsa.
4. Nachos – In an ovenproof dish layer tortilla chips with mince mixture and cheese. Bake in the oven for 5 – 8 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa.
5. Tacos – layer shredded lettuce, mince mixture into pre-bought taco shells (or make your own) then top with chili yoghurt, guacamole and salsa.

Enjoy!

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