Kiwi's Southwestern Dish

I posted the picture on facebood of a dish I was cooking a few weeks ago and got a surprising lot of requests for the receipe!  Well, as promised, here it is.

Before I type it out, I have to tell you that I really don't follow rules in cooking, so this dish actually can be used in multiple dishes.  If you prepare the base the way that suits you best, you can serve it with rice, pasta, on top of hotdogs, etc.  This actually can be cooked with meat or made as a vegetarian dish, without meat - which tastes really yummy too!

As I made it on facebook, it was in this form of receipe:

1 1lb minced beef (ground beef as some of my friends call it) OPTIONAL
1 Tbsp Grapeseed oil (my choice, but you can use what you like)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic chopped, or 2 garlic cubes presized and in the freezer, or one tsp crushed garlic in a jar in the fridge
2 tablespoons chilie powder (less if this seems to 'flavourful' for your tastebuds)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 (28 oz) canned diced tomatoes with their juice
1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas
1 package of frozen veges (I used corn in the receipe in the facebook picture) - best to thaw if you have the time - no worries if you don't
Salt to taste
A little immagination

Options:
- Cook pasta (12 oz package) - which you can add in the dish as serve as a Southwestern Pasta dish
- Cook rice so you can place the dish directly on the side of the rice or on top (my family loves this option best)
- or over hot dogs like a chillie dog, but with a flavourful twist

Cooking Instructions:
First, use your immagination.  This is a very versitile receipe and I'm sure you have some great ideas to make it your own!

If using meat, brown and keep to the side until ready to add to the dish.
Heat oil in a large skillet .
Saute onion until slightly translucent on medium/high.
Add the green pepper, garlic, chili powder, and cumin.  Stir until mixed nicely.  Don't let burn.
If you are using meat, now is the time to add back to the dish and stir well.
Add salt to taste - I use about a tbsp
Add tomatoes, chickpeas and thawed package of frozen veges.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 - 20 minutes.

Just don't forget to make either the rice or pasta while the dish is simmering!!!

I usually double the ingredients and freeze - then I have a couple of extra meals handy on the side for when I need to whip up something fast!

It takes about 10 mins to prepare, 20 minutes to cook so 30 mins isn't too bad for a yummy meal!

Enjoy and let me know what other ideas you come up with!

P.S.  Spellcheck seems to have disappeared from the blog site ... pardon my errors!