Guisados – Green Beans with Chorizo

In Mexico, guisados are, in general terms, any kind of stew or savoury preparation. They are versatile because one guisado may act as a main dish, served with a side of rice or refried beans, as a side dish next to a steak or other protein, or if several guisados are arranged as a display – with tortillas on the side – they become a “tacos de guisado” table, sort of a taco bar where people can choose different flavours of guisado as filling for each of their tacos. Guisados may include meat (for example, my Tinga Poblana, a beef and Chorizo Stew with Chipotle), vegetables (such as my Three Sisters Stew, with zucchini, corn and green beans), or have both, and is the case of Green Beans with Chorizo.

Green Beans with Chorizo – Ejotes con chorizo

Printable recipe: Green Beans with Chorizo

Ingredients (for two main courses)

2 cups green beans; washed, trimmed, sliced into 2-inch cylinders, and blanched in boiling water
1/3 lb (150g) Mexican chorizo (click here for my recipe, or commercial)
½ cup onions; peeled and finely chopped
1 large tomato; washed, stem end removed, and chopped
2-3 sprigs cilantro; washed and chopped
Salt, to taste

Remove chorizo from casing, and fry in a pan over medium heat, breaking up into small chunks; remove excess fat from the pan (photo below, left). Add chopped onions, stirring and cooking with the chorizo until translucent, then add green beans (photo below, right):

Incorporate all together, then stir in chopped tomatoes and cilantro (photo below, left); reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for five minutes. Uncover, careful not to get burned from the vapour; season with salt to taste, and allow to cook for another five minutes (photo below, right):

This guisado is great as a main dish, served with Mexican Style Rice and tortillas; each person may eat it from their plate, or make tacos:

These tacos were promptly gobbled up so they would not become soggy, but as described in my previous post, to avoid this and load tacos with doughty confidence, they may be “armored” with a double tortilla base, and a bed of rice, for a nice taco acorazado: