Recipes

I have had a couple of requests for a recipe, so I am posting it here. This is my fabulous Taco Skillet. The first recipe is for the Pampered Chef Rice Cooker and the second one is the regular skillet version. Both of these recipes are original and not published elsewhere.

Taco Skillet-© Sarah Hopf

1 lb ground beef or cut up chicken-Can substitute a can of Black Beans
1 medium onion chopped
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 or 2 Bell peppers, chopped, any color.
1 16 ounce can tomatoes
1 small can of diced chilies
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 c uncooked brown rice
1 c shredded Mexican blend or Montere Jack cheese
2 c shredded lettuce


Drain tomatoes reserving juice. Add water to juice to make 2 cup of liquid. Add tomatoes, liquid, chilies, taco seasoning, garlic, peppers, and rice to rice cooker; stir. Put lid on and microwave on high for 30-45 minutes, depending on your microwave. Brown beef or chicken with onion in skillet, drain off fat. Add mixture from the rice cooker and stir. Top with shredded lettuce and cheese before serving. I serve blue corn tortilla chips on the side.
*Black beans can be used as the protein, just add to rice mixture before microwaving
*Great for leftover chicken or beef.
*White rice can be used, just reduced cooking time by 5 minutes.

Here is the regular skillet version.
Taco Skillet--© Sarah Hopf

1 lb ground beef or cut up chicken-Can substitute a can of Black Beans
1 medium onion chopped
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 or 2 Bell peppers, chopped, any color.
1 16 ounce can tomatoes
1 small can of diced chilies
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 c uncooked brown rice
1 c shredded Mexican blend or Monterey Jack cheese
2 c shredded lettuce

Brown beef or chicken with onion in skillet, drain off fat. Drain tomatoes reserving juice. Add water to juice to make 2 cup of liquid. Add tomatoes, liquid, chilies, taco seasoning, garlic, peppers, and rice to skillet; stir. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed, roughly 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Top with shredded lettuce and cheese before serving.

Adventures in Ground Beef

I don't like to use ground beef, other than in hamburgers. Why you ask? My Mom used used to make a macaroni dish with ground beef that never did appeal to me and really turned me off to ground beef. Also it tends to be costly here in St. Louis, so I don't purchase it often. I had a pound and some Yukon Gold potatoes and stuck those two terms into Google and this is what came up. Peruvian Beef and Potato Soup. Seems kind of odd and deceptively easy, so I had to make it. I used onion powder instead of onion because I do not allow onions in my house,(I DON'T LIKE ONIONS!), I added three cut up carrots, and a handful of spinach. Can I say this is one of the best soups I have ever had. It really is quick and easy. With prep time, I think I spent 45 minutes total on this dish. It says it serves, but I think it ended up making 5 or 6 servings. The recipe is as follows.


Peruvian Beef and Potato Soup-click on the link for a beautiful picture of the dish


Courtesy of Whole Foods

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped -I used frozen "stoplight" peppers(mixture of green, red, and yellow)
2-4 Chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups beef broth, preferably low-sodium*
1 cup water
2 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin*
1 bay leaf
1/4 pound dried capellini pasta*-I used regular Whole Wheat spaghetti
2 Handfuls of fresh spinich, roughly a cup
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Cook beef in a large pot over medium heat until browned and cooked through. Remove from pot, set it aside and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. Add onion, bell pepper,carrots and garlic and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add broth, water, potatoes, cumin and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add pasta and spinach and simmer until al dente, about 5 minutes. Return browned meat and cook until warmed through, about 1 minute. Discard bay leaf, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and serve.



I recommend serving this with a nice crusty bread, such as French.