Each Sunday our church shares lunch. Many of our members aren't super close to our church building and travel pretty far to worship together. The church used to have the lunch/afternoon service occasionally and we liked it! Now, it's a regular and loved part of our day.
Each family brings a dish to share and there is always enough food.
Sometimes, there are 4 crock pots of frozen meatballs in sauce. We all have those weeks where there is simply no time to think!
This week I knew I had some ground beef in the freezer and I thought... I'll make a meat sauce and make a baked ziti. I looked in the cabinet and no ziti. Well!
The meat was already defrosting. Bummer. So, what to do with ground beef? Tacos of course! But how do you take tacos?
Instead of doing some type of dip, I opted for a layered approach with rice. It turned out great! I made it again a couple days later for us to eat at home. I hope you enjoy it!
Saute half an onion, a clove of diced garlic, and a small diced bell pepper. I happened to have a yellow one in the garden so that's what I used. It tasted great!
Add to the mixture plenty of salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne powder. Next, add about 3/4 cup of medium salsa. I used salsa I had made and had in the freezer. It's a pretty smooth style of salsa, no big chunks. If you like chunks, use chunky salsa or add diced tomatoes. Shred half a block of cheddar cheese while that simmers and get 2 cups of water boiling with half a packet of sazon seasoning then add a cup of white rice.
Once the elements are cooked, layer in a square dish.
You can refrigerate this at this point and take it to someone for a meal or take it with you at for a potluck! It just needs to be reheated through and melt the cheese. Trust me, so delicious!
Recipe:
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 clove garlic
1/ 2 onion
1 small bell pepper
3/4 cup medium salsa
1/2 tbs cayenne pepper
1/2 tbs cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 packet Goya sazon seasoning
1 cup white rice
about 4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
1. Finely dice the garlic, onion, and bell pepper, and place in frying pan with the pound of ground beef. Brown and chop up the meat and thoroughly mix the garlic, onion, and pepper into it. Season with cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper, then add the salsa.
*If you have a lot of extra fat, drain off most of it before adding salsa. If you are brining this dish somewhere, don't make it too dry. that extra moisture helps the rice keep from drying out.
2. In a medium sauce pan, measure 2 cups of water, half a packet of the sazon seasoning, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 cup white rice. Simmer covered until soft, about 25-35 minutes. Taste the rice, if needed add seasoning. I like mine with a little extra garlic powder.
3. Shred the cheddar cheese.
4. Layer the rice on the bottom of a square baking dish, then the meat mixture and top with cheese. Bake in oven at 350 until cheese is melted and dish is heated through.
