Friday, April 06, 2007

Mexican Dirty Rice

I didn't know this would turn out to be such a tasty dish, else I would have taken pictures of it. It was a little invention I made yesterday that Antigone dubbed a "keeper":

1 cup dry brown rice, prepared as per package instructions
13 oz. ground beef (I divide a 5 lb package into 6 rather 5, that's why the funny oz)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 yellow squash, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves crushed with salt (I do this in my mortar and pestle)
cumin

Brown ground beef and onion, using a fork to make the ground beef into small pieces. When beef is completely cooked, I cleared a little well in the center to dump the vegetables and garlic. When the vegetables are soft but still a little crispy, add cooked rice and cumin to taste. Stir all ingredients together. It will look a little like Cajun Dirty Rice.

I served with chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, and extra cumin (and garlic salt for Antigone) on the table. A squeeze of lime might be nice, too.