I have started a new meal cycle program - which I will talk about in a later post (I mean, how long do these cycles last before I get distracted.....) . But, one of the meals this cycles includes ground beef with rice - a very easy combination which my children devour, even the one who claims to not to like rice 😕. It is also a gluten and dairy free combination - which always wins in my book!
Ground meat and rice can be seasoned/added to multiple ways to make the combination reflect most food cultures. In the past, I have traditionally done this recipe:
Spicy Turkey Stir-Fry With Crisp Garlic and Ginger Recipe - NYT Cooking (nytimes.com) - It has an Asian tinge that includes Fish/Soy/Basil flavors. Very easy to come together and gobbled up little complaint by the goblins (especially if basil happens to not touch their dish). This specific recipe is actually a riff on a recipe Melissa Clarke wrote in one of her cookbooks, that I have photocopied and have stained in a folder - and I usually do that one.
I also recently tried this Americanized beef/rice combo ala Julia Turshen/Vivian Howard: Turshen's Sizzle Burgers and Howard's Tomato Rice. Turshen writes about Sizzle Burgers in her cookbook Simply Julia, which involves simply sautéing ground beef (or turkey) patties, and serving them with caramelized onions over rice. In Deep Run Roots, Howard remembers her Mother serving ground beef patties once a week over Tomato Rice, a dish she claims she, "can rhapsodize over its simplicity, and make everyone a cook." I combined the two dishes, and the kids ate it, even the tomatoes. It was easy. Check Check!
Last night, I made Spanish Beef and Rice Bowls With Avocado Recipe | Real Simple . I left out the olives. My oldest said it was "delicious." My husband said it didn't make enough. The 5 year old actually ate the rice, and my plate was clean in five minutes. Another weeknight win!
If you always have ground beef in your freezer, and rice in your pantry, you always have this weeknight win of a dish ready to go!
