Review: Beef-Taco Rice With Refried Beans June '01

[luv2cook]

If you're in a hurry, this is a yummy dish for you. NOW, I made some substitutions but this is such an easy dish, that you can sub anything you want and it will taste good!

It was a pleasing flavor - humble southwest/mexican tasting dish. Here were my subs:

Turkey for ground beef
Basmati rice for instant <gasp>
1 8 oz can of garlic tom. sauce because I didn't have two of the regular. Also, i used reg. sauce with salt. Didn't seem overly salty to me.

This dish you can do anything with. Leftover zucchini? Throw it in. I threw in peppers, onions, garlic, zuccini and a mexican cheese.

I like dishes like these. They help you clean out the refrigerator or get your veggies. I also think green beens as a side would be good.

Top with sour cream & cilantro for optimum enjoyment. Thanks, fellow Texan!

OH, PS. This would be a good kid dish. You can kick it up or knock it down... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by luv2cook (edited 06-18-2001).]

[Lynn B]

Thanks, luv2cook! This is on my "to make" list, and it just gotted bumped up closer to the top!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Lynn

[eks]

luv2cook-you just made my day..I have this thawing in the fridge for tomorrow's night dinner. I made it over the weekend and have been anxious to try it. I have a feeling I will lots of leftovers -even though I halved the recipe it seems to be a very substantial casserole!

[shoyski]

eks, I halved the recipe and was able to get five good size servings out it when I served it with a salad. And I'll vouch for the fact that you can tone it down spice wise. I only used half of what the recipe called for with the taco seasoning because my husband cannot tolerate any (ANY) heat. I think it would be even better with all of the seasoning but I'll make it again.

eks, please advise how yours turned out since you froze it first. I worried the rice would get mushy.

[BosunsWife]

If you have the time, please post the recipe. It will be several weeks before I get my July issue and this sounds like a good in a hurry dinner. i'm assuming that its in the July issue, since I can't find it in my June one?

[SoCal]

Here you go BosunsWife (from Reader Recipes):

Beef-Taco Rice With Refried Beans
"My wife and I like this dish even more a day or two after it's made. Dress up the top with grated cheese after it's been reheated."
-Ken Sissney, Aubrey, TX

4 cups water
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (1.25-oz) package taco seasoning, divided
4 cups uncooked instant rice
2 (8-oz) cans no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 pound ground round
Cooking spray
1 (16-oz) can fat-free refried beans
1 (8-oz) package preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend or cheddar cheese.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan; add half of the taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in rice; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce.

3. Cook meat in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; return meat to pan. Stir in remaining taco seasoning.

4. Spread half of the rice mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread beans evenly over rice mixture; top with beef mixture and half of cheese. Spread remaining rice mixture over cheese; top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Yield: 10 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups).

CALORIES 371 (18% from fat); FAT 7.5g (sat 3.6g, mono 2.5g, poly o.4g); PROTEIN 23.7g; CARB 51.2g; FIBER 3.8g; CHOL 42mg; IRON 4.4mg; SODIUM 696mg; CALC 221mg



[This message has been edited by SoCal (edited 06-19-2001).]

[BosunsWife]

Thanks much!

[valchemist]

Thanks from me too, luv2cook.

How did you work the basmati rice substitution? I don't want to use instant rice. I have basmati, but I am not sure how you would cook it within the context of this recipe.

Val

[eks]

shoyski-Freezing the beef-taco rice turned out to be a flop! After allowing it to thaw in my fridge for 24 hours, it was still frozen solid when I got home from work last night. I put it in the oven for 45 minutes and it was still cold in the middle. I microwaved it, but I think freezing it may have affected the flavor. It was very bland. I didn't notice the rice being mushy though. I think this may not be the best freezer meal.

[luv2cook]

val, I cooked the rice (rice cooker) at the same time I cooked the turkey and just threw the tomato sauce into the rice pan after it was done cooking.

eks, as far as blandness, this dish had flavor but it wasn't spicy. YOu *can* however do many things to this dish http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[SusieO]

This sounds fabulous. I'm putting it on next week's menu, without the meat. Thanks for the review!

[BosunsWife]

Am I the only one that wasn't real impressed by this dish. If I were to make it again, I definitely would use long grain rice and make adjustments as necessary. Now I know why I've never bought instant rice - yuk! It was okay and if I didn't have anything else to make for dinner, I might make it again. I would definitely make a half a recipe because there were way too many leftovers for just the two and a half of us (DD is only considered a half since she eats very little).

[luv2cook]

this dish can be dressed. that's the beauty of it. Yeah, it's not a knock-your-socks-off serve to company dinner, but with some adjustments, it's a decent meal. I hate instant rice. That's why I used basmati.

[aggie94]

I finally got around to making this dish last weekend. (I had boycotted the July issue as not having any recipes that looked good, but now I'll eat my words). I thought it was fabulous! Not something I'd serve to company, but a nice, easy weeknight meal with leftovers. (And boy, were there leftovers. This made a TON! I'd definitely halve or third the recipe next time).

I also made some subs. I despise instant rice, so I used a blend of medium-grain white rice and a package of yellow rice mix that I had on hand (for the 4 cups of water, I ended up using about 3 cups of uncooked rice). I also used jalapeno refried beans for an extra kick. It was really easy and yummy - comfort food, if you will.

[greysangel]

I got around to making this last night and for an easy weekday comfort kind of meal, this one hit the bill!

I did do a little tweaking :)

Instead of instant, I used basmati rice and added a can of drained mexican stewed tomatoes in addition to the tomato sauce for texture. I also sauteed onion, garlic and a little fresh cilantro with margarine before adding rice for flavor.

Instead of taco seasoning, I improvised my own to cut back on salt. I sauteed garlic, onion, fresh cilantro, ground cumin and mexican oregano before adding beef and veggies. I also added some fresh squeezed lime juice and "Joe's Stuff" (cajun spices) when I added the veggies.

For the refried beans, I used refried black beans and this was yummmy :D

For veggies, although I halved the recipe I kept veggie amounts the same if not adding more. I used green and red bell pepper along with mushrooms. For the cheese, I used Monterey over the cheddar.

A definite repeater!

JeAnne

[valchemist]

I'm reviving this old thread to add a thumbs up.

I followed the recipe closely despite the suggestions to spice it up. Even as written, this recipe is good basic comfort food.

DH was particularly pleased, since he has just been "so-so" on the past few recipes I have made. (whenever I feel like I have been "subjecting" him to experiments in the kitchen, I like to make up for it by digging up a basic "home-y" comfort-food recipe like this one.)

if I made it again, I would add some cajun seasoning to the rice mixture and the meat mixture to kick it up a bit. but other than that, I would leave the recipe alone. (I admit to using the instant rice, and that was fine. for this dish, there are so many other textures, that the instant rice texture didn't bother us.)