Corn, Beans and Rice are ancient foundation stones of the Mexican and Central American diet. But there’s no rule that says they can’t be enjoyed in new ways. It’s faster, easier and more versatile to prep them all together, in one dish…
You can add onions, chilis and grated cheese to the aforementioned list of staples. And when you do, you’re more than half way to completing today’s featured recipe…
Newstalgia strikes again!
In a good way, I mean… The ‘update’ in today’s dish is in the process, rather than in the ingredients. And you’ll find other ways to apply the technique, once you’ve got the hang of using the one-pot approach to Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes other than Chili!
We’re making a one-pot classic Mexi-meal. And it could hardly be easier or more foolproof.
Scramble the ground beef and diced onions. Add a cup of dry long grain white rice and toast for 2 minutes. Then plop-in tomatoes, black beans, corn, green chilis, cumin and chili powder. Stir to combine, then pour in some chicken broth.
Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the rice is cooked (that is, no longer hard in the centre). By that time enough starch should have come out of the rice and beans to thicken the liquid that hasn’t been absorbed by the rice. You want to achieve a thick, creamy, spoonable, but not drippy consist-ency.
Add grated cheese a few minutes before serving so it melts all over the top.
A universal filling…
The result is a universal base, or filling, for your Tex and Mex creations. Just spoon this melange into taco shells, roll it into burritos, lavish it over nacho chips, or simply serve in bowls with tortillas or corn chips on the side. Your family and guests might just prefer it to classic Chili!
This dish provides a complete nutritional complex. But you might want to a quick tossed salad for balance. To honour the current dietary wisdom that calls for at least half your dinner plate to be occupied by fresh fruits and veggies.
Tips and hacks…
You can use brown rice if you want to, to make the dish even healthier. But note that it will take longer to cook, and may need extra water added to produce as creamy a ‘sauce’.
Recipe contributor Lindsay Funston calls for fire-roasted tomatoes – but any tomatoes will do nicely. Let your preference be your guide.
Lindsay wants you to use a blend of Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheeses. You can save some cash while sacrificing negligible flavour by using just one or the other. And it won’t hurt the dish one bit.
Of course, you can moderate the heat by cutting or adding green chilis and/or chili powder to suit your palate. I found the quantities of spicy stuff, as called for in the recipe, a little heavy for my taste. My rule – as regular readers will know – is that a spicy dish should never be so hot that you can’t taste the other ingredients.
While Lindsay calls for luxe ingredients such as Kosher salt and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, you can get by just fine with regular salt and olive oil. One diner in maybe 100,000 would notice the difference.
DO sprinkle some extra grated cheese and the cilantro over each individual serving to complete the visual effect.
Finally, DO use low-sodium broth/stock as specified. You get to control the salt by the usual method – tasting and adjusting as necessary just before adding the cheese to melt.
My take
Yes, this is another approach to the same goal I espoused a few days ago, in the post on a similar updated Tex-mex dish. It’s another case in point proving we can honour the traditional while serving our contemporary desires for convenience and simplicity…
~ Maggie J.