My Go-To: Taco Meat and Rice
Hello!
So I realize this is my second post on something taco related (see taco pizza) and I haven't really posted anything else about food. Just let that be a testament that I love tacos. In any form, from almost anywhere. Really, I just love taco meat, chicken or beef, with whatever I can find to wrap it in.
Last night for dinner, I wanted to make one of my favorite go-to's. The reason this is my favorite is that there are so many different ways to eat it. Nachos, hard tacos, soft tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or really any other way to eat tacos you can think of. It is also super simple and relatively quick (I think it took me a total of about 40 minutes last night). This recipe is also pretty spicy, in my opinion, though I know that some people can tolerate more spice than others and I typically do not eat a lot of spicy food.
So here goes: Taco Meat and Mexican Rice
First, I started with the Mexican Rice, because it needs to simmer for about 30 minutes to cook the rice and I can prepare the meat in the time the rice is cooking. I used the Pioneer Woman's Mexican Rice recipe although I do make a few changes to it. I used vegetable oil to start off with (I just didn't have canola oil in the pantry). I also usually use a jar of minced garlic instead of using fresh garlic cloves. Instead of whole tomatoes, I use diced tomatoes and include the juice just because the whole tomatoes are harder to boil down and eat. The diced tomatoes are nice and bite-sized already. I also usually leave out the fresh cilantro, just because I am broke and that is an extra cost for not a lot of flavor and just to really look pretty.
So I realize this is my second post on something taco related (see taco pizza) and I haven't really posted anything else about food. Just let that be a testament that I love tacos. In any form, from almost anywhere. Really, I just love taco meat, chicken or beef, with whatever I can find to wrap it in.
Last night for dinner, I wanted to make one of my favorite go-to's. The reason this is my favorite is that there are so many different ways to eat it. Nachos, hard tacos, soft tacos, burritos, quesadillas, or really any other way to eat tacos you can think of. It is also super simple and relatively quick (I think it took me a total of about 40 minutes last night). This recipe is also pretty spicy, in my opinion, though I know that some people can tolerate more spice than others and I typically do not eat a lot of spicy food.
So here goes: Taco Meat and Mexican Rice
First, I started with the Mexican Rice, because it needs to simmer for about 30 minutes to cook the rice and I can prepare the meat in the time the rice is cooking. I used the Pioneer Woman's Mexican Rice recipe although I do make a few changes to it. I used vegetable oil to start off with (I just didn't have canola oil in the pantry). I also usually use a jar of minced garlic instead of using fresh garlic cloves. Instead of whole tomatoes, I use diced tomatoes and include the juice just because the whole tomatoes are harder to boil down and eat. The diced tomatoes are nice and bite-sized already. I also usually leave out the fresh cilantro, just because I am broke and that is an extra cost for not a lot of flavor and just to really look pretty.
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| Mexican Rice during the cooking process. Looks yummy! |
Once this is simmering, I get started on the ground meat. I used some home preserved deer meat from the last hunting season. I ended up being a little over 1 lb of meat. I just cooked it like you would ground beef. *Side note: one of the pluses of using deer meat is that it is extremely lean, so you do not have a lot of grease in the bottom of the pan. However, you need to be careful that you add some oil if the meat is too lean, so it doesn't burn. One way to help is to mix the ground deer with some of the higher fat ground beef before freezing.*
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| Notice how there is very little grease from the meat in the bottom of the pan. I did not add any oil, though this batch may have needed some since there was going to be water added for the seasoning I chose to go with no oil (healthier!) |
After the meat has cooked thoroughly, I make one recipe of Pioneer Woman's Taco Seasoning. Making homemade taco seasoning is so much cheaper and borderline easier than buying the packaged stuff. One really great thing about it is that it doesn't turn your taco meat a weird orange color. It pretty well stays the same color as just meat, if not just slightly darker. I used about 2/3 cup water to incorporate the seasoning in with the taco meat, which I believe is what most seasonings recommend. I also let a lot of the water boil off so that I did not have runny tacos. Here is a copy of her recipe:
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| Taco Seasoning all mixed up! |
So once everything is made, it is time to assemble! I made hard shell taco last night with a layer of rice, then a layer of meat, then a hearty helping of cheese. I usually dip in sour cream and salsa but my sour cream expired (so sad) so I used ranch instead (my other go-to condiment) and it tasted great. Spicy, but so worth it. I am having nachos for lunch today and maybe for dinner. Or maybe soft tacos. Or maybe quesadillas. I don't know but I know I can have any one of them and that makes me so happy.
I hope you enjoy and Happy Taco Tuesday!!
Much Love,
Taylor
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