Spanish Shepherd’s Pie

Last week, I made one of my favorite dishes, my skillet Thai chicken. It’s possible that I forgot to make rice until shortly before the dish was done. I quickly subbed in couscous, but I also made rice for the leftovers I knew would be there. The wee ones surprised me yet again by eating almost all the chicken, leaving me with a plethora of uneaten rice.

The next night, I was stuck for what to do for dinner because I didn’t want all that rice to go to waste, but I was out of chicken. I still had a pound of ground beef in the freezer, however, and a brainstorm was born. This became a dish that wasn’t the prettiest on the plate that I’ve ever made, but it was oh so tasty, and everyone is asking when I’ll make it again.

I’m a little ashamed to admit it was thrown together to ensure we didn’t have leftovers that went to waste.

It truly was that good. My husband insisted that the dish be given a name, and he insists on that only when the dish I’ve made is one he wants me to make again – if only so he can be sure I know exactly which one he’s talking about. He dubbed is Spanish Shepherd’s Pie, as it has the idea of a shepherd’s pie, but there is most definitely a Spanish influence on it.

Personally, I loved it because it:

• used leftovers
• required only one pan
• cooked in under a half hour
• was eaten by everyone at the table with nary a complaint, including the wee ones
• It was made dairy free easily by simply subbing Little Miss’s dairy free cheese at the very end on her portion

While I made it with leftover rice only, if you have leftover ground beef from another meal, you could easily saute some onion and add the already cooked ground beef to have this come together as an even faster weeknight meal. Additionally, you could use a second can of diced tomatoes and add 3/4 c of uncooked rice when you add the tomatoes and cook the rice in with the rest of the dish, though you would want to be sure to cover it if you do that.

Spanish Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 small Spanish onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 red pepper
1/2 t chili powder
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 c cooked rice
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Brown your ground beef in a heavy skillet. While the beef is browning, dice and onion and add the onion. Mince your garlic and chop your red pepper, removing the seeds and ribs. When the beef is browned and the onion translucent, add the garlic. Stir and let cook for just a moment, then add the red pepper. You want to wait to add the red pepper so that it stays slightly crunchy.

After you’ve stirred that red pepper in, add the can of diced tomato with its juices, the chili powder, and the salt and pepper. Stir and let cook for 10-15 minutes at a light simmer. Add the cooked rice (using leftover rice or cook some up as you’re browning the ground beef), and stir.

Let the rice heat through, then serve immediately, topping with shredded cheddar cheese.

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Spanish Shepherd’s Pie

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

This twist on the idea of a Shepherd's Pie is a fun and delicious dinner. It's naturally gluten free and incredibly easy to make, too.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 small Spanish onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3/4 red pepper
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 2 c cooked rice
• 1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Brown your ground beef in a heavy skillet. While the beef is browning, dice and onion and add the onion. Mince your garlic and chop your red pepper, removing the seeds and ribs. When the beef is browned and the onion translucent, add the garlic. Stir and let cook for just a moment, then add the red pepper. You want to wait to add the red pepper so that it stays slightly crunchy.
2. After you've stirred that red pepper in, add the can of diced tomato with its juices, the chili powder, and the salt and pepper. Stir and let cook for 10-15 minutes at a light simmer. Add the cooked rice (using leftover rice or cook some up as you're browning the ground beef), and stir.
3. Let the rice heat through, then serve immediately, topping with shredded cheddar cheese.

Notes

If you have leftover ground beef from tacos or another dish, this would come together even faster. This is a perfect leftovers dish to use up some of those items in your fridge from other dinners.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 341Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 660mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 28g

This site uses an outside source to provide nutrition. If you need exact details, please calculate yourself.

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