Beef Taco Hamburger Helper Hack

Okay okay, you should know by now that we don't do processed food here at the Chic-Peas. The most processed we get is canned pumpkin and pre-made tomato sauce for lazy days. Kelly is probably going to facepalm that I'm even writing this recipe. Buuuuuuut I'll admit I grew up on things like Hamburger Helper, and Old El Paso taco mixes, and frozen pizza. That's because as a high school student, it was MY job to get dinner on the table most nights, and poor mom had to settle for what I was capable of making unassisted. Since then, thankfully, my eating habits and cooking skills have improved dramatically.

I had a pound of ground beef in the freezer and I was craving something savory, but would pack well for lunches. I had already made stir fry and fried rice this week, so rice was out. And ground beef should be cooked with a sauce that helps you pick up the little bits. And so I thought of Hamburger Helper. I haven't had Hamburger Helper in about 15 years.  Buuuuuuuuuuut I wanted it with veggies. I wanted it to be just a tiny bit cheesy. And I sure as heck was not going to buy a box to help me out. So we're going to do this the right way!

Beef Taco Stove Top Pasta (Hamburger Helper Hack)
1/2 pound lean ground beef
2 small potatoes
1 small onion
1 small bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup pasta sauce or tomato puree
1 cup milk
3 dry cups pasta shells (get the quick cook variety if available)
4 oz mild cheddar cheese
Salt, paprika, cumin
Cilantro to top

1. Prep your veggies and cheese by cutting them into 1 cm dice.
2. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet or saute pan. Using non-stick is ideal for this as this recipe can get rather messy!
3. Brown the ground beef and the potatoes until 90% cooked and crumbled.
4. Add the onion and peppers. Saute for a few minutes.
5. Add the tomato puree and the milk. Bring to a simmer.
6. Add the dry pasta and lower the heat to medium low. Stir the pot to make sure the pasta is wet. If the mixture doesn't have enough free liquid, add half a cup of water. Cover and stir every 2-3 minutes for about 10 minutes.
7. Add the cheese, which should be roughly chopped or shredded. Mix into the liquid so it melts.
8. When the pasta is cooked through, serve in bowls topped with chopped cilantro.

Ricotta Zucchini Squash Pasta

Ricotta is a perfect summer sauce. Its cool and light compared to cream sauces and a little goes a long way to make a dish sing.

I julienned fresh early summer squash and red pepper with some fettucini. The vegetables lend well to the pasta and the fettucine held the sauce better than I expected. The leftovers tended to be a little mushy, but still tasty.

Ricotta Zucchini Pasta
Serves 6

1 pack fettucini
5 small zucchini squash
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon roasted garlic
1 pinch chili flakes
2 cups ricotta cheese
Fresh basil or cilantro (optional)

1. Prepare pasta according to package. Cook al dente, as we'll be finishing it with the sauce. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
2. Wash and slice the vegetables into julienne. Basically 2 to 3 inch long match stick sized. (Match the shape of your veggies to the type/size off your pasta. Elbow pasta would be matched with diced veggies for example)
3. Heat a large pot with a tablespoon of olive oil. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant.
4. Add the vegetables and cook until wilted. Add the ricotta and mix to incorporate. Add salt to taste.
5. Add the pasta and toss to coat.
6. Serve and garnish with herbs of choice! Leftovers are good at room temperature or hot.

Basic Fried Rice

Every Chinese kid has nostalgic memories of their mom/grandma/aunt/dad/etc making fried rice. Fried Rice is a staple of Chinese food. Its also a great way to utilize tons of extra rice and food you have into a convenient meal! And as complicated as it may look, its actually super super easy.

Fried rice, in my humble opinion, should always contain the following:

- Something fatty (bacon for me, lap cheung for my mom, spam for Perry)

- Something crunchy (celery, shrimp, carrots, or onion)

- Egg - the creamy protein draws the rice together

- Soy sauce. The rice really needs a good slosh of it to bring out the color people expect of fried rice, but more importantly, to bring out all the flavors of the ingredients. Carbs always need a lot of salt.

 

Suanne's Fried Rice 

Serves 3-4, all ingredients (minus rice) are optional and exchangeable. Took me about 45 min.

1/4 cup of pre-diced bacon (probably amounted to 3 strips of bacon)

1 red pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

big handful of frozen spinach (chopped, not whole leaf. defrosting is good, but not 100% necessary)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, beaten

8 oz diced chicken, pre marinated (optional)

3.5 cups of already cooked, been-sitting-in-the-fridge-too-long, dry rice

2 scallions, diced

1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce - you'll need more than you think

dash of sriracha (why not?)

1. Heat a large wok (or in my case, a stainless steel pot) until hot. Take the bacon and saute until almost crispy and dark red.
2. If you have extra meat, add here. If you need extra oil, please add it.
3. Add celery, red pepper, and the spinach. Hm. Tomato paste would be good too... Saute and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. 
4. Add the garlic and an extra drizzle of oil - olive or canola. The next steps will make a lot of stuff stick to your pan - you're hereby warned.
5. Add the rice. Break up the large chunks with a spatula, but don't crush the rice. You want the grains to stay whole. Fry with the existing veggies and such, but keep the rice moving - if you let it sit it will stick to the bottom!
6. When the rice is dry and fully incorporated with the veggie mix, pour the eggs over the rice. Again, keep mixing - eggs will stick to the bottom of the pan too!
7. As the egg cooks, add the scallions, soy sauce, sriracha, and any other flavorings (I added a pinch of curry). 
8. Turn the heat off the pot. When the egg is fully cooked (you may not even see it since the rice soaks it up) serve.
9. Enjoy!

Leftovers --> Stuffed Peppers

Facts of life: Suanne hates leftovers. Suanne hates processed food (I'm looking at you condensed soup). Suanne also hates wasting food and taking obscene amounts of time to make a meal.

So what does she do when she has a cup of tofu casserole and half a cup of chinese sliced mushrooms? She reinvents dinner - and makes it look good to boot. These would look fantastic for entertaining and just replace the leftovers with other yummy things, like fresh mushrooms, sausage, quinoa, cilantro, salsa... You get the idea. If it goes will with peppers, you're golden.

Stuffed Peppers
3/4 cup stuffing + 1 pepper = 1 serving. Today's recipe came out with about 4 servings so I'm going to halve the recipe here since I bet you don't want leftovers either.
Total time = 30 minutes prep and 30 min in the oven.


1 cup of leftover stir fry. Will also work with pasta sauce, possibly mac n cheese, or rice casserole. Try it and find out! The less carbs, and the more veggies or meat, the better.
4oz of chicken, boneless, skinless, diced. (Leftover is fine here too)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp tomato paste
3/4 cup spinach, cooked and drained.
big pinch of oregano
tiny pinch cayenne and cumin
two red peppers - medium sized.
1 mozzarella stick
1 tbsp cream cheese
parmesan or bread crumbs for topping (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the baking rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Heat up your saucepan on high with a tsp of olive oil. Saute the garlic, then the onions for a minute or two.
3. Add the raw chicken (if applicable.)
4. Add tomato paste. Toss in all your leftovers here and reheat them. Try not to add in extra water - you want a moist stuffing, but not soggy. When you've incorporated everything together, turn the heat off.
5. Now take the mozzarella and shred it.
6. Wash your peppers and take a look at them - you want to figure out how to cut them to get the most stuffable space. Most of the time people remove the stem and stuff through the top. I had a curvy pepper so I slit mine sideways. Slice a bit from the bottom so it stands up.
7. Take a baking pan with walls that are a few inches high. I used a glass 9x9 cake pan. Wipe the bottom with a few drops of olive oil.
8. By now the stuff in the pan should have cooled off. Stick it all in the food processor and give it a few pulses. Add the mozzarella and cream cheese. Just aim to get rid of the big chunks and make sure to scrap down the sides. If it doesn't look you have enough stuff to fill your two peppers, you can consider adding nuts, leftover rice, or more veggies!
9. Stuff the peppers. The stuffing doesn't expand so feel free to make a big mound on top. If you like, press breadcrumbs and/or parmesan cheese on top of the stuffing mix. Stand the peppers up in the baking dish.
10. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until the pepper is cooked through. Since the inside is cooked already, don't worry about undercooking it.
11. Remove the peppers from the oven and let them stand for about 10 minutes. Then devour!