Frugal Food Thursday: Picadillo

Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday!  If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below! 

Had enough of mango recipes here at Frugal Follies?  I figured I'd lay off them for now.

Here's what I made for dinner on Tuesday night: Picadillo.  It's a Cuban stew of ground beef, tomatoes, peppers, onions, olives, and raisins.

I first found this dish at a favorite Spanish/Mexican/Cuban restaurant we often dine at.  After ordering it, I realized how easy to make it appeared to be.  So I tried it at home.  I tinkered with the seasonings, and I think I have a pretty yummy dish now.  Plus, it's quite frugal!  I put in the recipe to use 1 pound of ground beef, but you can cut that down and add more veggies if you wish.

PICADILLO

2 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 14-oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup small green olives with pimentos
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Saute the onion for 2-3 minutes, or until translucent.  Add the green pepper to the onion and saute for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the chopped garlic and saute for one minute more.  Remove the vegetables and place in a bowl, keeping the oil in the pan.

Saute the ground beef until it is no longer pink.  Add back the vegetables into the pan.  Add the tomatoes, olives, raisins, chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon, and stir.  Turn heat to high until the sauce is boiling.  Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over brown rice.  Makes 4-6 servings.

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