Cooks! Need ideas for leftover ground beef and rice

Cafe Society
1

I need leftovers help!

When my recently departed dog Scout was sick last week, the vet recommended the usual white-rice-and-well-drained-ground-beef to tempt her back to eating when she started feeling better. Well, she never did feel better, and she ate about a tablespoon of the beef and rice.

So now I’ve got most of a pound of ground beef mixed with several cups of white basmati rice sitting in the fridge. No seasoning or anything in it. I hate to just throw it out, but I have no idea what to do to it to make it palatable to humans, other than the rather grody idea of adding a can of Cream of Whatever soup and some cooked frozen veggies.

Any ideas? Even something that would get me jump-started would be great. I’m also browsing AllRecipes for ideas.

Thanks, peeps!

2

Grilling some red and green peppers, mushrooms, and onions with garlic and other seasonings and the adding them to the beef/rice in a big pot and simmering till all is warm might be good and is pretty simple.

So sorry to hear about Scout though.

3

After perusing some likely possibilities at Allrecipes, I’d like to add:

Please, no green peppers! They make Mr. S ill, and I just don’t like them.

kthxbye

4

I like to add eggs, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and roasted sesame seeds and mix it all up in a big bowl and just chow down.

5

Get the stomach flu yourself. In about 3 days that plain meat and white rice will seem like a decent option.

I might try enchilada sauce, cheese, and top with some cilantro. Eat with tortilla chips and guacamole.

6

[obligatory and superfluous Python referencing]
Well, there’s the Green Pepper, Bacon, Mushroom, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Mushroom, Basmati Rice, Green Pepper, Ground Beef, Mushrooms and Red Pepper. That one hasn’t got much green pepper in it.[/obligatory and superfluous Python referencing]

7

‘Goulash’?

We usually just throw in what’s around, so add some spaghetti sauce or tomatoes, pasta, onion and…?

:slight_smile:

8

When in doubt, make it a burrito. Assuming you’re going to the store: get some tortillas, a can of refried beans, maybe some taco/burrito mix, onion, garlic, and make yourself some burritos. Get fancy with shredded cheese or sour cream, etc.

Anything can go in a burrito. Okay, call it a “wrap” if you must.

9

You have inadvertently created your basic Stuffed Cabbage Leaf mixture. Add some salt, pepper, maybe some sauteed onions, stuff the cabbage leaves (it’s just like it sounds–roll them up with the hamburg/rice in them), put in a lasagna dish or something similar, cover with spaghetti sauce out of a jar, bake at 350 until the cabbage leaves are tender.

…of course, this means you have to go buy a cabbage, but Leftovers Management is never perfect. :smiley:

Use the inside part to make some coleslaw for tomorrow.

ETA: you can use some of the spaghetti sauce to “sticky up” the hamburg/rice if you want. Some people like it that way, some people only want the sauce on the outside. If you want to sticky up the rice, just add a few spoonfuls, just enough to render it a mild pink.

10

Sounds like the basics for stuffed cabbage. You’d need to make up the sauce. (I’d have said stuffed peppers, but that’s out.)

11

Cooking simulpost! High five! :smiley:

12

Add a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and some chili spices. Mix well, and simmer for a bit.

13

depends on how much is left, you could buy biscuits, flatten them a bit, add the rice and meat and add pine nuts if you like them and pinch them closed and bake them.
That’s all I got for now.

14

Stuffed anything. Since you don’t do peppers, how about stuffed eggplant?

15

Stuffing stuff? Stewing? How much time do you have? I got me a standard recipe that will have you eating in 15 minutes, assuming you can buy the ingredients easily and can chop/dice quickly.

Open up and drain/rinse a can of black beans (frijoles negros) and a can of corn niblets. You can also use red kidney beans instead of black beans, but I like this best with black beans.

Warm olive oil with chopped garlic in a pan. When hot, add the ground beef and the beans, along with chopped yellow onions, green onions (scallions) and sliced mushrooms. Also an jalapeno pepper, if you like them even if you don’t like green bell peppers.

After the meat browns and the beans start to fry down, add the corn, some diced tomatoes, and fresh chopped cilantro. Squirt in some Worcestershire sauce, and some Tabasco if you didn’t put in jalapenos (unless you like bland, unspicy food).

Season well with salt and pepper, to taste. If you couldn’t get cilantro, you can now add dried oregano.

After frying this a bit longer, stir in your rice. I usually make this with brown rice, sometimes white rice, and I think basmati rice will mesh quite nicely with the flavoring. You may choose now to add some ketchup if you want, but not too much.

Add shredded cheddar cheese and cover for a few minutes; turn off the heat and let it sit on the stove for another few minutes. It’s nice to serve with sour cream but that is optional.

Finally, depending on the relative amounts you’ve used and whether or not you are making a sit-down mean, you can eat this in a burrito wrap, or dump it on a plate and eat it with a fork.

16

Kima, not the authentic Kheema, our family bastardization thereof.

Fry off onions, diced apple and diced potato (with salt, curry and garlic to taste). Keep fairly moist with added water until the spud and apple are well cooked, then add either a splurt of tomato sauce or a couple of diced tomatoes, something green (peas are good if you don’t like the green peppers) and sultanas. Add your mince and rice. Once those are heated through, it’s done.

Normally I’d brown the meat with the onion and serve on a bed of rice, but it’ll definitely work with your mix.

For proportions: for two people I’d use 1 small apple, one small spud, 150gm mince (that’s the same as ground beef, yeah?) and about a handful of everything else - but I grew up with this as ‘the left overs’ meal - it can take a lot of variation.

You can make this in bulk and freeze extra portions. It’s just as nice reheated.

17

You have the beginnings of my poor man’s stroganoff:

In a large pot or deep pan:

add a can or two of cream of mushroom soup. (probably 2 cans)
add one can of milk (as in pour milk in one of the now empty soup cans)
add one can of sliced mushrooms (or fresh, if you have them)
add one or two diced onions (or, you can buy pre-cut frozen)

(if you use fresh mushrooms and onions, you may want to sautee or sweat them lightly first before adding them to the stroganoff)

Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes - the rice will absorb some of the liquid - once it has, feel free to add a little more milk.

Once everything has simmered together, add about a cup of sour cream (it thickens the sauce). Let simmer on very low for another 10 minutes.

It’s also awesome as leftovers - just add a little more milk before microwaving.

Enjoy!

18

Hm, lots of creative ideas here! Cabbage is right out, sorry. But the Mexican theme sounds good, and Mr. S agrees. Tomorrow we’ll pick up fixin’s.

(And then go to a funeral visitation. :frowning: Friend’s mother, sweet little old lady, 82, severe dementia, but she went fast just like she always said she wanted to . . .)

19

It’d be good “mush makings” at my house.

Heat it up in a pan, add some beef stock and spices (garlic, onion, thyme, rosemary), and serve with peas. (or your veggie of choice). The beef stock should thicken from the starch in the rice, and make a nice gravy.

Or the burrito ideas above would work well.

20

Sweat some onion + garlic + mix with your beef/rice mix. Make crepes + fill with mixture. They’re great with soy sauce.