My abuelita was born in Cuba. Growing up, I ate rice and beans on Thanksgiving and took a pass on holiday staples like stuffing. In fact, I recently found a journal entry from 10-year-old Lara that said the following: “Hi, I’m Lara. I like rice and beans and playing softball.” I went on to play softball at Loras College and still crave rice and beans over the Midwestern favorite of potatoes. Picadillo was one of these staple meal additions that supplemented the already delicious rice and beans in our family’s diet.
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro
- 1.5 lb ground beef
- 4 oz canned tomato sauce 1/2 can
- salt, pepper, cumin to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp raisins optional
- 1/4 cup cooking wine or beer
Instructions
- Brown meat in large pan with olive oil. Add spices to taste.
- Chop onion, pepper, garlic and tomato and cilantro. Add chopped veggies and raisins, and keep on medium heat. Add canned tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of beer or cooking wine.
- Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with remaining spices and serve over white rice or with arroz congrí.