Tag: bell peppers

Crock Pot Picadillo

Picadillo, a flavorful Cuban dish made with ground beef and a sauce made from simmering tomatoes, green olives, bell peppers, cumin, and spices is one of my family’s favorite weeknight meals.

Trust me on this one, if you want a recipe the whole family will love, this is it! I grew up on this dish and my friends used to love eating over when my mom made it for dinner. This was probably one of the first recipes I ever learned how to cook and I make it at least once a month, although usually on the stove. (stove top version here[1]) It’s inexpensive, kid-friendly, freezer friendly and gluten-free.

I knew this would adapt nicely for the slow cooker, and I was right! In fact, I think it’s even better since the lean beef cooks longer and becomes very tender the longer it simmers.

This makes a lot, so you’ll get several meals out of it. We serve it
over brown rice, we make tacos with the leftovers, and I am going to
post a second recipe using the leftovers. Don’t you love a recipe that
can serve as two different meals!

Anytime you use ground beef in the crock pot, you’ll need to brown it first on the stove. Since the skillet is already out, I threw the onions, peppers and garlic in with the meat to let the flavors bloom.

If you want to prep this the night before, the meat is fully cooked, so you can add all the ingredients into the crock pot, then refrigerate. The next morning plug it in and go to work, or go on with your day. When you come home, you’ll just have to make some rice and a salad and dinner is ready!

By the way, lean beef is the meat of choice for this dish in my house, but you can also use lean bison or ground turkey if desired. Raisins are commonly added to this dish, but we prefer this without.

Slow Cooker Picadillo
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 11 • Size: 1/2 cup • Old Points: 4 pts • Weight Watchers Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 170 • Fat: 7 g • Protein: 22.5 g • Carb: 4.5 g • Fiber: 1 g • Sugar: 1.5 g
Sodium: 237 mg (without the salt)


Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 1 cup diced red bell peppers
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro
  • 1 small tomato, diced
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 bay leaves
  • kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

Brown meat in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat; season with generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cook an addition 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the meat to the slow cooker, then add tomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives) [I usually add some of the brine from the jar for added flavor] then add the spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8. After it’s ready, taste for salt and add more as needed [I added a little more cumin and garlic powder at the end as well since the crock pot tends to mute the flavors of herbs and spices]. Discard the bay leaves and serve over brown rice.

Makes about 5 3/4 cups.

Serve this with 3/4 cups brown rice for an 8 point meal and a salad on the side.

References

  1. ^ stove top version here (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

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Skinny Chicken Fajitas

Lean strips of chicken breast, bell peppers and onions served sizzling hot with warm tortillas and shredded cheese. If this is your idea of delicious, you are not alone!

My husband Tommy is a creature of habit; anytime we go out for Mexican he always orders chicken fajitas. In fact when we went to Mexico a few years ago, he may have ordered them almost every night! I find that amusing because I get really bored of eating the same thing twice, and tend to always take a chance and try something completely new to me.

But chicken fajitas are a regular in my home, we make them at least once a month and the whole family enjoys them. My younger daughter Madison likes her bell peppers raw, so I chop some up and just set them aside for her and cut up the chicken. You can make the whole thing outside on the grill using a cast iron skillet to cook the peppers and onions as we usually do in the summer, or you can cook this indoors in a skillet. Enjoy!

This recipe was from the archives, but I made some minor changes to the original, and found those cute fajita cast iron skillets[1] and tortilla warmers[2] at Target by Imusa (a brand I love for Latin cookware), which was the perfect excuse for a new photo. They really make you feel like you’re having a fiesta!!! I may need to buy this tortilla press[3] next!

Skinny Chicken Fajitas
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 fajitas • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 299 • Fat: 10.5 g • Protein: 39 g • Carb: 27 g • Fiber: 15.5 g • Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 423 mg (without the salt)  • Cholesterol: 7.5 mg

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts 
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
  • 1 green or poblano pepper, cut into strips
  • 1 medium onion, cut into strips
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • pinch ancho or Mexican chile powder,  to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 8 reduced carb whole wheat flour tortillas (Trader Joes)

For garnish:

  • 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mexican cheese
  • reduced fat sour cream (optional)
  • guacamole (optional)

Directions:

Marinate the chicken with lime juice, and season with chile powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin.

Season vegetables with salt and pepper and toss with olive oil. To grill the onions and peppers outside on the grill, use a cast iron skillet and grill covered over medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Or, to cook them indoors, you can use a large skillet on the stove over medium heat for 16 to 18 minutes, covered until the onions and peppers are soft.

Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium heat; grill chicken until cooked through, about 8 minutes on each side. Transfer to a cutting board when done and cut into strips. Once cooked, combine with the peppers and onions. Serve immediately with warmed tortillas, cheese and toppings.

Makes 4 cups chicken and vegetables.

References

  1. ^ fajita cast iron skillets (www.target.com)
  2. ^ tortilla warmers (www.target.com)
  3. ^ tortilla press (www.target.com)

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Crock Pot Picadillo Stuffed Peppers

Leftover picadillo[1] and brown rice makes a super easy second meal, all in the crock pot. Top it with melted cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese and you’ll have a delicious dinner without much fuss. Each pepper is a complete meal-in-one.
As I mentioned in my last post, we use leftover picadillo many ways in my home. Stuffed peppers are a great way to use leftovers and nothing goes to waste here –  the tops of the peppers get diced and are
added to the filling.

The slow cooker is the perfect appliance for making stuffed peppers, I’ve also included oven directions below.

When buying bell peppers for the slow cooker, I look for peppers that have flat bottoms that can stand upright on their own.

You can double the recipe to make 6, which would fit perfectly in a 6 qt slow cooker.

BTW, we love stuffed peppers in my home and I’ve posted other variations:

Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Santa Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers[2][3][4]

and there’s even a stuffed pepper soup[5]. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Picadillo Stuffed Peppers
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 3 • Size: 1 pepper • Old Points: 8 pts • Weight Watchers Points+: 10 pts*
Calories: 375.5 • Fat: 13 g • Protein: 37 g • Carb: 29.4 g • Fiber: 4.6 g • Sugar: 2 g
* without the cheese: 8 Points+ each

 Ingredients:

  • 3 red bell peppers (with flat bottoms)
  • 1 cup left-over cooked brown rice
  • 2 cups leftover crock pot picadillo[6]
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cut 1/2 inch of the tops of the bell peppers and dice fine.

In a medium bowl combine cooked brown rice, picadillo and diced pepper tops. Stuff the peppers with the picadillo and rice filling and place upright in the crock pot. Pour the water into the bottom of the crock pot, cover and and cook 3 hours on HIGH -or- 4 to 6 hours on LOW.

Just before serving, top each pepper with 2 tbsp shredded cheese, cover and leave until it melts, 2-3 minutes.

Oven directions: Preheat oven to 350°. Place peppers in an oven-proof dish, pour about 1/3 cup water in the bottom of the dish, cover and bake 50 minutes, or until the peppers become soft.  


Remove foil, top each cheese and bake uncovered 5 minutes.

References

  1. ^ picadillo (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
  2. ^ Turkey Stuffed Peppers (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
  3. ^ Santa Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
  4. ^ Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
  5. ^ stuffed pepper soup (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
  6. ^ crock pot picadillo (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

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