Picadillo is a traditional Spanish, Cuban or Puerto Rican dish that is served either with tortillas, rice or plantains. It can also be wrapped inside of pastry dough to make Empanadas. The whole dish comes together in less than 30 minutes, in one pot, and is overall fairly healthy, making it a winner in my book!
To make this #dinnerdoneby9am I fully cook the picadillo in the morning, wash and chop the cilantro, and refrigerate everything. At dinner time I cook rice, re-heat the picadillo, and top each bowl with cilantro.
-Tbsp olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-1 bell pepper, diced
-1 lb ground beef
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1 Tbsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1 tsp oregano
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-1/4 tsp cayenne
-1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
-1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
-2 Tbsp hot sauce
-1/2 c olives, chopped
-2 Tbsp chopped cilantro for topping
Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper, cook, stirring intermittently, 5 minutes. Add beef, cook for 10-15 minutes, until meat is no longer pink, stirring regularly and breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon while cooking. Drain meat, return to heat and add garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, an additional minute. Add salt through olives, simmer an additional 10, allowing the flavors to combine. Serve with desired starch, and top with cilantro.
