Repurposing leftovers is one of my FAVORITE things to do! Many times, I will have prepped extra vegetables, garlic, extra tomato sauce or something on that track. Making sure there is no waste and that we are using everything to the fullest extent possible is extremely important! Even today where families are on the tightest budgets ever, the need of putting the next meal on the table is so important. We essentially become masters of "Food Flexicology" where we can be flexible with what we have in the fridge and come up with a brand new meal! I had plenty of prepped vegetables and leftover homemade tomato sauce from previous night's dinners. With some ground sirloin and a few other add-on ingredients, this Beef & Beans TOTALLY hit the spot! It was such a big hit with my husband that I think his beard enjoyed it just as much as he did! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
This will feed approximately 6-8 people. This dish would be perfect for those who like to dive into bulk cooking for future meals or for those with large families. You can easily halve the recipe or even double it based on your own individual needs.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 lb Ground sirloin 16 oz Tomato sauce 8 oz Tomato puree 16 oz Black Beans, cooked 1 C Tomatoes, diced 1 C Green Bell Pepper, diced 1 C Zucchini, diced 1/2 C Red Onion, diced 1/2 C White Onion, diced 1/4 C Brown Sugar, packed 3 TB Garlic, fresh minced 2 TB Olive Oil 1 TB Cumin 1 TB Guajillo pepper, ground 1 TB Pasilla pepper, ground 1 Tsp Kosher Salt 1/2 Tsp Black pepper
1.) Bring a nice deep sauce pan to the picture on medium heat. Add your garlic, kosher salt, black pepper and olive oil. When you start smelling the black pepper and the oil is nice and hot (about 30 seconds to 1 minute), stir this together.
2.) Increase your heat to medium-high and add your ground beef. Do not walk away - you need to break this up and toss to avoid overcooking. Continue cooking for approximately 5-7 minutes or until the beef is half-way cooked. The key is to keep moisture in the pan with the beef fat which when using ground sirloin, it is a very low amount.
3.) Make some room in the pan to add your zucchini, bell peppers and onions. Like the ground sirloin, start tossing the vegetables around for about 4-5 minutes. At this point, your onions will be about half-way cooked and now you can mix everything together at this stage.
4.) After you have mixed your zucchini, peppers and onions into the ground sirloin, you then add your tomatoes. These will cook fast but will add flavor. Toss around for 2-3 minutes.
5.) Now we are ready to add your tomato sauce, puree, brown sugar and spices. The water that comes from the cooked vegetables will help those spices and brown sugar to dissolve into the tomato sauce and puree. Do not walk away - keep stirring gently in order to dissolve the spices and brown sugar. You will notice after about 4-5 minutes, there will no longer be a granular appearance.
6.) We are coming down to the wire where we have reduced the heat to a low-medium. Let this simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Add your black beans at this stage and stir well. They heat up very fast. At this point, the sauce does thicken a bit but still remains 'wet'. By adding your beans at this stage, they will keep shape and not break down. As this pan cools, this will continue to thicken.
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