I have solved a meal situation, and it has been such a successful solution I can hardly keep myself from publishing a cookbook with just this one recipe in it. It’s something I came up with in several parts to handle several different issues, and I think it’s finally perfect. And this is going to be a long story because I’m so! enthusiastic! about all the steps along the way. (If you feel pity at this moment for anyone unable to just skip to the end to find the part that looks like a recipe, you could spare a moment for Paul. Not only has he heard each issue explained in its turn, and each part of the solution explained in its turn, but he’s had to hear the entire thing REVIEWED with each installment.)
It STARTED because one of my favorite meals is leftover taco meat heated up, with salsa and cheese on top, eaten by scooping up bites with bite-size tortilla chips.
But! This is one of the times I appreciate Paul’s careful use of the word “nutritious” (as opposed to “healthy”): it is fine to have tortilla chips, and I plan to have them on many occasions, but they are not a particularly NUTRITIOUS part of the meal. And also, I take them as-needed out of the bag rather than measuring a serving, and I don’t WANT to measure a serving, because I don’t want “a serving,” I want “exactly as many as there are bites of taco meat.” (And also because I don’t really want the “how many chips I’m eating” information, if it isn’t going to change anything anyway.) But what can replace tortilla chips? NOTHING.
MEANWHILE, while I was mulling this issue, Paul and I were ALSO trying to figure out a way to have MORE leftover taco meat: as a family we were using a large amount of ground turkey (seasoned with a taco seasoning packet) for a taco meal and there often wasn’t any leftover for me to eat. SADNESS. When my mother-in-law was alive, she told me roughly a million times (most often while standing over me as I cooked up some ground turkey) that what SHE did to make meat go further was to “add a canna corn to the hamburg” (she called this a way to get children to eat more vegetables, too, but…corn is a grain, right?). She thought that was a very clever way to save money on meat, and indeed it is, and it would also be a good way for a family who wanted to eat less meat total to decrease their meat consumption.
But there were several problems with this idea. To start with, Paul always hated his mom’s meat-mixed-with-corn. For another thing, neither of us are keen to remove something we consider quite nutritious (the ground turkey) in favor of something we consider less nutritious (a starch). (Your nutrition equation may vary. Nutrition is a CRAZY PLACE. I state our own current inclinations for it so that you can see the problem we were trying to solve here, which could have been just as nutritiously stated in the opposite direction for a family with different nutrition goals: for example, “trying to replace animal products with whole grains.”)
Then one day I was contemplating the Taco Bell menu items that are made with refried beans, which I dislike but Paul and Rob like them. So I thought we could add refried beans to our taco meat (legumes are another area of unknown nutrition, but we are currently tentatively assuming nutritious), except I don’t like refried beans. But I DO like chickpeas! So…I could grind up chickpeas and add them! And I did it, and lo it was delicious and the children didn’t notice, so, score for adding variety and for making the meal more filling so there was more left over for me.
Then we were out of chickpeas but still eager to experiment and so we tried a can of black beans. With the chickpeas I’d used the larger-size can, drained (I remember reading long ago that the soak-water for beans should be removed to decrease some of the, er, “musical fruit” element; I have no idea if this was/is actually true, but the tip has stuck with me regardless, and also the bean water typically looks/smells gross), added water to make it blenderable, and used about 1/3rd of the resulting puree for each 1.3-pound pack of ground turkey. Our opinion was that we could have divided it among two batches instead of three [note: later we tried this and decided no, dividing into three is better with the big can of chickpeas], so with the black beans I used the smaller-size can, drained, mixed with about 3/4 cup of water and 1 packet of taco seasoning mix right in the blender (the taco seasoning needs to be mixed with 3/4 cup water anyway, so this combines the two tasks), then added the whole amount to the meat. It was beanier, and it LOOKED grosser (darker, burned-looking—the chickpeas end up more of a warm terra cotta color with the seasoning), but Paul thought it tasted even better, and the kids noticed the appearance this time but still weren’t bothered by the taste. I liked it better, too, but I think that was because I used the spicy taco seasoning instead of the regular: I’d thought the chickpeas had soaked up too much of the spiciness.
Then I had my third idea, the one that brought this whole thing together. In my eternal quest to try to eat more vegetables, I’d impulse-bought a yellow bell pepper and an orange bell pepper (memory digression: my late mother-in-law, laughingly to Paul, in front of me, after I’d set out a dish of colored bell peppers and dip with lunch: “Swistle’s the only person I know who spends extra on the pretty colors!” Me: “…They…taste different? than the green ones? I don’t like the green ones raw—but the orange/yellow/red are sweeter? and milder? and I like them raw?” My late mother-in-law: “Whatever, I’ve just never known anyone who would spend so much extra money just to get the pretty colors! *merry derisive laughter*” Me, in my head: “AND YOU STILL DON’T KNOW ANYONE WHO WOULD DO THAT, AS I’VE JUST EXPLAINED”). And I was thinking about how I should eat those peppers before they went bad. And that is when it occurred to me that they might, MIGHT, considering how much I like them, be adequately crunchy and yummy to be sometimes used instead of tortilla chips.
I was nervous to try it, but did it anyway for lunch one day. I heated up leftover ground-turkey-with-black-beans-and-taco-seasoning with some salsa. I added cheddar cheese on top. I cut up the orange pepper. I used a segment of pepper to scoop up some meat and took a tentative bite, and….YUM. Very, very yum. A different meal than with tortilla chips, but wonderful in its own different way.
It was so good, I wanted to eat it three meals a day for awhile.
I feel odd even saying this, but I left out the cheese the next time I made it. Normally I think of taco meat as REQUIRING cheese—but something about the sweetness of the pepper made the cheese taste a little weird and out of place to me. I know, I know, but it did. If you try it, put cheese on the first bite and see if you agree. I ended up scraping it to one side.
Second attempt, with the yellow pepper and no cheese this time
(this is with chickpeas)
So, to sum up. Before: taco meat/seasoning, cheese, salsa, tortilla chip scoops. After: taco meat/seasoning (SPICY seasoning), beans, salsa, bell pepper scoops. Very different meals, but BOTH YUMMY. Success!
This does sound yum! And I think you may have (re?) invented a stuffed bell pepper in deconstructed form!
Always love the MIL anecdotes–keep em coming :)
I’ve often added beans to meat to stretch it (and also shredded squash sometimes, which was ok) but never thought about chickpeas! I LOVE bell peppers (not the green ones so much and they definitely DO taste different) even more than tortilla chips, so this sounds delicious!
Huh. I’m very used to green peppers, which taste like crap (damp cardboard, to be precise) being more expensive than the actual ripe red/yellow/orange peppers.
I’m also used to making burritos instead of tacos, and using beans and rice all up in there. Sometimes, cooked cubed potatoes as well.
It SOUNDS delicious. Which means I will have to try it. :) I, too, prefer the red/orange/yellow peppers for raw snacking, but hardly ever buy them BECAUSE of the cost. (And, I won’t speak ill of the dead, but I LOVE your MIL stories.)
I add red kidney beans to my tacos and love it (I dont even chop them up).
I also skip the cheese, and I often chop up a fresh tomato and throw that in once the meat is browned (hubby doesnt like fresh tomatoes but will eat them this way).
Btw, red is the most expensive capsicum (bell pepper) in Australia and all the other colours are much cheaper!
The pretty colors are appealing, though. Even if the taste is the driving factor.
Genius! I’m going to have to try it.
I like that you guys emphasize “nutritious.” My philosophy for many years has been “Make sure I’m eating plenty of nutritious food, and then don’t worry so much if I’m filling up the cracks with brownies or potato chips.”
And beans are high on my list of “nutritious” foods, as well as on the “cheap proteins” list, which is also a priority in my household at the moment.
We ate so much ground turkey when I was growing up. Do you find that sometimes it tastes funny? I wonder if they “fixed” this problem. Or I could just be nuts.
We regularly make FIVE (5!) lbs. of taco meat at a time, so fond are we of the leftovers. I don’t think I’ve EVER thrown taco meat away.
And I like how the bean thing improves the texture as well as the taste.
I also like avocado as a meat-stretcher, although that hardly satisfies the frugal element.
Misty- I think we always eat it mixed with something—like, taco seasoning, or a sauce, or something. We tried it as “hamburgers” and didn’t like the flavor.
We always make about 4lbs of taco meat and it used to be because we loved the leftovers. I with salad, and Hub for more tacos. We never have leftovers anymore though; these kids eat more tacos than I do!
I wonder if the family would notice the beans if I added them. Everyone but me is very anti-bean in this house.
Okay now this is all I want to eat today. Unfortunately, I have none of the ingredients. Sad trombone.
Love this idea. Read every word of this post without skimming, and I’m in line for your upcoming cookbook.
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Question, Swis:
Sine you’re using 1/3 a can of chickpeas per batch of meat, are you pureeing and freezing the other 2/3 to use later at the same time? And if so, are you adding the taco seasoning before or after pureeing/freezing?
Thanks!
I love this idea!
First of all, the colorful ones are more expensive BECAUSE they’re sweeter and riper (the green ones are cheap because they’re easier to get since you don’t have to wait so long for them! Crazy lady!) And I think the whole process for the meal was FASCINATING! I’ve never thought of adding beans to a meat before, but it sounds brilliant! I was going to suggest using pinto beans, but it sounds like your way works already! Nicely done!
Ah, merry, derisive laughter! How you push me to new heights of rage! Be sure to combine yourself with not-listening. Hide the sharp objects first.
Also, I saw this article after I read your post: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/why-i-soak-dried-beans-for-24-hours-150811
I’d never heard of that until you said it, so I thought it was funny to come across more evidence for it :)
Oh, your mother-in-law.
The bell pepper dippers are such a great idea. I will eat taco meat in any form… yum!
I will pay you money to come to my house and explain to my husband that corn is a grain. He often insists he’s given the kids veggies with dinner when he has given them corn. I love corn, nothing against it, but it does not take the place of green beans or spinach or carrots or some vegetable! Sigh.
Sadly every since being pregnant with my second child peppers of all kinds give me The Heartburn. Rest of your awesome recipe idea will be tried at my house STAT though.
I haven’t even read the post all the way yet, but I have to say first that one, you know I’m totally excited about in law stories, and two, I read the first few sentences and I am already SO ENTHUSIASTIC about what I’m about to read that I felt like I needed to tell you I was pre-psyched before I even got through it.
Green bell peppers are absolutely NOT the same as yellow, orange or red bell peppers! COMPLETELY different flavor. Your MIL is/was a ninny to suggest otherwise. *sheesh*
I’m a little surprised at how fascinated I was to read each and every step of this process.
Also, thanks for making me hungry.
I always use pureed kidney beans in my tacos. I use beef, and I wanted the beans for a thicker pasty-er texture. Sometimes I use black beans but I prefer the creamyness of the kidney beans. I suppose you could also use refried beans. My method is to brown the meat and then I puree the can of beans plus the bean juice (makes it even creamier than water) and a can of tomato paste and the seasoning packet(s) and then dump that whole mixture in the drained meat. It will be an alarming pink color for a bit, but I keep it on the heat for awhile and it’s all good. Recently I tried making tacos with just lentils, I cooked them in a pot of broth with the seasoning and tomato paste and then stuck my stick blender in there and made it into a sticky paste…. my husband knew about it and didn’t like it as much but the kids did not even notice! haha. That is good, better for you than beef and I plan to do that a lot… it’s different, but good enough to be its own dish.
Still Playing School- We’re pureeing and adding taco seasoning all at once. So for a big can of chickpeas, I’d use all the chickpeas (sans juice), three of my 3/4ths cup measure of water, and three taco seasoning packets. Then I’d pour it into three equal containers.
So far we’ve been putting the leftover bean/seasoning mixture in containers in the fridge–but we eat tacos twice a week, so we go through it fast. Based on my experiences with freezing bean soup and lentil stew, my GUESS is that it would freeze well—but we haven’t tested it yet.
Carolyn- Ah ha! A consensus gradually builds!
Maggie- RIGHT?? It is a grain. A GRAIN. A very nice grain, yes. BUT A GRAIN.
Lisa- YES, ninny. I like that. Ninny. Yes. Green peppers are excellent for cooking! But orange/yellow/red are delicious for dipping in salad dressings! How could she not see this? Even when it was explained to her? Because she was a ninny.
jen(melty)- MMMMmmmm. I’m going to try BOTH those ideas.
That’s a good idea, but I would probably just put the beans in whole.
love this- gonna use these ideas next time i do taco meat…and the pretty colors do taste soo much better. these days, i only like green bell peppers if they are home grown. and i think the chick peas or black beans are a better idea b/c i think the refried beans have more bad fat? someone might have already said this but i didn’t read comments first sooo, if repetitive, now you know why :)
This sounds SO good! I like adding a can of diced tomatoes to my taco meat. Especially because I’m not a big fan of tomatoes in general, but they are nutritious! (At least, I’m pretty sure they fall into the nutritious category.)
Anonymous- I might, too, if I thought the kids would go for that.
Great recipe, thanks!
I have processed black beans to add to our taco meat, for the fiber benefits. And I adore yellow and red peppers, so I am all for this!! Sounds like you have a winner! And I love the entire way you told the story. You’re just brilliant. Swistle, that’s what.
The thing that I’m captivated by is the bell pepper deal. You love bell peppers! Do I love bell peppers?? I want to know! Can you just, like, eat them with nothing on them? Do you love them THAT much?
Nik-Nak- I might eat some bell pepper plain, the way I might take a baby carrot and eat it plain—but I think they are best as vehicles for dip! I like to dip them in salad dressing.
Great idea!
Your MIL. What is her deal?
When I was younger, I would NEVER eat anything that was remotely beanish. Now, I like to eat them in things (unless refried, then I eat them like Green Eggs & Ham – everywhere). Enter my son. I’m trying to make him used to eating as many different foods as possible before we hit the picky phase (he’s 19 months) and when I introduced him to black beans, you’d think that we starved the kid. He ate, no kidding, a third of the can of beans in one sitting. A 13 month old. The diaper following was, um, interesting.
Anyway, I’m glad that beans won’t be a problem with him. We haven’t found a kind he doesn’t like.
Oh, and also, to save on torilla chip consumption, you can try the toddler method with your leftovers as well. Get lots of meat/bean/salsa/cheese on the chip, insert chip into mouth, pull chip out and eat meat mixture. Reuse chip until soggy. Gross, but he loves doing it.
Can I just tell you how excited I was to read the title with “Two Mother-In-Law Anecdotes” in it?! I LOVE the stories about that nutty old bat!
I just… don’t get how someone could not understand that different colored bell peppers have different tastes.
By the way, I by multi-colored bell peppers for two reasons: a) because I like green peppers raw and my husband likes red/orange peppers raw, and I also like the mix of flavors in stir fries and b) because I DO like the mix of pretty colors. There’s that old saying that you “eat with your eyes first,” and I think a visually appealing meal is nothing to shake a stick at!
And on the grain/vegetable debate, evidently there is no such thing as grain, botanically speaking. You’ve got vegetables and you’ve got fruit, and what we call grain is just dry fruit.
http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/corn-vegetable-fruit-or-grain/
Yum! And, was your MIL related to my MIL? Because I can hear those exact words coming out of her mouth about the colored peppers.
Slim- Corn is a FRUIT?? Oh, I wish my MIL were alive for this.
did your MIL think that perhaps the peppers were PAINTED? with expensive food dye? I MEAN HONESTLY.
also: i now want turkey meat tacos.
Sometimes, for my own lunch, I quickly saute a can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed) in olive oil and add a little taco seasoning. I like Penzey’s taco seasoning — you don’t add any water. (You can buy it online if you don’t have a store near you.) Then I eat the chickpeas just as I would taco meat — either with nachos or with a flour tortilla as a soft taco. I add cheese, salsa, etc. I think the chickpeas are a great (more nutritious) alternative to the meat and they are totally delicious! I think the peppers would be a great alternative to the chips as well.
I ate leftover taco meat with green peppers last month and my cousin did the “scrunchy nose” look at me like I was crazy. Now I feel validated.
The bean water I BELIEVE has extra sodium/salt in it. So it’s better to drain it off, at least that’s what I always heard.
ALSO — regarding the “pretty color” peppers. Which I learned last year and it blew my mind. ALL four (green yellow, orange, red) are the SAME EXACT fruit of the SAME EXACT plant! It’s just been left to ripen longer, green being picked first, then yellow, then orange, and the most ripe is red. THUS, you are correct that the colors are sweeter b/c they have been allowed to ripen longer. ALSO, the colored peppers also have more vitamins and nutrients than the green b/c they matured longer. TA-DA!
Green peppers are pretty gross raw compared to yellow, red and orange. My fiance doesn’t like green but loves the coloured ones.
Love the MIL comments! I always make 2 pots of taco meat — one with black beans (drained!) and one without since half of my family won’t touch beans of any kind. And when it’s leftover I add sour cream instead of cheese. Don’t know if that would taste good if eating it with peppers…. but I’ll try that next time!
What’s also good is to put a whole-wheat tortilla in the toaster until it’s getting a bit crunchy (but not TOO crunchy, else it’ll break on you) and warm and then tear it up into pieces and use those to eat the yummy taco meat mixture. Delicious, and more nutritious than chips.
Also: do you like hummus, Swistle? Bell peppers are delightful in hummus.
This would be an excellent substitution in our house….
as long as I could blindfold everyone else eating it.
The boys in the house won’t let a vegetable knowingly cross their lips. It took me two years to get my husband to accept the whole grain bread as a substitute to his nasty white bread.
Not related to your post really, but I think of your mother-in-law now when I pour myself a “cup” of coffee in the morning. Heh.
Also, I think peppers in place of chips is a genius idea.
I don’t know if you have a food processer (a REAL one, Cuisinart – the rest are – seriously – powered by blender motors!), but I buy whole fresh turkeys the day after holidays (they go on SERIOUS sale), take it home, bone it out as best I can and grind it in my Cuisinart. I wrap it in 1.5 lb. packages, plastic wrap, small freezer bag, then several in large freezer bag. They stay fresh 3-5 mos. I use the ragged carcass as a soup or stock base, usually lots of meat left, and freeze some of that too. I have a friend that works in the meat department of a large chain food store and he said it is standard operating procedure to grind skin and that annoying butt bulb thing into the ground turkey. There goes a good part of the ‘Healthy’.
I feel so Mother Earthy when I do this!!!
Brown rice is a good addition to stretch the meat out too!!