Those quaint old days. The ones I call “BI”. Before Internet. When our meals were similar week in and out. I grew up in a Spaghetti Sunday kind of house, and as I have mentioned many times, my Dad liked his food bland. And easy to chew. So, if there was something he liked, we ate a lot of it. And he liked instant rice. (Which probably is why I used a lot of it in my backpacking recipes…..)
This trashy one pot meal came right off the back of the Costco sized box of Minute Rice. I got to where I had made it so many times I could do it out of memory. And lets just say that for the last 11 or so years I don’t I have made this once.
Back then, I didn’t have a lot of resources for recipes outside of cookbooks at the library, and well….my Dad was not open to new things very often. I have always been appreciative that Kirk will try most anything I create.
Cheeseburger Rice
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 1 package ground beef substitute, 12-16 ounces (or for the carnivores, 1 pound lean ground beef)
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp garlic
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (vegan preferably)
- 2 cups instant rice
- 1-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated, dairy or vegan
Directions:
Heat a large deep skillet over medium-high, add in oil, ground beef substitute and onion, saute until heated through (if using beef, don’t use oil and cook beef until fully cooked). Add garlic, cook for a minute. Stir in water, ketchup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil over high, add in rice, stir well. Sprinkle on 1 cup cheese, cover and let sit off the burner for 10 minutes. Stir well, add in a bit more cheese, as desired, to taste.
Serves 4 to 8.