Tex-Mex Hash

Five minutes of prep. One hour in the oven. Five full plates on the table.

This is weeknight cooking stripped down to the essentials: browned ground beef, sliced onions, chopped green pepper, canned tomatoes, and uncooked rice all baked together in a covered casserole until the rice soaks up every drop of that chili-spiced, tomatoey liquid.

Nothing fancy. Nothing fussy. Just the kind of filling, no-nonsense meal that feeds a family without emptying the grocery budget.

Kitchen Tips

• Use whole canned tomatoes and crush them by hand right in the casserole. You get chunky, rustic texture that diced tomatoes can’t match.
• Don’t skip draining the beef. Extra grease makes the rice slick instead of fluffy.
• Keep the lid on tight for the full hour. The rice needs trapped steam to cook through properly.