Hearty Beef/Chicken/Turkey Bean Meal in One Pot
Cooking in one pot is so easy. My grandchildren love it too – cooking with kids has never been so easy as when creating a one stop meal in a single pot! You can substitute ground chicken, turkey or veal for the ground beef – everything seems to taste wonderful. And if you prefer to make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of water or chicken or beef stock, and leave out the meat product. Easy! Below is my second grandson, Jonah helping to make the mashed potatoes (yukon gold plus yams and sweet potatoes) that accompany this dish. His favorite snacks are carrots and broccoli!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 white onion, chopped to make up about 1 cup
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped to make up about 1 cup
- 2 carrots, chopped to make up 1/2 cup – or use a cup of chopped baby carrots
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 pound extra-lean ground beef/chicken/turkey – your choice
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes – I like to use Pomi Brand
- 2 cups water or chicken/beef/vegetable stock – I like to use Better than Bouillon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano ( we grow this so use fresh)
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto beans, drained
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained
Directions
Heat the oil in large pot over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring until the vegetables are soft. Add the cumin and oregano, and stir for a minute or two. Add the ground beef and increase the heat to high while the beef cooks through. Stir in the tomatoes, stock and season to taste with salt/pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook, partially covered, for another 20 minutes -stir very gently so that you don’t break up the beans, but make sure it is all mixed nicely. Season,again if needed with salt and pepper.
I love to serve this either with mashed potatoes ( remember to throw in a yam or sweet potato with the mashed yukon gold – my favorite) or with rice.
