Dinner in 30 Minutes or Less

This is what you get for reading the back of the rice box ... dinner in about 30 minutes.

Don't you remember reading the back of the cereal box as you sat at the breakfast table as a kid? Given the opportunity and a few minutes, I'll find something to read. I'd prefer a book, but a box will do in a pinch.

In this case, it lead to a tasty meal.

Southwest Beef & Bell Pepper Skillet

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (14.5 oz.) beef broth
1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
1 large red or green pepper, thinly sliced then halved
1 large yellow pepper, thinly sliced then halved
2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese

Brown meat in large ovenproof skillet; drain fat. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Bring to boil.

Add peppers and rice; stir. Cover; simmer on low heat 5 minutes or until rice is tender. (When I checked it at 5 minutes, it wasn't tender yet.)

Top with cheese. Broil, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes or until melted. Makes 6, 1 1/3 cup servings.

Serve with a green salad.

Nutrition information per serving: 350 calories, 13 g total fat, 7 g saturated fat, 650 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 25 g protein.

Recipe Notes:

• If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, substitute a can of stewed or diced tomatoes.
• I had beef broth that I had refrigerated after cooking a roast. I just added 14.5 ounces of that instead of the canned broth.
  
• The original recipe called for white instant rice. I substituted brown rice.
• The recipe leaves the peppers in fairly large pieces. I really liked how that looked and tasted, but if you need to do a better job of "hiding" the veggies, you could chop them finer.
  
• I don't have an ovenproof skillet, so after the rice and pepper mixture was cooked, I put it into a glass 12- by 8-inch pan and topped with cheese, then stuck it under the broiler. If you have the skillet, it dirties one less dish, but this worked fine.

Enjoy!