Beefy Potato Casserole with Rice

Man, since I started this blog, I've had some goooooood inspirations for cooking.

As I was telling my boyfriend earlier, I think that knowing anything I cook has the potential to show up here gives me a competitive edge--I want everything I make to be bigger, better, and tastier than anything I've ever cooked before, and that forces me to really think about what I put into a dish.  What kind of flavor am I trying to achieve?  How would this pair with this?  What would compliment this the best?

And it's the fact that I know I have readers out there that keeps me wanting to produce the very best food, to really give you guys a reason to want to keep coming back.

So thank you guys.

I was in charge of dinner tonight (which was pretty much a self-given task), and decided to do something relatively simple.  Then I noticed we had this box of Lipton onion soup mix in the pantry, on the back of which was a recipe for some killer onion roasted potatoes,

Aaaaand well

This little number came about.

Beefy Potato Casserole with Rice

Ingredients:

8 small potatoes, or 4 large ones, cut into large chunks

1 lb. ground beef

1 package onion soup mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup of broccoli, cut into small pieces

3 cups brown rice

6-6 1/2 cups hot water

3 beef bouillon cubes

Various seasonings

Recommended: applewood rub

: 

Instructions

1.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.) Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the hot water, pour into a large pot, and get the rice going.  Depending on your tastes, season the rice as you wish.  Mine came out with a slightly weaker flavor than I was going for, but I wanted to keep sodium to a minimum.

Which is asking a lot with bouillon.

3.) Toss the potatoes and broccoli in the vegetable oil.  Add the onion soup mix and keep tossing.  When fully coated, pour the vegetables into a deep baking dish and put into the oven.

4.) Layer the bottom of a large skillet with seasonings/applewood rub, and put in the meat.  Begin cooking over a medium-high heat, seasoning as you go.  When finished, remove from the eye and keep covered to retain heat.

5.) Cook rice until it's fluffy and suits your taste, and let vegetables bake until nice and soft (mine were penetrable with a plastic spoon by the time they were done, about 45 minutes).

6.) When everything is finished, combine the meat and vegetable bake.  Mix thoroughly.

7.) Serve atop a piping hot bed of rice and enjoy!!

I've found that it's not bad with a sprinkle of Parmesan, either!  It really compliments the onion sauce, I think.

BUT NOW WE HAVE A MORE IMPORTANT MATTER ON HAND.

I'm going to ask a question at the end of every blog post from here on out for YOU to answer!

That's right, YOU.  With the eyes.

Now lately, I've been wanting to cook a little bit healthier, especially looking at the sodium content of my latest dishes.  So whatever I make next, I plan to change it up and make it healthier.

So my question for you today is: what dish should I health-ify?

Leave an answer in the comments for me!!!

ECHO out.