Heart-healthy , low-fat recipes: January 2020

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Curried beef and rice

Curried beef and rice

1 1/2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 medium carrot
1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
2-3 teaspoons curry powder
1 clove garlic
3/4 cup regular brown rice
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked beef
1 cup frozen peas
1 fresh medium tomato, chopped

Step one:
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the water, onion, bouillon granules, curry powder, and garlic. Heat to boiling, then stir in rice. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Step 2:
Stir beef, peas, and tomato into rice mixture. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes more or until rice and peas are tender.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 313 calories, 7 grams total fat; 53 mg cholesterol; 337 mg sodium; 40 grams carbs; 23 grams protein

Tips for using these recipes

I do not used canned beans, although that's what the recipes call for. I buy dry beans in a one-pound bag, cook them with no salt, drain them, and divide them into four freezer bags to use in my recipes. Each bag is a very generous substitue for a can of beans, and there's no salt added. Even accounting for the cost of propane to cook them for an hour and a half, they're still a third the cost of canned beans. I always have a supply of pinto beans, black beans, red or kidney beans, and garbanzo beans in the freezer ready to use in recipes.

If we have leftover holiday turkey, I freeze it in two-cup portions and use it in place of chicken in any of these recipes. Lacking leftover poultry, I buy a ten-pound bag of chicken leg quarters, boil the whole mess in plenty of water, remove skin and bones when it's cool, and put it in the freezer in two- and four-cup amounts. I cool the broth it was cooked in, remove the fat, and bag it up for the freezer; canned chicken broth is diluted and salted, and costs a dollar a can. From the ten pounds of chicken that cost me five or six dollars, I get eight to ten cups of diced chicken and at least a dozen two-cup portions of broth.