CHILI SKILLET

For last week's casserole, I came across this Chili Skillet recipe of Mrs. Edith B. Knepp in my Heritage Country Harvest Cookbook of Amish in Northern Indiana. It cooked in about 30 minutes so that didn't seem too bad.

We really liked it but had some issues with the rice not getting cooked. The recipe called for uncooked long grain rice. We prefer to eat brown rice, but I felt like the quick cook (20 minutes)  brown rice would do okay in it. Well, I guess there wasn't enough liquid in the skillet to cook the "harder-to-cook" brown rice. We ate it the first night for dinner and just "enjoyed" crunchy rice. After eating a helping for lunch the next day, my husband decided to add about a cup of water to the remaining mixture and cook it in a boiler until the rice was done. Then it tasted even better. The next time I make it, I think I will cook the 1/2 cup brown rice first and then add it to the casserole. It probably won't need to cook for the whole 25 minutes so I may adjust the cooking time.

I sprinkled some onion powder and garlic powder on the mixture instead of using chopped onion and minced garlic. I also just included some small sweet peppers on my husband's plate when we ate dinner.

CHILI SKILLET

1       lb ground beef
1       cup chopped onion
1/2    cup chopped green pepper
1       garlic clove, minced
1       cup tomato juice
1       (8 oz) can red kidney beans, undrained
4       teaspoons chili powder
1       teaspoon dried oregano
1       teaspoon salt
1/2    cup long grain rice, uncooked
1       cup corn (canned or frozen)
1       cup shredded cheese
1/2    cup black olives, sliced (optional)

In a large skillet with a cover/lid, cook the beef, onion, pepper, and garlic until meat is brown and vegetables are tender; drain any fat, if necessary.

Add tomato juice, kidney beans, chili powder, oregano, salt, and rice,

cover and simmer about 25 minutes or until rice is tender. (If using brown rice, I would recommend you cook it first.)

Stir in corn and olives; cover and cook 5 more minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese, (I grated 4 ounces of cheddar cheese)

cover and cook only until cheese melts.