Ground Beef Tostadas and Spanish Rice

Dinner tonight was very filling and very tasty.

I haven't made tostadas in the past. And really, the recipe I followed actually had me making my own tostada shells by either baking or deep frying a tortilla.

While I do want to make tostadas from scratch completely one day, today was not the day. Buying pre-made tostada shells from the Mexican market was a lot easier than trying to create my own shell and potentially ruining it and then not having a shell to work with at all. That's the kind of mood I was in today.

As for the rice, I had never used saffron before. Time to change that!

Ground Beef Tostadas

Ingredients
6 tostada shells
1/2 lb ground beef
6 tbsp refried beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin to taste
3 tbsp sour cream
1 tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Cook ground beef in a skillet with the spices. Cook until cooked all the way through.

2. Heat the refried beans. Spread the beans on the tostada shells.

3. Top with meat, sour cream, tomato, and cheese.

* serves 3

CALORIES: 642 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 96 milligrams
FAT: 44 grams
SODIUM: 767 milligrams

Spanish Rice

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup tomato juice
1/4 cup green bell pepper, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp saffron
pinch of oregano

Directions

1. In an oven preheated to 400, put the rice in a dish and cook for about 5 minutes until brown. Stir frequently.

2. In a casserole dish combine all the ingredients.

3. Cover and bake in an oven at 350 for half an hour.

* serves 3

CALORIES: 126 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 1 milligrams
FAT: 0 grams
SODIUM: 423 milligrams