Crockpot Mediterranean Beef and Rice

Nancy picked up a pound of grass-fed, antibiotic-free ground beef the other day.  My experience has been that this is often more gristly than most ground beef, so we decided to try it in a crockpot recipe so that it would have that long, slow cooking time to get tender.

I found a recipe on the Crockpot Ladies blog http://crockpotladies.com/crockpot-mediterrenean-beef-rice/ that is something I can eat, too.  So we made some small adaptations and used it for dinner.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound grass-fed ground beef

1 Beef bouillon cube

1/2 tsp turmeric

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp Garam Marsala (I made my own and saved what I didn't use - 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 1 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg - all in the ground state)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 16oz bag frozen mixed vegetables

2 cups water

1 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 cups cooked rice for serving

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the ground beef in a skillet on the stove.  Drain off fat/grease.  Add all the spices and stir.  Dissolve the bouillon in 1 cup of hot water.  Add to meat and stir together well.

Transfer the meat and spices to the crockpot.  Add the second cup of water.  Add the frozen vegetables.  Stir and cover.  Cook on low for 5-8 hours.

Cook the rice.  Toast the pine nuts.  When the beef and vegetables are finished cooking, serve over rice, garnished with toasted pine nuts.

TOASTING THE PINE NUTS

I toast mine in a small, nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly.