California Pilaf

This baked ground beef, rice, and black olive casserole was one of our family's favorite dishes when I was growing up in Northern California. It is a simple, old fashioned dish flavored with green bell peppers and onions and topped with a tomato sauce.

Ingredients

California Pilaf Ingredients
- 1 pound of lean ground beef
- 1/3 cup of green pepper, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup of onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of raw (uncooked) white rice
- 2 (2.25 ounce cans) of sliced black olives
- 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 2 cups of hot water
- 1 (6 ounce) can of tomato paste

Instructions

Cook the Meat and Vegetables
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Crumble the ground beef in a skillet and cook with the onion and green pepper until the beef is crumbly (not chunky) and browned and the vegetables are tender. Pour the pour the cooked meat and vegetable mixture into a casserole dish.

Lightly Brown the Rice
Pour the uncooked rice into the skillet and cook it until it is starting to lightly brown, WATCHING CLOSELY AND CAREFULLY so it does not burn. (It can burn very quickly!)

Mix the Rice and Meat
Mix the lightly browned raw rice into the meat mixture in the casserole and also mix in the black olives, salt, and pepper.

Make the Sauce
Pour the one can of tomato paste and 2 cups of hot water into the skillet and stir until heated and complete mixed. Do NOT stir this mixture into the meat and rice mixture. Instead, pour it carefully over the meat and rice. Shake the pan gently and slightly to allow the water to fall through the rice, but the tomato sauce to stay on top.

Bake and Serve
Tightly cover the casserole and bake it at 350 degrees Farenheit for one hour. I like to serve this dish with a large green salad or a big pile of cooked green vegetables.