In honor of the Cinco de Mayo and being stuck at home, here’s a stripped down recipe. Once again, I looked at a real recipe, thought that looked like a lot of work, and made it simpler.

Does anyone remember the Abs Diet? It was like low fat and Atkins had a baby. Lean meats and net carbs. I can’t say the few recipes I got from it did much for my abs at the time, but the general gist of their Aztec Casserole stuck with me through the years and modified pretty easily to being Paleo.

(It’s also the reason I got off High Fructose Corn Syrup years before it became a well-known “thing” – yeah, I got my naval pierced before it was cool too. I’m totally a trendsetter. )

• 1 lb ground beef (I like grass fed, usually 85/15 – leaner means separate oil for the pan)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• Cauliflower Rice (Trader Joe’s is good, cheap, and frozen to use whenever – trifecta!)

All the rest of this is “to taste”

• Salsa
• Garlic Powder
• Cumin

Begin to brown the burger over medium heat. I usually just plop the chunk in the pan and squish it down with the spatula to spread it out. No oil required, the fat will render out and do the work for you. Just remember to be patient and don’t try to start chopping it up until it’s mostly cooked. Maybe other people were taught that, maybe someone even told me once and I got impatient, but really, leave it alone for a bit and save yourself some hassle. It crumbles up when it’s far enough along.

While the burger is cooking, chop the onion and pepper. I like to chop them into good sized chunks, big enough to stab with a fork after cooking. How much pepper and onion is up to you, but I find 1/2 onion per every whole pepper keeps it roughly even. And for this recipe, that amount seems to hit the right meat/veg ratio.

Once the burger is crumbling well enough, toss in some garlic powder and cumin & stir. I go pretty light on both, maybe only one shake of the cumin because too much smells like dirty socks to me. When the burger is mostly done, push it to the sides and toss the veggies in the middle to saute. If you’re squeamish about fat, you might want to drain the pan a bit first, but I am not and it saves me a step.

Once the veggies have softened up nicely, add in the frozen cauliflower rice. This stuff thaws and gets tender pretty quickly, so just mixing it into everything else will do the trick. You can turn the pan off or on low.

Finally, add in the salsa and stir to mix. This is one of those “just eyeball it and taste test” things. I couldn’t really tell you how much I use. I nibble a bite and add more if it tastes bland.

I think this takes about 30 minutes to accomplish. I always forget to time it, but I know it doesn’t take too long or I’d be annoyed and avoid making it. Makes 2-3 servings, depending on how hungry you are when you cook it. It reheats nicely, something I think cauliflower rice dishes might do better than their “real” rice counterparts.