Mexi-Rican Carne Molida

When I moved to the United States in 2012, everyone assumed that I was Mexican. I was living in Austin, TX at the time so I was not surprised. As I corrected them to my true nationality they would say "oh, so you eat spicy food there?" to which I responded "um, no. That would be Mexico. Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, pretty far away from that area, FYI." They would immediately go "OH...ok. So what do you eat there, then?" To put things into perspective, I was the demo girl for the sushi stand at the grocery store H.E.B. so people only had food in their minds, apparently. So, what DO we eat in Puerto Rico? A lot of things.

One of those being, carne molida, or ground beef. Seasoned with a variety of spices, no two households will ever have the same carne molida. Combining my love for it with tacos (which are more of a Mexican thing), I made this Mexi-Rican version blending two different kinds of ground meat: turkey and beef.

A little bit of heat, spice, an Caribbean flair, you can eat this with some rice, vegetables, or wrap it up in a tortilla and call it the best burrito meat of your life.

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Ingredients:

1.5 lb. (26 oz.) 93% lean ground turkey

1 lb. (16 oz.) 93% lean ground beef

10 Tbsp (75 g) sliced green salad olives

4 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce; minced

3 cloves of garlic; minced

50 g yellow onion; chopped

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsp dry oregano

2 tsp dry parsley

1 tsp dry coriander

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium-heat skillet, add 1 tsp of olive oil and saute onions and garlic until translucent.

2. Turn heat to high and add ground turkey and ground beef, breaking apart into chunks. Cook for 10 minutes, and continue to break apart the chunks.

3. Turn heat to medium and add tomato paste, chipotle peppers, and spices. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

4. Uncover and mix the meat, breaking any bigger pieces that are left. After 10 additional minutes, meat should be fully cooked.

5. Serve with a side; traditionally served with rice.

*actual cooking times will vary based on meat used so always monitor to make sure it doesn't burn or is under-cooked and raw.

Macros per Serving (8): 3 g of carbs | 12 g of fats | 30 g of protein

NOTE: macros are based on the ingredients I used which may vary from actual ingredients used in the making of this recipe.