Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers

As you may have noticed, I love me some good food that's super simple to make. Sure I love the day long recipes that require tender loving care and devotion- but those require time- lots of time, and as of lately, that's something I've been short on. So I decided to go through my recipe binder and look for some recipes that looked both tasty and quick. And this one from an old Real Simple Magazine fit the bill perfectly. It takes hardly any time to prepare (10 minutes!) and the end result is soooo good. Plus- my husband loves it- giving me all the more incentive to make it more often. So here it is- Cuban Braised Beef with Peppers. My notes are again in red.
Ingredients:

• 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (I didn't drain- I like the extra juice in there)
• 2 Red bell peppers, sliced 1/2 inch thick (I only had multi- colored small peppers on hand so I used them)


• 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges (I cut mine into 8 wedges but then they fell apart into may pieces)


• 2 teaspoons dried oregano


• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, Kosher Salt, and black pepper


• 1.5 lbs. flank steak, cut crosswise into thirds (I used 1 lb.)


• 1 cup long- grain white rice (I used short grain Japanese)


• 1 avocado, sliced (We were out so I used a lime instead for extra flavor)


• fresh cilantro leaves

In a 5- 6 quart slow cooker, combine tomatoes and bell peppers

Add onions
Then add the oregano and cumin
Add salt and pepper
Cut the steak into thirds

And nestle among the vegetables (I added salt and pepper to the steaks since it was only ever included in the pot and not on the actual meat)
Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4- 5 hours (I did my 1 lb. steak oh high for 4) or on low for 7- 8 hours.
25 minutes before serving cook the rice according to package directions.

Using two forks, shred the beef and mix it into the cooking liquid. Serve with rice and top with avocado (lime in my case) and cilantro. Yum.


Aren't slow cookers awesome?!