Chilaca Bowl Recipe
We have a new restaurant down the street, named Chilacas (a word that means “chili” in New Mexico slang). They serve a dish Kathy and I have come to love, called a “Chilaca Bowl.”
Tired of driving to their restaurant four times weekly, I took a crack at making it myself tonight, and the results were delicious. Here is my version of the Chilaca Bowl.
It’s basically a taco salad without the taco shells. Quite healthy!
INGREDIENTS
1 lb extra lean ground beef
15 ounces of green chili (or green-chili-based salsa)
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 15oz can refried black beans
1 cup rice (or 1 pkg prepared rice mix)
1 cup lightly chopped fresh spinach or green leaf lettuce
1 avocado, halved/pitted and sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 scallion (green onion), diced
1T mild red chili powder
1/2t chipotle chili powder
Caesar dressingDIRECTIONS
Rinse the rice thoroughly and cook it per the directions on the packaging. Warm the refried beans in a covered sauce pan, but keep the heat low and stir occasionally so they they don’t burn. Begin frying the beef in a large pan, chopping and turning the meat periodically with a spatula. Once the beef is medium-rare, add the green chilis and garlic, and continue cooking uncovered, so any excess water will evaporate. Add mild red chili powder and chipotle chili powder to taste (warning: chipotle is HOT, but imparts a lovely smoky flavor).PRESENTATION
Makes 3 to 4 servings. Begin by placing a large dollop of refried beans in the bottom of each bowl. Follow this with a nice-sized scoop of rice. Then the beef. Top it off with the spinach, caesar dressing, avocado slices, diced tomato, and scallions.
Enjoy. And let me know how it turns out. Tonight I actually made 6X the volume of the above recipe, so I would have lots of leftovers. 
I put the beans/rice/meat part in tupperware bowls to refrigerate or freeze, so all I need to do is warm it up and put the diced vegetables on top for a fresh homemade meal on the fly.
