Beef and Barley Hotdish

We learned about Hotdish in Minnesota. I first thought they were referring to a warm plate. Not so much. Hotdish usually has a cream of something soup as a binder, so this isn't technically a true hotdish. And, if it was a truly Minnesotan meal, it would have been served with bars.

This recipe is modified from The Great Minnesota Hotdish by T. Millang. The Rotel was my addition - and made it much spicier than a typical MN-bland hotdish. It also made it too spicy for my kids, so I would probably tone it down if I make this again.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground beef ($1.00 - got a good deal on organic beef that was about to reach it's sell-by date)

1 c chopped onion ($0.30)

2 cloves garlic, chopped ($0.20)

1 c uncooked barley ($0.50)

1/2 c diced celery ($0.15)

14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained ($0.90)

10 oz can Rotel, undrained ($0.50 - stocked up during a good deal recently)

2.5 c water (free)

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Brown beef and drain all but 1 Tb drippings. Place beef in a 2.5 or 3 qt baking dish.

3. Saute garlic, celery and onion in beef drippings until tender.

4. Add all ingredients to baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 1 - 1.5 hours or until barley is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

I served with cheese toast ($1.00)

Total: $4.55