Add ground beef to skillet and heat to medium-high, breaking up ground beef as it cooks. Drain any fat if necessary. Add in the onion and bell pepper and continue to cook until onion is just tender, five or six minutes, stirring as necessary.

Push the mixture in the skillet aside, add the garlic and cook a minute or two until fragrant, then mix the garlic in. Add in the tomatoes, water, and chili powder, salt and paper, allspice if using and a dash or two of hot sauce.

Add in the rice and gently stir an absolute minimum to mix in the rice and cover with the liquid. (Be careful with any stirring once the rice is in so it doesn’t turn to mush.) Bring the contents to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer very, very gently for 22-24 minutes, or until rice is just cooked. If possible, don’t lift the lid until ready to check for doneness.

When rice is cooked, very gently, with a thin spatula, working from the bottom turn the ground beef and rice over. Remove from heat, add cheese if using, cover and let sit for five minutes.