Ground Meat Skillet with Variations

Jim Weber

Inspired by “It Starts With Food” by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, the Whole30 team. This recipe is for an Asian-flair stir fry, but this makes a quick and easy foundation meal that can easily be altered to different tastes depending on what’s on-hand, in-season or desired. Using frozen ground meat and vegetables allows this dish to be made anytime. You can even skip the onion.

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Course Meat, Fish & Seafood Dishes

Ingredients

1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1 pound chopped mushrooms optional budget and health extender
0.5 tablespoon coconut oil
0.5 tablespoon sesame oil
1 thumb-size ginger root, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder Cinnamon, Black Pepper, Fennel Seed, Clove, Ginger, and Star Anise
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, grated
0.5 bell pepper, sliced
1 broccoli crown, cut into florets
salt to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat skillet over medium heat. Add oils (sesame oil will smoke if the pan is too hot). Saute onion until it starts to soften (about 4 - 5 mins). Add carrot and saute about 3 mins. Sprinkle with spice powder, stir and cook for 30 secs or until fragrant. Add ground beef and cook until fully browned, about 8 - 10 mins. Add broccoli and pepper. Stir, cover, and leave on low heat for 5 -10 mins. Serve alone, atop a salad, or wrapped in lettuce leaves like tacos. For optional mushrooms: Saute in a separate pan over medium-high heat for 15 mins. This will allow them to sweat out extra moisture. Combine with meat and veggie mixture towards the end. If you only have one burner or one pan, cook the mushrooms first, remove from pan, and combine all together at the end. (Recipe♦471)

Notes

Some easy flavor alternations:GREEK: Gound lamb preferred. Use olive oil, oregano, tomato, zucchini, egplant, and garlic. CURRY: Ground lamb, pork or turky. Use ghee (clarified butter), curry spice, and caulifower instead of broccoli. THAI: Ground turkey, pork, or beef. Use olive oil, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp sriracha, 1 tsp fish sauce, fresh basil or cilantro, garlic, and ginger.CHILI: Ground turkey, pork, or beef. Omit sesame oil. Use chili powder, corn, tomatoes, red or black beans, and garlic instead of ginger. Omit broccol, carrots, and mushrooms.