What To Do With Ground Beef Pt. 2 (AIP, Paleo, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

We buy a lot of meat in our house and it is always a challenge keeping the cost at a reasonable price. We like to get as much meat as possible from our farmer, but we do buy a substantial portion of meat from the store. We are lucky enough to live two miles from Wegmans where they have a pretty descent organic section. Their ground beef is organic and grass-fed and only costs about $16 for three pounds. That's probably the best you are going to find for beef of that quality. So we buy a lot of it. When I was just avoiding grains it was really easy to grill up some patties, throw on the typical burger toppings and wrap it in lettuce for easy eating. Now that I can't have burger toppings or raw vegetables I I have to be more creative about my ground beef dishes.  My first success was my leek burgers. Recently, I've been craving citrus which has led to kitchen experimentation (stay tuned for my orange muffin recipe). My creativity brought me to a new staple: citrus "noodles" with ground beef and broccoli.

What I like most about this recipe is that it is so easy to throw together. I also love that it is yummy, satisfies my craving for noodles with textured foods, and is super filling. We like to cook veggies and meats in bulk to use throughout the week. So, the ingredients I used are almost all pre-cooked:

1. Pumpkin: cut in half, place open side down on oiled cookie sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (for a small pumpkin) or until fork can easily go through skin into flesh. Use for purée or "spaghetti". To get noodle texture, scrape flesh with fork around the diameter of the pumpkin. 

2. Ground beef: make into patties or cook as is. We rarely add spice or zest, other than salt, because it is easy to add later and doesn't limit what we can do with the flavor. 

3. Broccoli: my new favorite is Wegmans' pre-cut bags of fresh organic broccoli. Just open and throw in the pan to sauté or in a pot of water to boil. Super easy I don't even need to cook in bulk.

I throw all these ingredients in a pan with coconut oil to reheat and toss zest of half a lime (or other citrus, I really liked orange, too) on top. Once warm, transfer to plate or bowl and add salt and citrus juice to taste (I used 1/3 of a lime). Yum!  If you aren't worried about FODMAPs this would be delicious with onions and garlic. You can also use a spaghetti squash instead of pumpkin but cook for at least 40 minutes. Strip flesh the same way you would the pumpkin except this squash should be stripped from top to bottom. 

Here's the recipe:

1 pumpkin

1 pound ground beef

1 head broccoli or 1 bag broccoli florets

1 citrus fruit

Coconut oil

1. Cut pumpkin in half, place open side down on oiled cookie sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (for a small pumpkin) or until fork can easily go through skin into flesh.

2. Sautee ground beef in pan until cooked.

3. When pumpkin is done, scrape "noodles" by running a fork along the diameter of the pumpkin flesh so it comes out in long strips.

4. Melt T+ of coconut oil in a large pan.  Add broccoli and sautee (or, alternately, you can boil the broccoli).  

5. Zest 1/2 of a citrus fruit (I used lime).

6. Add the pumpkin and zest to the pan with the sauteed broccoli, then add ground beef.  Combine, reheating if necessary.

7. Place in bowl or on plate, juice 1/3 of a small citrus fruit over the dish.

8. Enjoy!

What do you think? Do you have a favorite AIP-friendly ground beef recipe?

This recipe was posted at "Real Food Wednesdays."  Check it out for other great ideas.