Curried Ground Beef with Green Peppers

If I’m being perfectly honest here—I work a lot. I juggle a full-time and part-time job, which zaps about 60 hours of my week. I also strive to reach that perfect balance of "me time" and time spent with my love, friends, and family. On any given weekday, you can find me going to job number 1, coming home and eating dinner, and then hustling off to job number 2. In order to survive with this schedule on Whole30, I have to be a champion meal prepper. This includes buying and making a lot of quick-cooking meats—more specifically, ground meats. I also try to make things from ground meats that I can fashion into different meals to prevent boredom throughout the week. This particular recipe was conceived as I stared at a package of ground beef and thought to myself, “What can I make besides more hamburgers?” and I present it to you in two different ways. Let me know what you think!

                                   Curried Ground Beef with Green Peppers

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 pound ground beef

1 tablespoon yellow curry

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup canned coconut milk**

1.) Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add coconut oil and swirl to coat the pan.

2.) Add onions and peppers, and stir. Continue cooking about 4-5 minutes, or until soft.

3.) Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-45 seconds.

4.) Add ground beef, and break up with a spatula. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until no pink remains, about 5-6 minutes.

5.) Notch down the heat to medium low. Add the curry, coriander, crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper, and stir to combine.

6.) Add the coconut milk, and stir. Let simmer and meld together about 2-3 minutes.

**If you’re looking for more of a sauce with the meat, then add more coconut milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. 1/4 cup works for me because I like to use the ground beef for salads throughout the week, so I don't want it too "sauce-like." However, if zoodles are your goal, add more coconut milk!

Recommendations

The salad pictured above has romaine lettuce, spinach, cauliflower rice, and cherry tomatoes and is topped with the ground beef mixture. I usually drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the salad for a little extra punch.

I also love having the ground beef with a serving of potatoes (see: last entry, re: meat and potatoes girl). In the picture below, I roasted red, white, and blue potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and rosemary in a 400^o oven for about 30 minutes. The ground beef is also great over a bed of cauliflower rice mixed with sautéed spinach.