A simply delicious and deliciously simple recipe

Holy moly it has been a busy week. I really should have appreciated my uni holidays more. Apologies for the delay in posting this blog (I was trying to establish some sort of regularity, in case you were wondering). Due to my lack of time to even scratch myself, I have found an ever increasing need for fast, yet delicious recipes. I’m talking 10-30mins all up, friends. So without further ado, I give you (drumroll please)……

Marvelous Mince - Makes 4 serves

• 1tbspn extra-virgin coconut oil
• 500g organic grass-fed beef mince
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1-2tbspn tomato paste (depending on how tomatoey you like your food)
• 2-3 splashes balsamic vinegar
• 1 large carrot, grated
• Bay leaf

Optional extras

• Mushrooms, chopped
• Kale (or silverbeet), washed and chopped
• Zucchini, chopped
• Curry powder (around 1tbspn)
• Herbs and spices (e.g. basil, oregano, rosemary – get creative!)

Instructions

• Heat oil in pan (med-high heat) then sauté onion and garlic until just tender.
• Add in mince and balsamic vinegar. Stir together with onions and garlic until meat is slightly browned.
• Add tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, herbs and spices and carrot. Stir together and turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer. Now is also the time to add in your optional extras and allow to simmer until vegies are cooked to your liking.

I generally just serve this with steamed veg, however you could definitely go all gourmet with your side dishes if you so please.

Not only is this a fabulous, healthy and simple dinner recipe, it also makes a great lunch and even better breakfast (it’s actually better the day after cooking). I love to add some poached eggs and avocado to really score some brownie points! I am yet to come across someone who doesn’t like this meal - even my 2 year old niece helped herself to THREE servings!! She’s such a little trooper. It's also just as good cold, so pack it in your lunch box and you are good to go!

Hopefully you also noticed that I stated to use “organic grass-fed beef”, for reasons which I have previously stipulated. And if you need another reason not to buy shoddy supermarket meat, check this out:

If you are one of those “I read/listen to/watch the news every day and scientists say that red meat is going to kill me”, and if you feel like nerding it up big time, check out this witty, yet objective and informative article posted by Denise Minger over on Mark’s Daily Apple. If you can’t be arsed getting your geek on with that much sciency information, I will summarise for you: red meat will not kill you. Ta da!!

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Feel free to make your own tweaks and changes – I would love to hear what does/doesn’t work! Stay cool peeps.