Is this healthy?

[captain_slinky]

Trying to decide if my new recipe is healthy or not...

One pound of ground MEAT (hamburger, turkey, pork, whatever)
One onion, diced.
Three tablespoons of Olive Oil
One small can of Tomato Paste
One can of Diced Tomatoes
FOUR CUPS OF PEELED, CUBED ZUCCHINI

Brown the meat and set it aside. In the pan that you browned the meat, put in the olive oil and the onions, saute till soft, then toss in all the zucchini with a bit of salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer till all the zucchini is soft, then add your tomato paste, diced tomatoes and browned ground beef, stir it up and mash it up till you no longer see any chunks of zucchini. The zucchini mooshes in to a smooth saucy texture that helps the tomato stuff spread and thicken nicely :) From here you can go one of two ways - add chili powder and cumin, it becomes Chili. Add oregano and garlic, it becomes Spaghetti Sauce.

SO VERSATILE! And a great use of all that Zucchini!

Comments

[dagna76.livejournal.com]

Sounds fairly healthy to me. Youve got a protein and lots of veggies. What do you think could be unhealthy about it?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I don't know... it really is just *too good* to possibly be healthy. Gotta be something in there like "Zucchini is high in Polygrumbletoxinites and is one of the sneakiest causes of juvenile diabetes out there, not to mention adult obesity and Cancer". Really, it tastes THAT GOOD :)

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

It sounds good to me. You can also add some soup stock, add a few veggies, and you have a good soup.

[aurora77]

I know, right?!? I just saute up a little onion, dump in some zucchini, and then in the last minute or two I toss in some minced garlic. Add a little salt & pepper and mmmmm. I won't say I'd choose it over bacon, but it's not much further down the list.

My other favorite veggie is butternut squash, but it's not in season right now. It tastes so rich, but it's not! Even just mashed and lightly spiced, it's good. A couple times a year I'll have a real treat with a little bit of brie melted in. When Costco has the big packages of cubed butternut squash, I'll roast them in the oven with a little olive oil and then mash it all up, some eggs, green onion (sauteed in butter), a little honey (optional), dry mustard, and pepper. Then it goes into a casserole dish topped it with some shredded Parmesan/Romano blend and baked until set. Without the honey it's low carb. The butter can be kept to a minimum and as much cheese as you want can be added to taste. I sometimes saute white or yellow onion with the green and add both to the casserole. I haven't met anyone yet who hasn't liked it. It can be a main dish or a side dish.

[aurora77]

Bah, LJ. That was supposed to go along with your "Too good to be healthy" comment.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

That sounds AWESOME! I'm becoming a fan of pretty much all squash, Acorn being a pretty easy staple of our diet (butter, salt, pepper). Looking forward to Butter Nut season now!