Category Archives: Beef

Beef, Main Dish, Recipes

Stuffed Taco Peppers and Zucchini

My modest little garden is yielding a few decent-sized zucchini and bell peppers and one way both of these are part of a delicious main dish is by stuffing them. Usually, the stuffed peppers or zucchini have an Italian leaning in the seasonings, but this one is a little different.

This takes your standard stuffed zucchini or stuffed bell pepper and put a Mexican flavored twist on it so that it tastes more like a taco than an Italian dish. I used two zucchinis and 2 bell peppers so that I had a variety in the vegetables. With two for dinner, this gives us three meals and a bit of variety. The extra pieces of both the squash and the bell pepper are mixed into the meat. Of course, you can use all zucchini or all bell peppers, but the mix is very nice.

  

Stuffed Taco Seasoned Peppers and Zucchini

1 pound Ground Beef
1 packet Lawry’s Taco Seasoning,
1/4 cup Onions, chopped
1 Egg, large
1 cup Diced Tomatoes
2 medium Zucchini Squash
1 medium Sweet Bell Peppers

Prepare the zucchini and bell peppers

Trim the ends of the zucchini, then cut down the middle lengthwise. Cut out the middle of the squash to form a boat. (Use a paring knife to cut in about 1/4 inch from the edge and down almost to the bottom, then use the knife to carefully cut under the center portion and remove it. Chop the part removed into small pieces and set aside.

Cut the top off the bell peppers and chop the pepper part off the top around the stem. Set aside. Clean the seeds out of the pepper. Put the pepper into a microwaveable pan, add about 1/2 inch of water and put in the microwave for about 2 minutes to steam the peppers and partially cook them. Repeat with the zucchini.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the filling

In a bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, onions, chopped up zucchini and chopped bell pepper tops. Add the taco seasoning and mix well.

Stuff the vegetables

Separate the filling into the six portions. Fill each of the zucchini halves with a portion of the meat. Use the last two portions to stuff the bell peppers. Put in a baking pan with a little water in the bottom.

Bake for 30 minutes until the meat is completely done. Warm the tomatoes in a sauce pan and serve a tablespoon or two over the top of the stuffed vegetables.

You can add sour cream or a couple of tablespoons of shredded Mexican cheese to the top, if you wish.

For a side dish, I used roasted kohlrabi, eggplant and turnips with the zucchini and I used Cauli-rice Risotto with chicken broth, bell pepper and onions with the bell peppers. Wonderful!

Nutrition Info:
Zucchini – Calories: 270.2 Fat: 21 g Net Carbs: 3.8 g Protein: 15 g
Peppers – Calories: 286.9 Fat: 21 g Net Carbs: 7.2 g Protein: 15 g

Original Post on 9/15/2013

Beef, Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Tex-Mex Taco Pie

You don’t need a special occasion to have a taste of Tex-Mex food on the menu.  This is a simple to make pie with taco toppings on it.  I served it with a side of cauli-rice made with green enchilada sauce and onions, plus the lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese on the side.  Add a little sour cream and guacamole and you have a great meal.

A quick mix taco pie that has just a bit of cornmeal in the crust to give it that corn tortilla taste without adding too many carbs. The cornmeal is optional. To make a lower carb version, omit the corn meal and add 2 more tablespoons of ground flax meal.

1/2 cup Low Carb Flour *
1 tablespoons ground Golden Flax Meal
1 tablespoon Corn Meal
1 Egg
1/4 cup  Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Water
1 teaspoon red Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 cup Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese, shredded
1 cup Ground Beef, lightly browned
1/4 cup Mexican Chorizo
2 tablespoons fresh Cilantro

1 cup chopped or torn Lettuce (iceberg or Romaine)
4 tablespoon Pico de Gallo (onion, tomato, cilantro and jalapeño chopped)
4 tablespoons Guacamole or 1/2 sliced Avocado

* use the flour of your choice, but if you use coconut flour, then only use 1/4 cup and add an extra egg

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray or lightly butter, if you prefer.

Combine the cream and water in a cup and mix. In a small bowl, mix flours, egg, seasonings and 1/2 the cream mixture. Stir well or beat with an egg beater to remove lumps. Add the remaining cream and 1/2 the cheese and mix together. Pour into the pie pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, prepare the topping. In a skillet, lightly brown the ground beef. Don’t let it get too cooked, just enough to brown it a little. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Cook the chopped onions in the skillet until just softened. Remove to paper towel with the meat. Put the chorizo in the pan and cook until it is melted and slightly cooked. Turn off heat. Add the ground beef, onions and cilantro back to the pan and mix together.

Remove tin from the oven and top with the meat mixture then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Put back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.

Cut into four slices and serve with lettuce, pico de gallo and guacamole over the top or on the side.

Serves 4
Calories: 376.2 Fat: 27.9 g Net Carbs 7.1 g Protein: 22.1 g

Without cornmeal (4 tbls flax meal)
Calories: 380 Fat: 28.9 g Net Carbs: 4.3 g Protein: 22.6 g