Greek Sloppy Joes ~ South Beach Diet

“This is not military issue, airman. What sort of uniform is that?”

“Cretan camouflage sir. If you want to blend in with a bunch of drunken Greeks there’s nothing better.” ~ Good Morning, Vietnam, 1987

**************

Good Morning, World!

I’ve been cookin’ up a storm from my new SBD cookbook and the latest adventure was Greek Sloppy Joes.  It seemed fairly easy and I had all the ingredients, which of course, is always helpful.

It’s made with plenty of store cupboard ingredients that most of you should have on hand.  The only things you might need to go out and buy are feta cheese and spring onions/scallions.

To make it SBD friendly, instead of the traditional white flour burger bun, the recipe suggests serving it over whole-wheat orzo, but that’s not something I’ve ever seen in the states, let alone here in the UK.  I did have some other whole-wheat pasta, so just used that.  This recipe is for Phase 2, but for Phase 1, just leave out the pasta.

***Greek Sloppy Joes***

Makes 4 servings

5oz/142g/¾C whole-wheat pasta

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

12oz/340g lean ground/minced sirloin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

14.5oz/400g can chopped/diced tomatoes

3 Tbsp tomato paste/puree

1/4 C/60ml water

4 Tbsp feta cheese (reduced fat, if possible)

1 spring onion/scallion, thinly sliced

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, about 5-10 minutes.

Add the beef and break up with a wooden spoon.  Cook until the beef is almost all browned but still a little pink.  Sprinkle with the oregano, cayenne and cinnamon.

Stir in the can of tomatoes (with juice), tomato paste and water.  Cover and let simmer until the sauce is thickened and flavorful, about 30 minutes.

While the meat mixture is cooking, bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.  Drain well.

Divide the pasta evenly among 4 bowls and spoon the meat mixture evenly on top.

Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of feta and some spring onion.

Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

♥♥  Terri  ♥♥

Too Hot to Cook Taco Salad

Hi Gang!

Now before you all berate me about being MIA for several days, it wasn’t my fault.  The cooling fan on my laptop decided to put me out of service on Thursday (the 19th) about 30 minutes after I got on here.  I had just posted all the pictures from the Olympic Torch Relay onto my Facebook page and suddenly the fan got real loud; almost sounded like a jet engine starting up!  So long story short, it’s all better!

Summer had finally arrived here in the UK…and it was too darn hot to cook last week. (the weather has cooled down again…sigh)  So what better than a nice cool salad that’s easy to make and fairly healthy.  You can even make it ahead of time, stick it in the fridge and eat it later.  The only cooking involved is browning the meat, which shouldn’t be too difficult, even in the heat.  You will need to cook the beef early in the day so that it can cool down.  You can just plop this on the table with all the fixin’s and let everyone help themselves.

This is one of those things that we really don’t measure much of the ingredients, so I’ve given you some approximate amounts.  Chef P introduced me to this at one of my barbecues back in PA nearly 10 years ago.  This was the dish he brought.

When you brown the beef mince, you’ll want to season it quite well.  You can either use a pre-made chili powder or if you want, make your own which is what I did and it’s simple to do.  Below is the recipe for the chili powder mix.

Here’s what you’ll need….

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

lean beef mince (about 1 1/4 lbs or 500g)

4½ tsp chili powder (or make your own: 1 tsp each of cayenne, salt, cumin, oregano; 1/2 tsp garlic powder.  Combine until well mixed and set aside)

lettuce, any type (I used Romaine)

1-2 tomatoes (sliced or chopped)

1/2 English cucumber (thinly sliced or chopped, peeled or not)

kidney beans (1 X 14oz./400g can should suffice)

To serve…

Nacho chips

Salad dressing

Cheddar Cheese, grated

And here’s what to do….

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil to the pan, let it warm up and then add the beef mince and brown it, breaking up the pieces in the process.  When the meat in nearly browned, sprinkle over the chili powder and stir it in well until thoroughly mixed and the meat is fully cooked.

Line a bowl with paper towel and remove the meat from the pan to the bowl with a slotted spoon, let cool a few minutes, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the beef is chilled, you can prepare the salad.  Get a large glass serving bowl (one of those clear glass bowls would be great for this so you can see everything!) and start with a few spoonfuls of the kidney beans, then add some beef, then some lettuce, some tomato, some cucumber and then back to kidney beans, adding layers as you go of each item.  You should end up with tomatoes on top.  Cover and chill until ready to eat.

As I noted above, this can just be put out on the table with all the trimmings (cheese, nachos and dressings) and let everyone help themselves.  If you have any leftover, it’s a great take-to-work lunch!
Enjoy!

♥♥ Terri  ♥♥