Minced beef with courgettes and hummus is one of my Greek inspired dishes and a real comfort food staple in this house. Any type of mince (lamb, beef, turkey or pork) can be used for this recipe. Being brought up in Scotland I’m using beef mince here. Good old mince and tatties (potatoes) being a Scottish staple. Let’s just go Greek, lighter and more Mediterranean with our minced beef today.
When I first started to try to cut carbs from my diet (and no, I don’t mean all carbs, I just mean cutting down on the traditional culprits to waistloss; potatoes, rice, pasta and bread) I was terrified that I’d really miss my mash, chips and the other members of the band. If you think before you cook, plan your plate so to speak you can very easily do without those guuys and not miss them at all.
Mediterranean Diet
As I’ve said before in other posts, the Mediterranean diet is packed with vegetables and pulses with the use of meat being limited. This recipe for minced beef with courgettes and hummus ticks the boxes perfectly. The meat is just part of the recipe, it is not dominating the plate which is usually the problem with our ‘normal’ western diet where we have a great slab of meat and the veggies play a rather limited part being just a side to the star of the plate.
Don’t go heavy on the carbs
Here we have the mince cooked with courgettes and served on a pillow of rich hummus then nestled on on a bed of spinach. This is a meal in itself. You don’t need to add any more carbs to your plate, so resist the temptation to add potatoes and just enjoy this healthy Greek style feast on a plate.
Kali Orexi!
K x
- 500g minced beef
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 courgette cut into rounds
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 4 tbsp hummus
- 4 tbsp Greek yogurt
- Lemon wedges to serve
- Fry the mince in 1 tbsp oil till browned and set aside
- Add remaining oil to pan and sauté the garlic for 2 mins
- Add courgettes and fry till golden on both sides, about 5 mins
- Add the mince back to the pan with herbs, spices and seasoning and cook for 5 mins
- Add spinach for further 2 mins
- Mix the hummus and yogurt together in small bowl
- Place the spinach on the plates and then spoon on the hummus/yogurt mix before topping with the mince mixture
- Sprinkle with more herbs (serves 2)
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