Grass-Fed Ground Beef Tacos

This is probably my favorite and easiest meal to make at home. It's balanced, tastes really good and is super fast to make. It also makes great leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. I love to top these with a little bit of cholula hot sauce - perfection!

Grass-Fed Ground Beef Tacos

Makes ~8 tacos

Ingredients

1 pound grass-fed ground beef
2 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 avocados, cut into 1-inch pieces
queso fresco, crumbled, for topping (optional)
sour cream, for topping (optional)
whole wheat tortillas

Directions

1. Cook ground beef over medium-high heat, until fully cooked through. Drain excess fat off beef.

2. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Fill tortilla with ~2oz ground beef and top with remaining ingredients: 1/4 cup tomato, 1-2 tsp red onion, 1/8 avocado, 1 tsp queso fresco, and 1 tsp sour cream.

What are the nutritional benefits of this meal? Compared with conventional beef, grass-fed beef is lower in total fat, higher in omega-3 fatty acids and higher in vitamins, particularly vitamin E. Onions are rich in quercetin (a type of antioxidant) and vitamin C. Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C and lycopene. Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that have been shown to boost HDL (good cholesterol), and are an excellent source of vitamins C, E and carotenoids lycopene and beta carotene, as well as the minerals selenium and zinc. Whole wheat (versus white flour) tortillas retain fiber and B-vitamins.

Kale & Farro Pilaf

Farro is a rice-like ancient grain that is gaining popularity for its versatility. It is very hard to overcook and doesn't tend to get mushy. It has a slight nutty flavor and is commonly used as a breakfast cereal, added to soups and salads, and also makes really good side dishes, as it takes on the flavor of what it is cooked with. Whole farro needs to be soaked overnight because the grain still retains the entire bran, but semi-pearled farro has had some of the bran removed, allowing it to cook faster but retain some fiber. I used semi-pearled farro in this recipe, and it cooked in about 30 minutes.  This was a really great dish for incorporating kale, and had a nice flavor from the dried porcini mushrooms. The original recipe I used from Vegetarian Times magazine called for a small amount of white wine, but I didn't have any in the house, so I replaced the wine with more vegetable stock. I also left out the red pepper flakes that the recipe called for. It turned out really great and held up well for leftovers!

Kale & Farro Pilaf

Ingredients

1/3 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup organic semi-pearled farro
1 shallot, finely chopped (~1/2 cup)
2 cups organic vegetable stock
2 cups, packed, organic kale, torn into small pieces
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tsp fresh organic thyme, chopped

Directions

1. Grind porcini mushrooms in food processor. Set aside.

2. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add farro and shallot, cook for about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup vegetable stock and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add ground mushrooms and remaining vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

4. Add kale on top of farro, do not mix in. Cover pan and let simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Fold kale into farro and top with sliced almonds and thyme.

(Recipe adapted from April 2016 issue of Vegetarian Times)

I served this farro as a side dish to go along with baked savory salmon. For my savory salmon recipe, click here.

What are the nutritional benefits of this dish? Semi-pearled farro is an excellent source of fiber and protein, and a great source of magnesium. Kale is an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K. It is also a good source of minerals calcium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorous.