Simple Ground Beef Recipes Made Healthy

Posted by Matt on January 28th, 2010 at 04:56pm

Ground beef can be part of a healthy diet. Red meat is often stigmatized, but it can be eaten guilt-free. In fact, lean ground beef is a great source of vitamin B12, iron, magnesium and protein. Here are some great tips to show you how to be healthy with ground beef, plus the recipe for Baked Pizza Pita Sandwich, an indulgent dish made healthy.

Cut Out The Fat – Choose ground beef that is at least 90 percent lean. When browning ground beef, just let the natural fat drain out during the process, as opposed to cooking the meat oil or another fat to begin with. To remove excess fat from already-cooked ground beef, wrap up the meat in a paper towel. To remove even more fat, press cooked ground beef through a colander or strainer.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better – One serving of ground beef should be around 8 ounces, or roughly the same size as a deck of cards. For most people, that is hardly anything. In the dishes, think of ground beef more as a supporting actor than the star. Healthy ground beef recipes should be mostly loaded with veggies and whole grains.

Featured Recipe: Baked Pizza Pita Sandwich

Cooking Time: 40 min

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 15 ounces can tomato or pizza sauce
• 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
• 1 package whole wheat pitas
• 8 ounces part skim cheese
• 2 ounces mushrooms
• 1/4 cup low fat Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cook and stir the meat in a large skillet until brown. Drain off the excess fat.

3. Stir in half of the tomato sauce and the oregano leaves into the meat mixture. Heat to boiling then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

4. While the meat mixture is simmering, place pitas in a greased pan.

5. Spoon remaining tomato sauce onto each pita.

6. Layer 2 slices of the cheese, the meat mixture and mushrooms on top of the tomato sauce.

7. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese and bake, uncovered, until it is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

8. Cool for 5 minutes. Fold in half like a taco or cut into slices before serving.

Tags: food, healthy foods, Healthy Recipes, what to eat

Under Healthy Recipes Tags: food, healthy foods, Healthy Recipes, what to eat