Sloppy Joes on Spinach Bread

The 85/15 grass-fed ground beef from Trader Joe's has become one of the staple items of my weekly grocery store shopping spree. The Sloppy Joe is something I haven't tried but kind of similar to the crock pot tomato meat sauce I make, but a bit thicker, I guess - more like the traditional meaty dish. Truth be told, I don't think I've ever had a Sloppy Joe, but what the hey. I pulled this from the Paleo Solution's 30-day plan and modified it just a little. Also, to mimic this hardy meal, I baked a spinach "bread" earlier in the day to kind of "sandwich" the Joe. This recipe is courtesy of the Primal Blueprint Cookbook, by Mark Sisson. (See link on the sidebar.)

Pre-bake the spinach bread so it's cooled in time for your meal.

Spinach bread

4 eggs

16 oz chopped frozen spinach

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 tbsp butter

about 15 fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and toast pine nuts until golden brown. (I used the 2 tablespoons, but I think 1 would have been sufficient. You can also use a tablespoon of olive oil if you're dairy free.) Pine nuts burn easily so make sure the heat isn't too high, and keep an eye on it. While the nuts are getting toasty, thaw your spinach under cold water, and using a thin towel or cheese cloth, wrap the spinach and wring out as much of the excess water from the spinach. Use a lot of elbow grease! Whip the eggs in a medium or large bowl.

When pine nuts are a golden brown, pulse the nuts and basil leaves in a food processor until the nuts are chopped - about 20 rotations. Add the mixture and spinach to the eggs and combine thoroughly. Evenly spread "batter" into a pie plate or a 9x9 baking dish. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Let cool.

It actually has a bread-like texture and the flavor is really mild, so it shouldn't overpower any dish. It also came out of the pie plate thick enough that I could slice it in half.

Sloppy Joe

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup tomato puree

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground mustard seed/mustard powder

In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium/medium-high heat until browned. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer over low/medium low heat for 10-15 minutes. Serve!

I only had tomato paste on hand so I watered down half a small can with 1 cup of water. Also, when first adding the unsweetened cocoa powder, the chocolatey smell seemed overwhelming, and I think I could have reduced it by half a tablespoon. Lastly, I threw in some diced tomatoes I needed to use.

Serve it over any vegetable you wish, or try the spinach bread for a more sandwich-like tactile experience. :D (I still used a fork, but I'm a delicate cavegirl.)

Other great options would be to add more pure tomato sauce and some Italian herbs to transform it into a spaghetti (squash) sauce, or serving it over some eggs and topping it with avocado and salsa for a paleo huevos rancheros breakfast! Nom nom nom.

P.S. Sorry about the poor picture quality, cavekids. Please be patient as we figure out culinary photography.