Healthy Cuban “Picadillo”
This is a classic Cuban dish I grew up watching my grandmother slowly make in the kitchen, reinvented to be easy on the digestion, and healthier for your body, but still soaked with love. Using grass-fed ground beef or bison, rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, and coconut oil (instead of vegetable oil), this aromatic dish will fill your house and enrich your taste buds with a virtual trip to the jewel of the Caribbean.
Healthy Cuban “Picadillo”
WF GF DF SF
Serves 2 – 3
Ingredients
1½ pounds grass-fed ground beef or bison, or free-range ground turkey
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon thyme
½ tablespoon turmeric
Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
Sprinkling of cracked black pepper
½ cup pimento-stuffed olives*
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Garnish of chopped parsley
* Hint: You can use some of the olive juice to flavor the meat as it is cooking. If you do, then adjust the amount of salt you use.
Step 1
In a deep, ceramic-enameled saucepan, or a 360 Cookware stainless steel saucepan, heat the coconut oil on medium heat. Add the Herbes de Provence. Cook for 5 minutes or until aromatic.
Step 2
Add the ground beef or bison. Using a wooden cooking spoon start to break it up so that it spreads out evenly through the saucepan. Add the lemon juice all over the top. Dust evenly with the dried organic garlic powder. Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.
Step 3
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then as the meat cooks, continue breaking it up into small, round pieces using the wooden spoon. While doing this, you may add the thyme, turmeric, sea salt, and cracked pepper. Then add the olives. Break it up some more, and let it simmer for another 5 min, while returning the saucepan regularly to break the meat into smaller chunks.
Step 4
Add the white wine, then lower the heat to low. Cover once more, and let it cook for another 10 min at very low heat. Check on it halfway through (within 5 minutes), and continue breaking up the meat if necessary.
Step 5
Let it cool, then serve with a garnish of chopped parsley.
Tip: Our Turmeric Cauliflower recipe makes a really nice accompaniment to my Cuban Picadillo reinvented. Steamed butternut squash or a baked sweet potato also makes a nice side for this dish, especially on a cold winter’s night.