Tex-Mex Casserole

The original recipe was posted at PopularPaleo.com which appears to no longer be online. Luckily I saved it just in case… enjoy!

Tex-Mex Casserole

This is the Tex-Mex Casserole recipe originally posted on Popular Paleo.

Ingredients

  • 1-1.5 lbs grass-fed ground beef
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 2-3 carrots, diced (about a cup)
  • 1 parsnip, diced (about a cup and a half)
  • 1 zucchini, diced (6″ zucchini/one cup)
  • 2 cups diced bell peppers
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes
  • 3 TBSP preferred Paleo-friendly fat, like bacon grease or lard
  • 1/3 cup taco seasoning (or make your own)
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 5 cups shredded sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • Optional garnish: fresh cilantro, sliced scallions, avocado and hot sauce

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.

  2. Chop, dice and mince all the veggies and garlic. Notice that the volume of veggies to meat in the recipe is astoundingly in favor of the vegetables!

  3. Melt half of your fat of choice in a very large skillet or heavy-bottomed pan and add in all the veggies. Season with that 1/2 tsp of sea salt, toss together and cook these down until they are just about fork tender. Remove from the pan and set aside for later.

  4. In the same pan, add in the other half of your fat and get it up to temp.  Crumble in the ground beef, top with taco seasoning (purchased or your own blend, whatever you are comfortable with), mix and brown

  5. While the ground beef browns, break out your grater or better yet, your food processor.  Peel enough sweet potatoes to get you about 5 cups worth — I used 3 fairly large ones. Grate the sweet potatoes and set in a large mixing bowl.

  6. Melt 1/2 cup of coconut oil and pour over the shredded sweet potatoes while warm, toss immediately! The coconut oil will start to solidify again as it cools, so work efficiently. Once the coconut oil is mixed well, sprinkle the sweet potatoes with the onion powder, chili powder and ground coriander. Mix together.

  7. Add the cooked vegetables and the diced tomatoes back into the pan with the beef, mix carefully to bring everything together and cook for another 3 minutes or so… just to let all of the ingredients get to know each other for a second. Transfer all of this veggie-meaty goodness to a large casserole dish (I filled a 9″ x 13″ pan). Top with the seasoned, shredded sweet potatoes, cover with foil and pop this in the oven.

  8. Bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes, then remove the foil and broil on low for 5 minutes — or until the sweet potatoes have browned and crisped up a bit.  Eyeball it. To serve, top with fresh cilantro and sliced scallions with some avocado and hot sauce on the side!