Savory Ground Beef & Apple Hash- Whole 30, Paleo

Fall is the best time of year for cooking- squash, apples, and flavor profiles full of warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Let me tell you I do miss the fresh watermelon and fields full of blueberries and strawberries, but being able to sit down with a cup of hot spiced tea makes the transition to the cooler weather a little bit easier. 

This fall, I decided to try out something a little different and make a new hash. We all know that apples and pork pair well together- but what about apples and ground beef? What about apples, cinnamon, and ground beef?

You may be twisting up your face, thinking ‘lady, you must be crazy- ground beef and cinnamon? No thank you’. But I’m asking you to trust me on this one (just like you trusted me on the pork and blueberry sausage patties). It’s a great mix of savory and sweet and every morning I heated it up for breakfast at work, everyone was asking me what smelled so amazing. 

So put all of those apples from apple picking to good use and try out this Savory Ground Beef & Apple Hash. 

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds of ground beef 
• 2 small/1 large apple, diced
• 2 small/1 large sweet potato, diced
• 1 bag of frozen cauliflower rice
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 3-3.5 tsp extra vigin olive oil (EVOO) (split into 1-1.5 tsp and 2 tsp)
• 2 tsp salt (split into 1 tsp and 1 tsp)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• .5 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 3 tsp dried thyme (split into 1 tsp and 2 tsp)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Toss the diced sweet potatoes in 1-1.5 tbsp olive oil, 1tsp salt and 1tsp thyme. Roast sweet potatoes for 25 min total. (I always prefer to roast the sweet potatoes so they don’t get soggy in the skillet)
2. Heat 2 tsp EVOO in on medium heat. Add in onion and diced bell pepper and sauté for 5 minutes. 
3. Add in the ground beef and sauté until the beef is browned. Drain. 
4. Add in 1 bag frozen cauliflower rice and diced apples along with all of the rest of your spices (1 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp sage, 2 tsp thyme). Allow to cook for about 5 minutes until apples are getting soft and cauliflower rice is heated through. 

Enjoy!