We have quite the cooking competition going on at our house right now. Every night, a different person cooks dinner, the family judges on three categories: Health, Taste, and Presentation. The winner for the week gets to pick the Friday night movie. This last week I won with my Healthy Elk, Beet and Cabbage soup, and then I inflicted the movie “Emma” with Gwyneth Paltrow on my family. I think this week they won’t vote for me no matter what I make. But, since it was such a favorite, I thought I would share my recipe here. I made a side of gluten/dairy free biscuits to go along with it.
Time: About 1 hr.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1lb Elk ground (if you don’t have elk I would substitute lamb or venison, since the spices lend themselves to that type of meat. We don’t use much cow meat here but if I did use cow, I would probably change the spices a bit)
1 tsp fennel seed crushed
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp sage
½ tsp granulated garlic
A few sprigs of lemon thyme from my garden chopped finely
1 large onion
5 smallish potatoes (we have alternatively used sweet potatoes in the past, but I was in it to win it, and my kids prefer regular potatoes)
1 stalk of celery
1 parsnip or 2 carrots (Cecilee is allergic to carrots, so we substitute parsnips instead)
1 head of purple cabbage chopped into bite size pieces
1 large beet or 2 smaller beets grated
2 boxes of organic free-range broth or 8 cups of water and bullion.
4 cups water
Sea salt to taste.
As Garnishes:
Soft goat cheese or sour cream
Parsley or cilantro chopped fine for garnish
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1lb Elk ground (if you don’t have elk I would substitute lamb or venison, since the spices lend themselves to that type of meat. We don’t use much cow meat here but if I did use cow, I would probably change the spices a bit)
1 tsp fennel seed crushed
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp sage
½ tsp granulated garlic
A few sprigs of lemon thyme from my garden chopped finely
1 large onion
5 smallish potatoes (we have alternatively used sweet potatoes in the past, but I was in it to win it, and my kids prefer regular potatoes)
1 stalk of celery
1 parsnip or 2 carrots (Cecilee is allergic to carrots, so we substitute parsnips instead)
1 head of purple cabbage chopped into bite size pieces
1 large beet or 2 smaller beets grated
2 boxes of organic free-range broth or 8 cups of water and bullion.
4 cups water
Sea salt to taste.
As Garnishes:
Soft goat cheese or sour cream
Parsley or cilantro chopped fine for garnish
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Directions: Warm the olive oil in the pan, and add onions and spices, saute’ing until starting to sizzle. Add ground meat and brown. Once the meat is brown, add celery, potatoes and parsnip or carrots. Cook, stirring regularly until they start to soften. Add broth or bullion and water. Bring to a boil.
Add beets and cabbage, cooking just until tender. |
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Serve with a dollop of goat cheese or sour cream, and a garnish of parsley or cilantro.
What I love about this recipe:
This recipe is a good source of Iron, macro and micro nutrients and antioxidants. Not overcooking anything is key to getting the full benefit of these vitamins. Beets and cabbage are both known for helping move fluid in the body and clearing the liver. The elk meat is lean, but the olive oil adds healthy fats. The fennel and sage both help improve the digestion of the cabbage which can be somewhat problematic for some people, plus they really add to the flavor of the elk. Adding the root veggis and the dairy can help give the meal that little bit of depth that make the kids and hubby walk away from the table feeling satisfied. Having the dairy on the side means that those of us who avoid dairy can skip it.
Let me know what you think if you try this recipe!!
What I love about this recipe:
This recipe is a good source of Iron, macro and micro nutrients and antioxidants. Not overcooking anything is key to getting the full benefit of these vitamins. Beets and cabbage are both known for helping move fluid in the body and clearing the liver. The elk meat is lean, but the olive oil adds healthy fats. The fennel and sage both help improve the digestion of the cabbage which can be somewhat problematic for some people, plus they really add to the flavor of the elk. Adding the root veggis and the dairy can help give the meal that little bit of depth that make the kids and hubby walk away from the table feeling satisfied. Having the dairy on the side means that those of us who avoid dairy can skip it.
Let me know what you think if you try this recipe!!
