I wanted to make this a vegetarian meal, but I was caught in the act (by a certain husband of mine…) when trying to buy the vegetarian “meat crumbles”, and caved under pressure and went for the real stuff instead (aka beef). Oh well. To be honest, most of the vegetarian meat replacements aren’t good for my IBS because they contain FODMAPs, but if you want to make this vegetarian just swap the meat for your favorite meatless product (or possibly even tempeh).
I found this recipe on Cabot’s website, but made a few modifications, as I always do.
Tamale Skillet Supper
Slightly Modified from This Cabot Cheese Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup chopped onion **
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained **
- 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes (low-sodium if possible) **
- Cooking Spray
- 1 (16-ounce) tube prepared polenta, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 4 ounces reduced-fat cheddar cheese
- Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)
Directions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine ground beef, onion and bell pepper; cook until beef is browned, about 5 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon. Drain well. Stir in beans and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes longer.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Coat 1 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Line bottom and sides of dish with some of the polenta slices, leaving enough to cover the top. Spoon in beef mixture, then sprinkle with cheese. Top with remaining polenta slices.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley, if desired.
**NOTE: If you want this recipe to be lower FODMAPs, omit the onion, and use regular stewed tomatoes instead of the Mexican-style variety. You may or may not tolerate the beans well, but I took a Beano with this meal and was fine (Beano or an off-brand of Beano helps you digest Galatians, which are found in beans). If you are lactose intolerant you may need to use a lactose-free variety of cheese.
The meal tasted great, and the fact that it left very few dishes to be cleaned was a nice bonus.
Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1/6th of recipe
The C+ rating has a lot to do with the sodium content, most likely. I did not use low-sodium tomatoes, which is why that number is so high. Also, cheese has a lot of sodium. You could reduce the cheese and use a low-sodium tomato product and this number would be significantly less. IF you want to reduce the fat you could use ground turkey breast instead of lean ground beef, or you could use a 96% lean ground beef variety.
