Beef Up Lunch Plus A $50 Giveaway

I served Sweet Potato Beef Mash-Up Wraps with cherry tomatoes, grapes and baked zucchini crisps.

Move over, turkey! There's a new partner in town for your buddy, sweet potatoes. You may have a "beef" that you're getting booted aside, but taste buds don't lie, so mosey on down the road until November, won't you?

Hamburger and sweet potatoes are the new co-stars in Sweet Potato Beef Mash-Up Wraps, a recipe developed by the Beef Council to be used in school lunch programs to meet the revised USDA school lunch guidelines.

As a Kansas beef producer, I'm always glad to see beef included in school lunches. A 3-ounce serving of lean beef (about the size of an iphone) contains 150 calories, yet provides more than 10 percent of the Daily Value for 10 essential nutrients, including protein, which is important for kids (and adults) because:

• It helps maintain a healthy weight;
• It helps physical performance;
• It supports growth, repair and maintenance of the body's tissues;
• It supports the production of red blood cells;
• It provides satiety (a feeling of fullness).

To help schools include high-quality protein, like beef, on the menu, a team of culinary experts developed five new beef recipes. (All five recipes can be found by clicking here.) Before final selection, the recipes were tested in schools across the U.S. to evaluate students' response, as well as ease of preparation and food sourcing for lunch personnel.

While it's not a combination that I would have dreamed up myself, the Sweet Potato Beef Mash-Up serves up a tasty and healthy meal with just enough Mexican spice to wake up your taste buds. And you can get dinner on the table in around 30 minutes - always a bonus in my book. 

There's still a little bit of time left for Kansas school food service directors to try one of the new ground beef school lunch recipes at home and then add it to their school lunch rotation for 2013-14. As an incentive, the Kansas Beef Council is offering to reimburse, up to $10 through September 1, school menu developers for ground beef purchases to try one of the new recipes.

But you don't have to be in food service for a chance to win a gift card! I was asked by the Kansas Beef Council to try one of the beef recipes and share it on Kim's County Line. The Beef Council has provided me with a $50 gift card to give away to one of you! To be eligible for the gift card, please leave a comment on the blog about your favorite meal featuring beef. If you have trouble leaving a comment, you may email me at rkjbfarms@gmail.com. The winner of the gift card will be chosen at random from all the comments received. The opportunity to win the $50 gift card will close at midnight on August 28, and the winner will be announced here.

Check out other beef recipes on Kansas Beef's Pinterest or like Kansas Beef Council on Facebook. Also, you can find recipes at Beef:  It's What's For Dinner.

I also received money to cover the cost of ingredients in making this recipe. However, the opinions are my own (and Randy's, of course)! I modified the recipe as indicated in the recipe notes. 

***UPDATE:  Ginger Sanders was the lucky winner of the $50 from the Kansas Beef Council. Randy drew her name from the bowl. (Really high-tech, right?!) Ginger shared that her hubby's favorite beef recipe is meatloaf. He likes it just as much the second day as meatloaf sandwiches. Thanks to all who participated by naming your favorite beef dish! UPDATE ***

Sweet Potato Beef Mash-Up

Makes 4 servings

Total Recipe Time:  30 to 35 minutes

1 lb. ground beef (93 percent lean or leaner)
1/2 cup water, divided
4 tsp. taco seasoning mix, divided
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup Greek or regular nonfat yogurt
1/2 to 1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro
Small whole wheat flour tortillas (6- to 7-inch diameter), warmed (opt.)

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef; cook 8 to 10 minutes, breaking into crumbles and stirring occasionally. Remove drippings. Stir in 1/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons taco seasoning; cook 3 minutes. Remove from skillet; keep warm.

Combine sweet potatoes, onion, remaining 1/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons taco seasoning in the same skillet. Bring water to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring once. (Note:  When I checked this at 5 minutes, the potatoes were starting to stick, but weren't cooked. So I added another 1/4 cup water. That worked well.) After 10 minutes, remove lid; stir in oil. Continue cooking, uncovered, 4 to 6 minutes or until potatoes are tender and begin to brown, stirring frequently. Return beef mixture to skillet; continue to cook 2 to 4 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine yogurt and hot sauce, as desired, in small bowl. Note: I only used 1/2 teaspoon, but you can adjust it to taste.

Evenly divide beef mixture into four tortillas (about 1 cup for each serving). (This can be served as a hash without the tortilla and is 247 calories.) Garnish with cilantro and serve with yogurt mixture as desired.

Nutritional Information with 1 small tortilla, 1 cup of the beef-sweet potato mixture and 1 tablespoon of the yogurt mixture: 357 calories; 15 g fat (5 g saturated & 5 g monounsaturated fat); 76 mg cholesterol; 576 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrate; 5.0 g fiber; 29 g protein; 6.3 mg niacin; 0.4 mg vitamin B6; 2.3 mcg vitamin B12; 2.8 mg iron; 18.3 mcg selenium; 6.0 mg zinc; 82.3 mg choline.

This recipe is an excellent source of fiber, protein, niacin, vitamin B6 and B12, selenium and zinc; and a good source of iron and choline.

Rock and Roll Beef Wraps

Want to try another of the recipes developed through Beef Checkoff dollars? I made this one, too, and the guys found them in their wheat harvest meals-to-the-field line-up.

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I'm linked today to Ashley's What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday.