Blend & Extend Appetizer Contest: Beef Mushroom Endive Taco Boats by The Primal Desire
Have you heard about our contest leading into this year’s Food Blogger of Canada Conference? We’re encouraging all FBC Members to create an original appetizer recipe using the Blend & Extend concept. You can read more about the contest details HERE.
Bloggers are getting competitive and more and more submissions are filling my inbox. We’ve got another great entry to share with you! Raj of The Primal Desire used the Blend & Extend idea to make these impressive little taco boats! They’re perfect for entertaining.
Beef Mushroom Endive Taco Boats by The Primal Desire
This is a recipe for the Blend and Extend strategy – adding finely chopped mushrooms to ground beef to add more vegetables to your plate, extending portions and adding volume to meals. That works for me because I normally dice up a whack of veg and mix it into my GB.
Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
6 large white or brown mushrooms (finely chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped – ¼ cup put aside for salsa)
1 red chilli pepper (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic
3 heaping Tbsp taco seasoning (homemade or Paleo variety)
4-6 endives (leaves separated from base – see video above)
1 cup cherry tomatoes (finely chopped)
2-3 Tbsp ghee or grass-fed butter
optional:
½ – 1 can black olives (chopped)
shredded aged cheddar or crumbled blue cheese (if lacto-paleo)
Pineapple Salsa:
1½ cups pineapple (about ½ a pineapple – finely chopped – choosing & cutting pineapples)
¼ cup red onion (finely diced – from above)
1-2 Tbsp cilantro (diced)
1 avocado (cubed, salted and coated in lime juice)
This is a recipe for the Blend and Extend strategy – adding finely chopped mushrooms to ground beef to add more vegetables to your plate, extending portions and adding volume to meals. That works for me because I normally dice up a whack of veg and mix it into my GB.
Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
6 large white or brown mushrooms (finely chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped – ¼ cup put aside for salsa)
1 red chilli pepper (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic
3 heaping Tbsp taco seasoning (homemade or Paleo variety)
4-6 endives (leaves separated from base – see video above)
1 cup cherry tomatoes (finely chopped)
2-3 Tbsp ghee or grass-fed butter
optional:
½ – 1 can black olives (chopped)
shredded aged cheddar or crumbled blue cheese (if lacto-paleo)
Pineapple Salsa:
1½ cups pineapple (about ½ a pineapple – finely chopped – choosing & cutting pineapples)
¼ cup red onion (finely diced – from above)
1-2 Tbsp cilantro (diced)
1 avocado (cubed, salted and coated in lime juice)
Method
Pineapple Avocado Salsa (make this in advance so that flavors can blend):
1. Mix ¼ cup finely chopped red onion with pineapple, cilantro, and avocado.
2. Place in fridge until needed.
Pineapple Avocado Salsa (make this in advance so that flavors can blend):
1. Mix ¼ cup finely chopped red onion with pineapple, cilantro, and avocado.
2. Place in fridge until needed.
Endive Boats:
1. In a large frying pan or pot, melt ghee or butter over medium heat.
2. Add remaining onions and mushrooms, cooking until soft.
3. Add chilli, garlic and beef, stirring well to break up ground beef.
4. Once browned, mix in taco seasoning and olives.
5. Fill each endive leaf with ground beef/mushroom mixture.
6. If using cheese, sprinkle each endive.
7. Serve with pineapple salsa and cherry tomatoes to be spooned on top.
1. In a large frying pan or pot, melt ghee or butter over medium heat.
2. Add remaining onions and mushrooms, cooking until soft.
3. Add chilli, garlic and beef, stirring well to break up ground beef.
4. Once browned, mix in taco seasoning and olives.
5. Fill each endive leaf with ground beef/mushroom mixture.
6. If using cheese, sprinkle each endive.
7. Serve with pineapple salsa and cherry tomatoes to be spooned on top.
Notes
This is great with aged cheddar or even blue cheese if you eat lacto-paleo. If not, it’s still a really nice balance of flavors to share with everyone!
I’m Raj. To say that I love food would be a severe understatement. Food is everything! It is nourishment. It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s health. It’s social. It’s spiritual. It’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning (or afternoon. …or in the middle of the night). It’s enjoyment. It’s comfort. Food is love!
Being a pharmacist, healthy lifestyle habits are incredibly important to me -because I sure don’t want to be taking medications if I can prevent it!!! My time in healthcare has emphasized how crucial it is for us human beings to make smart healthy decisions, and food- well like I said: food is everything.Follow along with Raj at The Primal Desire, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
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Join the competition for your chance to win an “Appetizer Spotlight” at the Blend & Extend table at the FBC conference in October.
