So one of the ways I get inspiration for meals and recipes is to go shopping. This week I went to Asda, not our usual supermarket but we went as someone had told me they had skipping ropes and hula hoops reduced right down. Just to interject here, shopping with a 3 month old, almost 3 year old and 5.5 year old on your own is madness. Of course by time I had navigated getting a baby and 2 kids into the car, found the shop, out of the car, across the car park, into and around the trolley and into the shop – there had sold them all. Never one to like a wasted journey we had a little walk around and stocked up on a few essentials/not-so-much-essentials-but-childrens-requests. Did I mention the madness of shopping with 3 small people?!
I love looking at new food products. They seem to be coming onto the market continually. So when perusing the reduced section (I can’t step away from a bargain) I found “Lean and Bean Mince”. It is 60% beef and 40% beans. I love this. Adding the beans means you use less beef and more plant protein, making it lower in total and saturated fat but still high in protein and it is also saving you pennies. Normal lean beef mince was £7.80/kg for a 500g pack and this was £4.38/kg. It is also exactly the advice I often dish out to people: “bulk out your meat dishes by adding plant protein such as lentils, beans and other pulses”. Potentially a new health food product that is actually good!
NB: If you can’t get this mince then why not add a tin of chopped kidney beans to your mince and make it a 60/4-0 mix yourself?
Getting home I was then left with the dilemma of what to make with the new mince. Too many ideas, too little time. As I was cooking with the help of all the small people, I went for burgers. My thought being I could do it in stages and they may like to get their hands messy and help. Turns out they didn’t want to help, but they did want to help eat them at tea time.
This mince is definitely tasty, it does taste more like a veggie mince and is dryer than a normal beef version, but that is to be expected. It tasted good and held together well for burgers. We had some left so I used them the next day in a tomato based sauce for a pasta bolognaise that was very nice. I love it when you manage to cook 2 meals in one hit 🙂
- 1 medium courgette
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 small onion
- large handful of parsley (including stalks)
- 400g lean and bean mince
- 1tbsp balsamic vinegar
- pinch dried rosemary
- Zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
- Using a grater or food processor grate the courgette, carrots, onion, garlic and parsley.
- Mix the veggies in with the mince and all other ingredients.
- Shape into patties with your hands and place onto a lined, greased baking tray.
- Place in the fridge to firm up for a minimum 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
