The best summer meals are made using fresh produce from our garden. Zucchini Beef Skillet is one of our family favorites. I love combining yummy garden-fresh veggies with our pasture-raised meats for hearty, healthy meals. If you don’t garden, visit your local farmers’ market. The produce there is so much better than anything you’ll find in the grocery store.
Come on into my kitchen and watch as I prepare this flavorful dish for my family which only requires one large skillet. Fewer pots and pans is another perk to this recipe.
Oh, I love ground beef! It is so versatile! I put our grass-finished ground beef into the skillet along with a chopped onion and a minced clove of garlic. The recipe called for green pepper which I didn’t have on hand so I went ahead without it, but I missed the flavor at the end. Oh well, a good cook is always experimenting, right?
I browned the ground beef along with the onions and garlic. I didn’t drain the fat which most recipes call for because there was zero fat to drain off. One of the perks of grass-fed beef!
Next I added salt, pepper, chili powder, parsley, zucchini and tomatoes. The night before we had stopped at a farm stand in an Amish community when we were bringing home our son’s new puppy. I don’t know what they do to those tomatoes in the store, but they sure don’t have the flavor of the ones grown in the garden!
I put the lid on the skillet and left it simmer for a few minutes. Next, I added the thawed corn. I have the unfair advantage of being married to a farmer who plants a large patch every year with the tractor and planter. Of course, it is a “bit” of work to prep it for the freezer, but it is amazing stuff!
Stirred it all together, put the lid back on the skillet, and left it simmer for a few more minutes until the veggies reached the tenderness that my family likes. I didn’t add the pimento because there was none in the house as I just do not keep many “exotic” ingredients around. Some of the crew sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of their serving. We made a quick batch of honey cornmeal muffins which we served alongside. The honey in the muffins was from Pruiett Apiary and the cornmeal was ground from the corn we grow on our farm. Talk about a homegrown meal.
This dish is so full of color, flavor and texture!
Zucchini Beef Skillet
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
1 chopped onion
3/4 c. chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
5 c. sliced zucchini
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/4 c. fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
2 Tbs. chopped pimento
Saute beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic in large skillet until meat is browned. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until vegetables reach the desired tenderness. Enjoy!