fridge cleaning food

so, something y'all may not know about me is that in addition to cooking normal delightful food (which i happily share with you here), i also make some weird shit.  i think one of my greatest strengths as a cook is being able to open the fridge and make something that tastes good.  i can't promise you it'll be pretty but tasty i can pretty much guarantee.  the recipe i'm about to share with you is a prime example. 

i ALWAYS have sweet potatoes & onions on hand because those things are probably two of my favorite foods.  as for ketchup, ever since i stopped kidding around and started buying 64oz bottles of the stuff, i don't run out of that either.  same goes with tomato paste (i now buy it in these awesome tubes that you just keep in the fridge and then you're never out when you need it) and brown rice.  basically what i'm saying is that i almost always have everything to make this recipe except for the ground beef and the taco seasoning (i'll get to that in a minute).  so a few weeks ago when i had basically no food in the house and was running too low on cash for a full grocery shop, this is what i came up with.

Spicy Taco Beef with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
serves: 1
***points plus value per serving: 11

1/2 medium sized sweet potato, diced
5oz super lean (95% lean, 5% fat) ground beef
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 medium sized yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp molasses
1 tbsp extra spicy taco seasoning
kosher salt
black pepper
water, if needed
cooking spray

preheat over to 375 degrees.  dice sweet potato into bite sized pieces and place on baking sheet.  spray with cooking spray, season with salt & pepper and roast until tender and browned on the outside.  (i recommend doing this while you're making the taco meat stuff)

heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray.  add ground beef and cook until it begins to brown, add onions and cook until meat is cooked through and onions are translucent.  add taco seasoning and mix to combine.  add tomato paste, ketchup and molasses and cook until a thick sauce coats the meat and onions.  if the sauce gets too thick you can add a little water to thin it out.  check seasoning and adjust if necessary, you may not need to add any salt or pepper because the taco seasoning is pretty salty, i usually add a little though.  turn heat to low and add in cooked rice, allowing rice to heat through and get coated with the sauce.

place meat & rice mixture on the plate and top with sweet potatoes.  you can serve this with all kinds of toppings.  in this picture i've served it with some shredded cheese, avocado and a dollop of plain yogurt.  these things will add points though, obviously.  when i made it last night i just served it with a dollop of yogurt and it was awesome.

so that's it!  i know it sounds weird and kind of tacky (something about taco seasoning and ketchup is distinctly midwestern no?) but i promise you it's delicious and super flavorful.  it's kind of like a sloppy joe but taco-fied.  with sweet potatoes.  and no bun.  this isn't making it sound any less weird is it?  anyway, try it, you'll like it!

-V

***in December WW changed their system from Points to PointsPlus which is all very complicated and boring if you're not a WW member (or even if you are).  basically, most foods now have a higher points value and i get more points per day to use.  the point of this being on the old system 11 points was a lot but on the new one, it's a totally reasonable amount to spend on a filling dinner.