Last week we decided to put together a small competition in which we had readers submit their best beef recipe for their chance to win a $100 gift card to US Wellness Meats. The contest rules were simple: post a photo of your favorite beef-based recipe to our Facebook fan page wall. Include the ingredients, recipe instructions, and any sort of introduction to the recipe that you wished to write. We received many great entries, and ultimately felt like awarding just one prize would not be enough.

Runner Up

The runner up recipe pulled together many elements of a successful dish: great ingredients, clear instructions, a great story, and an excellent photo to go with it. This recipe was near the head of the pack for all of these reasons. Simone Shifnadel’s recipe for Jicama Tacos looks like it could be from any mainstream cookbook, except it clearly uses much healthier ingredients! Have a look:

1 softball size jicama, peeled

You will need a mandolin for these, unless you have some uncanny knife skills.  They need to be practically paper thin.  I set my mandolin at 1/12″ I believe.  (1/8″ is too thick, 1/16″ is too thin.  You may need to play with it, but will get plenty of shells regardless.)  Slice the ends of the jicama off, so you have the middle third or so exposed.  Slice as many shells as you can get out of it, probably close to 20 slices.  Set aside.

Don’t toss the ends- slice them up and squeeze some lime on them to snack on while you’re cooking.  At least that’s what I did.

Simple Seasoned Taco Meat (no MSG-laden spice packet required!) 

• 2 pounds grass fed ground beef (If you’re in the SF Bay Area, I recommend Fallon Hills)
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground coriander
• 1 t ground chipotle
• 1 t garlic powder
• 2 t sea salt

Heat a large cast iron pan to medium high and add the beef to it.  Brown it well, and then add the seasonings.  Stir well for a couple of minutes longer, until the beef is cooked.

Serve as you normally would serve tacos!  Put everything on the table and let people make their own.  Don’t forget the salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole and lettuce.

Congratulations Simone – we’re going to let you take your pick of any t-shirt in our t-shirt shop. Just take your pick, and email it to us along with your address – we’ll take care of the rest! You can find this recipe and many others on her blog, Zenbelly.

Grand Prize!

Now, the recipe we chose as our grand prize winner stood out to us for many reasons. The recipe sounded very good, the ingredients were unquestionably clean and clearly would work together. The photo was superb: nice composition, with great lighting and sharp focus. And finally, it was also something that looked like it would be a great addition to our collection of recipes. Congratulations to Shiva Stella on your winning entry! Watch your email for your $100 gift certificate to US Wellness Meats from us! Check out the winning recipe below:

Kotlete Kubideh (Persian Hamburgers)

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Submitted by: Shiva Stella
Simplicity is key to maintaining my healthy diet. When I'm juggling writing projects and trying to avoid the fast-food temptation up the street, I turn to my mother's Kotlete Kubideh--Persian Hamburgers. These delectable little meat patties may look unassuming, but they're quick to make and a tastey introduction to Persian food. Best of all, you've already got the ingredients in your kitchen, so there's no need for a trip to the local ethnic grocery for "Exotic Spice X". Ready? Here we go!

Serves: 3

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 lb 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 1 1 Onion, small, finely diced
• 1 1 1 Egg
• 1 tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
• 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp Butter, Unsalted, (or ghee)

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

1. Mix all ingredients into a bowl, excluding ghee.
2. Form round meat patties, I like to do about 3oz patties and I sometimes dust them with a little arrowroot powder, but not necessary.
3. Fry them in ghee on medium heat, about 4 minutes per side depending on thickness (Note that grass-fed meat may take a little longer)

Notes

Serve with rice, or atop cauliflower rice seasoned with salt/pepper (I sometimes add 1 tsp. of tumeric to my cauliflower rice, as seen in the photo) and top with fresh mint. These patties also taste great cold, so they make for easy picnic food when wrapped in lettuce. If you need a simple sauce, just mix a cup of paleo-mayo or Greek yogurt with a little fresh dill, diced garlic, a dash of salt and 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice. Let it blend in the fridge and you're good to go!