Ground Beef Salad

The last 24+ hours haven't been good for me. It was about 10:30am yesterday when I was sitting at my computer and I was overcome with this horrendous pain in my lower abdominal area. After about 20 minutes, the pain seem to localise to just my right side, and began shooting down my right leg. Needless to say, I was no longer sitting at my computer. You could find me huddled into a ball on my living room floor wondering what I'd done in a previous life to deserve this sort of cruel and unusual punishment. This lasted for about an hour and a half. **Dramatics over**. Unfortunately, it really was that bad.

I decided to Google Dr myself (I do not recommend this) and He told me that I had appendicitis. Or a kidney infection. Which could be Very Serious. After some kind words from twitter friends I took my sorry self off to the doctor. After he pronounced my last name wrong, (he added in a Q. And an A.) he then proceeded to grill me as to why I'm not on the pill, is it because I am planning to start a family? etc etc. (I haven't been on the pill for almost 12 months, and choose not to be because I think it is terrible for our bodies, but that's for another day. Nat Kringoudis is worth a look if it's something you're curious about.) THEN, he asked me about my eyes (they're different. We're over it.), a few other personal comments I don't wish to repeat here, and finished off by telling me he "didn't think it was anything serious because I'm 'not sick enough'". After this guy, I now remember why I don't go to the doctors. He told me that he thinks I may have some sort of cyst or blood clot on my ovaries that could burst, or something or other, and recommended an ultrasound, which all sounded very scary.

I pretty much slept the rest of the day yesterday, and woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:30am this morning. There's not as much pain today, however I think I must have/had  bladder/kidney infection of some sort... So I've been eating spoonfuls of coconut oil, warm water with ACV and lemon juice, cranberry tablets and blueberries. I'm already starting to feel better, the pain feels as if it's eased up quite a bit so it's just this awful bloated-ness and exhaustion I'm left with. Fingers crossed another good nights sleep and I'll be right as rain. :)

Onto the salad!

I love this salad. I've been eating it a lot lately, it's a good way for me to pack a lot of vegies in whilst getting dinner ready really quickly. And only using one pan too bonus.
I've also made it quite a few different ways, sometimes with beetroot, pork, apple, sometimes spinach, avocado, fennel.. it's very forgiving.
Also, the serving size might not sound like much but it's actually really filling! If you think you'll need more, feel free to serve it with some brown rice or quinoa, or even some crusty sourdough bread would be nice. Don't forget to save room for dessert. :)

Please note - this picture is only 1 serve!

Ground Beef Salad (serves 2):
☀ 250 grams ground beef
☀ 1 tsp paprika
☀ 2 cloves crushed garlic
☀ vinegar - ACV, red wine or balsamic vinegar

For the salad:
☀ half a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
☀ half an avocado
☀ 3 or 4 swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
☀ pre-steamed beetroot
☀ a handful of rocket, spinach or both
☀ a couple of asparagus, sliced at an angle

Method: 

• Heat a tbsp of your preferred fat in a pan on medium heat, and cook your ground beef stirring constantly to break it up. I like to slightly "overcook" mine so it goes nice and crispy. It doesn't at all taste dry because the meat pieces are so small.
• Once your beef has finished cooking, crush in your garlic and your tbsp of paprika with a splash of vinegar - ACV, red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar all work well.
• Remove your beef from the pan and put in a bowl. Heat a little more fat as needed and pop in your mushrooms. Season with S&P. Let them cook until they release their juices and begin to fry, about 5 minutes.
• Toss in your halved tomatoes and beetroot* (if using) let them get warm - about 2 minutes.
• Pop in your beef and the rest of your salad - asparagus, pinenuts, chilli, apple.. anything you like. Add in your greens, turn off the heat, give everything a toss and serve up. 

Extras:
>> * Put your beets in your oven, skin on on 200c for 15-20 minutes. When they're soft to touch, take them out and let them cool. Store in freezer or fridge for a few days. To use, simply quarter, slice, however you like.

Now I'm off to have a warm glass of water and watch some Gossip Girl! Do you think you'll make this salad? :)