Meat Over Pasta Inside Edition Style!

Hey Gang,

I have gotten a couple questions about the Meat Over Pasta Recipe. Here it is again, in depth:

Ingredients:
1 package of ground sirloin, ground chicken or ground turkey breast (or any type of meat although I am not sure how meatless options would work with this and other options like sausage would throw the calories out the window)

1/2 to 1 whole jar of Tomato Sauce (you can make this yourself but I have no motivation. For example, there have been three cans of San marazano tomatoes in my pantry for two years now and still haven't "gotten to it")

1 Zucchini (I never spell this right, damn you spell check...stop judging me!)

1 Onion

1/2 bag of baby spinach (Basically when it comes to the vegetables it really is whatever floats your boat. These just happen to be the ones I enjoy because once they are cooked I find them the least "intrusive")

2 tablespoons minced garlic (I use the jar because I could give a crap about smashing and cutting up whole garlic. Now before you lambaste me for being a cooking punk please reread the part about those can's of tomatoes gathering dust in my pantry. The whole garlic thing is just not going to happen in this lifetime or any other cause I am just really not that into cooking. Eating yes, but cooking, no.)

1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (don't use any of that morally questionable "non virgin" olive oil, it's not worth the risk)

onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, chopped onion, basil

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over med/low heat. Saute garlic, and then add in onion and zucchini and cook till they are soft. It is at this point you do not want to set a bad tone for the meal by lighting yourself on fire so go easy on the oil and the heat and wear non flammable clothing while cooking (I find the latter to be a general recommendation since I do not know what the appeal of flammable clothing would be).

2. Once the vegetables are "softened" add in the spices. The spices are done by eye so I have no idea how much you want to add since it is all based on personal taste. I would guess a half a teaspoon of each would be a good start.

3. Add in the meat and make sure it is browned all the way through or else you stand the chance of dying a miserable, horrible retching death on the toilet.

4. Once the meat is browned add in the sauce and spinach.

5. Let it all simmer together for 10 to 20 minutes to allow the flavors to combine. This meal actually tastes better as left overs since there is more time for the flavors to come together. Now if you believe my buddy Dan who eschews such quick cooking times and has the inclination and mental toughness to watch this thing over the stove all day I would tell you to put it on low heat and simmer it for an hour but let's not push it. I am not Dan and neither are you. Twenty minutes should be fine. You can keep the leftovers in tupperwear for a couple of days or freeze them in a ziploc bag. This meal defrosts very nicely.

Serve the meat/vegetable mixture over some type of grain, usually rice or preferably pasta. The average male would require a serving of 200 to 250 grams of pasta and 200 to 250 grams of the meat/veggie mix. The average female would be 150 to 200 grams of pasta and an equivalent amount of meat/veggies. This serving size is only an estimate, because you could have a really large women (yeah that's right, I said it. Large women need meat over pasta too) and a really small man and the serving sizes would be reversed based on body size.
As with all portion sizes there really is no one size fits all since counting calories is almost always inaccurate, boring and will not make you very popular at parties. You will simply have to judge your results relative to your goals (i.e. lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight etc) and then adjust your portion sizes accordingly.

Thanks,
Mike