Part One: Whipped Goat Cheese
Goat cheese, honey, and before you head for the hills hear me out…cottage cheese. This is truly a case of “you’ll never know it’s there” with the cottage cheese.
The strong goat cheese flavor masks it, and the cottage cheese helps give the whipped cheese some body. So smooth, so creamy, so tasty.
I recommend using an immersion/stick blender if you have one. It’s a thick mixture, and you don’t want to add water if you can avoid it.
I played around with different ratios of cottage cheese to goat cheese and found the nutrition facts differences were minor when using, say, half the goat cheese and 2x the cottage cheese. But you’re welcome to experiment.
On the flip side, if you’re a fan of the curd, I have a ton of cottage cheese recipes for you to check out.
Part Two: Ground Beef and Sweet Potatoes
I love a one-pan mince + veggie meal, and that’s what we have here. Diced sweet potatoes kick things off in a pan over medium heat to get nicely browned on all sides before shredded or chopped kale goes in the pan to wilt down and partially crisp up.
The veggies get set aside momentarily while the ground beef cooks in the same pan. Then a peppery balsamic and maple dijon sauce is added before the veg rejoins the party.
The trio is served right on top of the whipped goat cheese. And that’s it!
Part Three: The Fun Part
I garnished with chili flakes, a drizzle of honey, and both raw and roasted pumpkin seeds. Trader Joe’s actually has pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds at the moment (pictured below), and those were definitely a hit.
I hope you enjoy these ground beef bowls as much as we did. They’re a great way to kick off the fall season, my favorite time of the year.
If you’re looking for more high protein meals to make with sweet potatoes, I’ll leave you with a few more of my recipes:
- Spinach and Feta Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Mediterranean Style Protein Bowls
- Chicken and Sweet Potato Street Corn Bowls
Until we cook together again,
Fall Harvest Protein Bowls
Ingredients
For the Whipped Goat Cheese
- 4 oz Goat Cheese
- ½ cup Low Fat Cottage Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
For the Veggies
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 large (24 oz total) Sweet Potatoes, medium diced
- 4 cups (112g) Shredded Kale
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
For the Beef
- 16 oz Extra Lean Ground Beef
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 2 teaspoons Coarse Dijon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Blend the goat cheese, cottage cheese, and honey together. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat before adding the sweet potatoes. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until the potatoes are nicely browned all over.
- Fold in the kale and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the kale wilts. Season with the kosher salt and black pepper before transferring to a bowl, covering the bowl, and setting it aside.
- Increase the heat to medium-high before adding the ground beef. Cook for 2-3 minutes on one side to brown before breaking apart and fully cooking.
- Add the remaining beef ingredients to the pan with the cooked beef. Cook until the sauce evenly coats the beef and very little liquid remains, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sweet potatoes and kale to the pan with the beef and stir everything together.
- To make four servings, spoon 60g (about ¼ cup) of the whipped goat cheese on the bottom of a plate or bowl and spread in a circle. Top with about 200g of the beef mixture. Garnish with chili flakes, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a drizzle of honey, if desired.
