Zucchini and Meat in Tomato Stew
By: Sarah Choueiry
Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 4:45pm

Ingredients




1 bag of Baby Zucchini from Trader Joes (or ruffly 12 oz of small zucchini)
1/2 a pound of ground meat (I always try to get organic)
I carrot
1 medium tomato
1 teaspoon All Spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch of cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 hefty tablespoon of Tomato Paste
1 can of Tomato Sauce

Preparation

1 Kiddo: Slice the zucchinis and dice the Tomatoes. Place the veggies in a bowl. 2 Parent: While your kiddo is slicing the zucchini, put the vegetable oil in a sauce pan, under medium-high heat. Place the meat in the pan. 3 Kiddo: Measure out the seasonings (salt, pepper, all spice, cinnamon) and place on top of the meat. 4 Parent: Saute meat till cooked/brown. 5 Kiddo: Once the meat is cooked, place the tomato paste into the pan with the meat, and mix/saute together for 1-2 minutes. 6 Kiddo: While your parent is stirring everything around add the can of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, 1/2 can of water, the carrot (cut in half) and the Zucchini slices 7 Parent + kiddo: Taste it to see if you want to add a little more salt, you typically want to add anywhere between 1/2 teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of salt. Stir and wait till it boils. 8 When it boils, put the lid on it and let it simmer for 50 minutes. Take out the Carrot before serving, the carrot is there to help take away any acidity from the tomatoes and to help sweeten the sauce a little. 9 Once it is finished, serve with rice or pasta. And if you are eating it with rice, try having some plain non-fat yogurt on the side with it :).

About

This recipe is one my mom made me a lot when I was a child. I was unaware I was eating something good for me because it tasted so good. My mom would always serve it with non-fat plain yogurt, great way to get those pro-biotics in there. If your kiddo is not a yogurt lover, don't worry, serve this dish with some rice and I guarantee they will love it, especially if they had a hand in making it.
I am going to write this recipe assuming you are making this with a kiddo who is a little older, an age you trust with a knife.
I write my recipes in ways that parents can incorporate their children while cooking, with tools focusing on building their child's language skills and enhancing their creativity.