The Old Way
Serves 4
1 pound ground round
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
2 medium red or green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
Brown ground round. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and discard fat. Add oil and sauté onions, peppers, and celery. Add the remaining ingredients including the browned ground round and mix well. Simmer 20 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns.
A Better Way
This is the same recipe minus the hamburger and oil. We have substituted TVP, textured vegetable protein (see glossary), for the ground round. For sautéing the onion, instead of using the suggested ¼ cup of oil, we use either ¼ cup wine or tomato juice. These two substitutions save a whopping 44 grams of fat, bringing the fat content from 69% to 0%!
¼ cup red wine, sherry, or tomato juice
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
2 medium red or green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 cup TVP
1½ cups boiling water
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
In a frying pan, heat the wine or tomato juice, add onions and braise, or simmer very gently covered, for 3 or 4 minutes, then add celery and peppers and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Add the TVP, boiling water, and rest of ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns.
NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS PER SERVING
Old Way: 69% calories from fat; 571 calories; 21 grams protein; 15 grams carbohydrate; 44 grams fat
Better Way: 0% calories from fat; 177 calories; 13 grams protein; 16 grams carbohydrate; 0 grams fat