Clean Eating Tamale Pie

Makes 8 Servings
I love cornbread, one dish meals, and sneaking vegetables into stuff. This dish is all that and more!! I have actually wanted to make tamale pie for a few years. It always seemed like a really good idea but I never found a recipe that called to me. I think I actually tried it once but I used garbanzo beans and the cornbread didn't cook all the way or something and it was just not good. But tonight my lovely and wonderful friend, Christine, (Hi, Christine!!) was visiting with her 4 kids and mentioned that they had tamale pie for dinner last night and everyone actually ate it with no complaint. She gave me a brief description of how she made it and I got inspired. So I threw caution to the wind and I made it myself with, brace yourselves, NO RECIPE! You know me, I never cook anything without a recipe. Actually, that's not true, I cheated a little and used my own whole grain cornbread recipe for the topping but, still, I'm making progress ;)

The verdict....the Allan clan LOVES tamale pie. All 4 kids ate it with great enthusiasm. There were even several instances of those magic words "I love this dinner" being spoken. Win!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, shredded
• 3 big handfuls of spinach torn into small pieces
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1-2 Tbsp chili powder (I only used 1 because my family is wimpy about spice level)
• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 can no salt added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
• Optional- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Cornbread topping-

• 3/4 cup whole grain cornmeal
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp honey
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg

ONE: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat in a large oven-proof skillet (if you don't have an ovenproof skillet, use whatever big skillet you do have and you will transfer to a baking dish before baking). Add onions, carrots, and spinach to the skillet and season with 1 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes.

TWO: Add 1 lb ground turkey, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, and 1-2 Tbsp chili powder to the softened vegetables and cook until ground turkey is no longer pink.

THREE: Reduce heat to low and stir in undrained tomatoes and drained and rinsed black beans. Let simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is mostly gone.

FOUR: While the meat and veggie mixture is simmering, dump all cornbread ingredients into a medium bowl (I use a 4 cup measuring cup for easier pouring) and stir until no more lumps remain.

FIVE: Pour the cornbread batter evenly over the top of the meat and veggie mixture. (If you do not have an overproof skillet, spray a large casserole dish or 9x13 pan with cooking spray, transfer the meat and veggie mixture into it, and then pour the cornbread batter on top.) Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes or until the cornbread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you are using the cheese, sprinkle it on top halfway through the baking time.

Freeze leftovers in single servings using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:
Per serving including cheese- 486 Calories (92 Calories from Fat), 10g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 55mg Cholesterol, 591mg Sodium, 1295 mg Potassium, 72g Total Carbs, 11g Dietary Fiber, 18g Sugars, 30g Protein, 84%DV VitA, 23%DV VitC, 22%DV Calcium, 30%DV Iron

Sauté veggies until soft, add meat

Add seasonings and canned tomatoes

Add back beans

Mix up the cornbread batter

Pour evenly over meat and veggie mixture

Bake about 10 minutes, top with cheese,
and continue baking another 12-15 mins

Nom, nom, nom

Here, Mommy, I'll hold your gloves for you

These are pretty fun! They make me want to....

Clap!!....

...and Flap!!!!

Oven mitts are so cool!!!!!!

:)