When I cook dinner for my family, I like to pack in plenty of vegetables. I also like to spend less than an hour cooking our nightly meal. This recipe meets both requirements, using fresh veggies along with some prepackaged ingredients to make it a quick fix. I recently made the entire meal in 40 minutes. It may not be your grandmother’s spaghetti that took all day to make, but it gets rave reviews from my family as well as our friends (adult and children). And, the added veggies are a bonus. Serve with a side salad and enjoy!

Quick Healthy Spaghetti (with Meat)

• one medium onion, organic
• 3 – 5 garlic cloves, organic
• 5 – 8 Lacinato (Dino) kale leaves, organic (discard the stems)
• 2 large carrots, organic
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil or avocado oil, organic
• 1 lb. ground beef, grass fed and pastured
• 1 tsp. dried oregano (or 1 tbsp. fresh oregano, minced), organic
• 2 25 oz. jars organic tomato sauce (find one made with vegetables and tomatoes only, no oil or added sugar if possible)*
• 1-1/2 16 oz. packages organic brown rice spaghetti noodles (gluten-free)*

Fill a large stock pot with water about 3/4 full (filtered water is preferable) and set on stove to bring to a boil. In the mean time, chop the onion into small pieces, mince the garlic, grate the carrots, and tear or chopped the kale into small pieces.

Using a large sauté pan, add oil and all chopped vegetables. Mix well and stir fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and continue cooking on low-medium heat until the meat is cooked through, stirring and breaking up the chunks of meat as necessary. Add oregano and stir in both jars of tomato sauce, continuing to cook on low-medium until the sauce mixture is boiling. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer (while the pasta is cooking).

Add the pasta to the boiling water in the stock pot and follow the directions on the package for cooking. By the time the pasta is cooked and drained in a colander, the sauce will be ready to use. Serve the sauce over the cooked pasta. Serves 8 to 10 people.

Note: This is a great recipe to include organ meat, especially for the picky eater, since the spaghetti sauce covers the look and taste of it. To learn how, click here.

* I sometimes use Trader Joe’s brand spaghetti sauce and pasta. Their most natural sauce is TJ Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms (Fat Free). The pasta I use is called TJ Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti Pasta (Gluten-Free). For other Trader Joe’s products I often use, all of which are gluten-free, dairy-free and GMO-free, see my previous blog here.

This article was written by Sharon Harmon, founder and owner of Life Design for Health. She has a passion for helping people find their way back to optimum health. Please contact Sharon if you would like to know more. There is a great deal of health-related information on her blog and website.