Kids Cuisine

I was looking through the most recent issue of Eating Well magazine, looking for dinner inspiration, when I spied this recipe for Hamburger Buddy. The photo of it wasn’t anything special, and the blurb compared it to a homemade version of Hamburger Helper. I passed it by, but then a few minutes later I came back to it. I read the recipe and found that it was full of mushrooms and carrots, but that they were ground up in the processor to make them disappear. I had to try it. My kids are professed mushroom haters, but I’ve never been able to identify whether it’s the flavor they don’t like. This Sneaky Mom decided to put the mushrooms to the test.

It didn’t take long to put together, and I confess that I had my doubts several times as the recipe progressed. Would this really be good? Would Eating Well steer me wrong? But what if it’s a success — this could be just the recipe to change people’s minds about cooking from scratch. The familiarity of a hamburger hot dish, but with the flavor and nutrition of something homemade, could be just the persuasion I’ve been looking for. I was not going to be disappointed. The resulting dish was similar to the version out of the box, but it had a lot of flavor going on — and not the chemical kind. It was rich and meaty, and those mushrooms and carrots completely disappeared. My mushroom haters ate it up. Leftovers reheated nicely for a quick lunch the next day, and overall the recipe will be repeated here over and over.

Hamburger Buddy, from Eating Well Magazine

3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
10 ounces white mushrooms, large ones cut in half
1 large onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound 90%-lean ground beef
2 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth, divided
8 ounces whole-wheat elbow noodles (2 cups)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or chives for garnish

1. Fit a food processor with the steel blade attachment. With the motor running, drop garlic through the feed tube and process until minced, then add carrots and mushrooms and process until finely chopped. Turn it off, add onion, and pulse until roughly chopped.
2. Cook beef in a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped vegetables, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften and the mushrooms release their juices, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Stir in water, 1 1/2 cups broth, noodles, and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Whisk flour with the remaining 1/4 cup broth in a small bowl until smooth; stir into the hamburger mixture. Stir in the sour cream. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley (or chives), if desired